The PM Modi-led government has notified the CAA today; here’s all you need to know about CAA.
New Delhi: Amid the buzz surrounding the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules, some folks may lack clarity regarding its nature and its potential linkage with the National Register of Citizens. More importantly, many may wonder about the impact of CAA on the society of India. Additionally, questions arise about whether the CAA discriminates against Muslims in India. If you find yourself seeking answers to these questions, this explainer is for you.
PM Modi Led Government Notifies CAA Rules
The PM Modi-led government notified the CAA today. Recalling the statement from the centre on the implementation of the Act, Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier said that the CAA rules will be notified and implemented before the Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at the ET-Now Global Business Summit (GBS) in Delhi, Shah said, “The CAA is an act of the country. It will be notified before the polls (upcoming Lok Sabha elections). There should be no confusion about it.”
What’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)?
The CAA is a law that has been passed in the Parliament of India with specific implications for certain religious groups. Essentially, the law permits migrants who follow Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism and who came into India illegally before the end of 2014 from the neighboring countries of India like Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh to apply for Indian citizenship, with the condition that they must have lived in India for at least five years.
The law explicitly leaves out Muslims, arguing that migrants from the above-mentioned religions, namely, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrianism, have likely suffered persecution in those Islamic-oriented countries, while Muslims probably did not.
Stance Of Central Government On CAA
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a “benign piece of legislation” that seeks to provide a relaxation, in the nature of an amnesty, to specific communities from specified countries with a clear cut-off date, the Home Ministry has told the Supreme Court during the court proceedings.
The government, in an affidavit, said, “the CAA is a specific amendment that seeks to tackle a specific problem, i.e., the persecution on the ground of religion in the light of the undisputable theocratic constitutional position in these specified countries, the systematic functioning of these States and the perception of fear that may be prevalent amongst minorities as per the de facto situation in these countries.”.
“But no government took any legislative measure and merely acknowledged the problem and took some administrative action through executive instructions regarding entry, stay and citizenship issues of these classified communities,” the affidavit added.
Are CAA And NRC Connected?
Actually, there isn’t any immediate connection between the two. The focus of the NRC is to pin down legal Indian residents, which, so far, has only been enforced in Assam. Still, Home Minister Amit Shah has publicized his intentions to roll out the NRC across all of India by 2024 to pinpoint unauthorized immigrants. Notably, PM Modi made a clarification on the 22nd of December, stating that nationwide NRC talks have only been in line with Assam and not for the whole country.
Source link
