CAA Notification: Centre on Monday announced the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi government notified the rules of the CAA days before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) kicks in.
With the implementation of the rules under CAA, migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will be able to avail Indian citizenship. The new CAA rules will allow granting of Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. These will include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians, who came to India till December 31, 2014.
Passed by Parliament in December 2019, the CAA had initially faced massive protests across the country. The anti-CAA protests, which had also turned violent and faced police actions, had seen over a hundred people lose their lives.
Security Beefed Up In Delhi, Assam
Security was beefed up in parts of Delhi which witnessed communal riots during anti-CAA protests in 2020. Police personnel and paramilitary forces were deployed in northeast Delhi, Shaheen Bagh, Jamia and other sensitive areas of the national capital after the notification of CAA on Monday. Flag march was conducted in parts of northeast and southeast Delhi, PTI cited officials as saying.
In Assam too, security has been heightened with additional deployment of police personnel. The police stations have been put on alert. Crowded areas of almost all the towns, including Guwahati, have been barricaded.
Congress Questions Timing Of CAA Implementation
The Congress on Monday questioned the timing of the notification of CAA rules, alleging that it was aimed at polarising the country, especially in West Bengal and Assam, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out athe PM Modi government saying the announcement was yet another attempt to "manage the headlines".
Ramesh pointed out that it took four years and three months for the Narendra Modi government to notify the rules for the law cleared by Parliament in December 2019. "After seeking nine extensions for the notification of the rules, the timing right before the elections is evidently designed to polarise the elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam," the Congress leader said.
"The prime minister claims that his government works in a business-like and time-bound manner. The time taken to notify the rules for the CAA is yet another demonstration of the prime minister's blatant lies," he said in a post on X.
The law could not come into effect as rules had not been notified till now. The Manual on Parliamentary Work specifies that rules for any legislation should be framed within six months of presidential assent, unless an extension is sought from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Since 2020, the Home Ministry has been seeking regular extensions from the parliamentary committee to finalise the rules.
How To Apply For Indian Citizenship Under CAA
The entire process of application for citizenship will be held online, with applicants having the option to apply from their mobile phones. The CAA rules were ready by January and the online portal for the process was also put in place.
Who Can Apply For Indian Citizenship Under CAA
Non-Muslim migrants who entered India before 2015 will be eligible for the citizenship. The Ministry of Home Affairs has readied a portal for the convenience of the applicants, who will have to declare the year when they entered India without travel documents. Those seeking citizenship will have to produce certain documents during the application process.
Here's a list of required documents:
- Copy of the passport
- Registration Certificate or Residential Permit i
- School certificate or Educational certificate
- Identity Document of any kind issued by Government of Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan
- Any License or Certificate issued by respective governments
- Land or tenancy records in native country
- Any document that shows that either of the parents or grandparents or greatgrandparents of the applicant is or had been a citizen of one of the three countries
- Any other document issued by a Government authority or a Government agency in Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan which will establish that the applicantis from Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan