The controversial CAA came into effect before the Lok Sabha polls were announced in India
In India, the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was implemented before the Lok Sabha polls were announced. Opposition leaders have criticized the implementation of the 'anti-Muslim' Citizenship Amendment Act.
Al Jazeera, a Qatar-based media outlet, reported this information on Monday (March 11).
According to reports, the President also approved the CAA Bill in 2019 after it was passed by both houses of Parliament. However, no notification has been issued regarding the implementation of CAA in the last four years. The central government of the country officially announced the launch of the CAA through a notification on Monday (March 11).
Although it became a law, the sections and sub-sections of the CAA have not been added for almost four and a half years. As a result, this law has not been implemented in practice. As per the rules, certain clauses and sub-sections of the Act have to be added within six months of the President signing it. Otherwise special permission has to be sought from specific committees of Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha. In this case, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had been requesting to extend the deadline for implementing the law from 2020. The BJP government faced criticism from opposition parties for this delay.
After coming to power for the second time, the Modi government passed the CAA on December 11, 2019. According to the law, if religious minorities from Muslim countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan seek asylum in that country due to religious persecution, then India will grant it. The then President of the country, Ram Nath Kovind, also approved the CAA bill after it was passed by both houses of Parliament. But for so long no notification has been issued regarding the implementation of CAA.
However, the Trinamool leadership has always been claiming in relation to CAA that citizens, who vote, have Aadhaar card, voter card, are the citizens of this country. So there is no need to give them a new citizenship. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee slammed the CAA as 'What's up'. She termed it as an 'attempt to cover up refugees'.
Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India before 2014 from Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will be eligible for citizenship, the government announced.
Several human rights groups have termed the law as 'anti-Muslim' as it excludes the Muslim community from citizenship. It has also raised questions about the secular character of the world's largest democracy.
But Muslim groups say the CAA, combined with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), could discriminate against India's 20 crore Muslims. Muslims fear that the government may revoke the citizenship of Muslims without documents in some border states.
But the Modi government has denied the allegation, saying it is not anti-Muslim. Also, the law is said to be necessary to help minorities facing persecution in Muslim-majority countries.