Government gets ready to grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants under CAA
After much anticipation, the Central Government has notified the rules for implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), paving the way for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to receive Indian citizenship. Passed in 2019, the contentious CAA aims to facilitate granting of Indian nationality to persecuted minorities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians — from these three countries who had come to India on or before December 31, 2014 due to religious persecution.
While the Act was passed by Parliament in December 2019, it could not be implemented so far as the rules were not framed. As per parliamentary procedures, rules for any law must be framed within 6 months of receiving presidential assent. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been taking periodic extensions for drafting the CAA rules from parliamentary committees. Now with the rules released, the process of granting citizenship to eligible non-Muslim migrants will begin.
As per the notified rules, eligible applicants can apply for citizenship through an online portal. No original documents will be asked from applicants at the time of application. The rules allow designated authorities in different states to grant citizenship. However, authorities in Assam and West Bengal — states which witnessed protests against CAA — have not yet been authorised to accept applications.
By announcing the implementation of the controversial CAA just ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the Central Government aims to fulfill a key electoral promise. The BJP had included implementing CAA in its manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly elections held in 2021, where it made significant inroads against the ruling TMC. The party now seeks to reap political benefits among its Hindu support base by granting citizenship to non-Muslim migrants before the general elections expected in few months. While the Opposition parties including the TMC and Congress are likely to cry foul against this “political move”, for NDA it seems a strategic decision keeping in mind the communally sensitive issue and ensuing polls.
