New Delhi (MidLand) – India, ahead of the general elections, announced on Monday (3/11) the implementation of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act passed in 2019.
The Ministry of Home Affairs “will today notify the regulations under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA-2019),” a ministry spokesperson wrote in X.
“These regulations, called the Citizenship (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 will enable persons eligible under the CAA-2019 to apply for Indian citizenship.”
He added that “applications will be submitted in completely online mode for which a portal has been provided.”
The CAA is an integral part of the 2019 election manifesto put forward by the right-wing Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“This will pave the way for the persecuted to obtain citizenship in India,” public broadcaster Doordarshan said on Monday evening.
The amended law grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, but not to Muslims.
When the law was passed in 2019, India was hit by widespread protests in many states. After protests across the country, the matter reached the country’s Supreme Court.
Although the court did not stop the implementation of the amended law, a petition challenging the law is still pending in the Supreme Court, prominent constitutional lawyer MR Shamshad told Anadolu.
However, opposition leader and West Bengal state chief minister Mamata Banerjee attributed the implementation of the CAA to the ruling party’s “electioneering”.
“If people are deprived of their rights according to the rules, then we will fight against this phenomenon. “This is the BJP’s advertisement for the elections, nothing else,” Banerjee said.
The BJP on Monday evening called the move a “pivotal moment in Indian history”.
“My sincerest thanks for making CAA possible!” write the party in X.
The implementation of the CAA, which was a key campaign issue of the ruling BJP in the 2019 general elections, was announced weeks before India went to the polls.
In these elections, the party led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aiming for a third consecutive mandate.
Ahead of the general elections, the ruling party delivered on some of the promises made in its 2019 manifesto.
The Indian Himalayan state of Uttarakhand, governed by Modi’s party, last month passed a law establishing the Uniform Civil Code, a set of personal laws common to all, regardless of religious beliefs.
In January, Modi inaugurated the Ram temple. The temple was built on the site of the demolished 16th-century Babri mosque in the northern Indian city of Ayodhya.
Source: Anatolia
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Translator: Yoanita Hastryka Djohan
Publisher: Tia Mutiasari
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