HM Amit Shah clears CAA could turn to lower the threshold to the migrants. CAA is the new hope for persecuted migrants from Muslim-majority country.

....................................................................................

HM Amit Shah clears CAA could turn to lower the threshold to the migrants. CAA is the new hope for persecuted migrants from Muslim-majority country.

The Indian government implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 on 11 March, paving the way for the grant of citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.

by Vivek Kr. Gupta on March 18

Union Home minister Amit Shah in his recent interview with the national media has broken the threshold and assured the country’s Muslim that CAA will not take away their citizenship, it is the new hope for persecuted migrants.

The Citizenship Amendment Act passed back in december 2019 which was pulled back by the government because of the nationwide protest and criticism around the country but now it is back with implementation mode and has ready a portal for the convenient of applicant as the entire process will be online. Ministery also soon to launch helpline number to assist the Applicants for Indian citizenship.

The government has clarified that the Citizenship Amendment Act has no provision to impact the citizenship of any Muslim of the country. The government of India basically has come up with rules and how the law will be implemented.

So the CAA applies to six religious group i.e. Hindus, Shikhs, Jains, Parsis, Cristians and Buddhists and these people must belong to any of these countries Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. This law will accelerate the pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from neighboring Muslim-majority nations who came to India on or before 31 December, 2014 this law will fast track the process for Indian citizenship by six years. And relax the requirement for these migrants from 11 years to just 5 years via CAA. He said even Muslim anway have the right to apply for Indian Citizenship under regular citizenship law.

What Is The Need Of CAA.

The government of India says that act is to protect religious minorities from the Muslim-majority country. Opposition parties criticize the law calling it “discriminatory”, and over 200 petitions filed by the opposition leader in the Supreme court challenging the law.

The biggest question of the critics and opposition is why the Muslim is not a part of this list. Even the Indian Muslims and critics right organization also are asking this question. Home minister of India has clarified the controversy and rumor, said “it is our constitutional responsibility to help oppressed religious minorities who were a part of Akhand Bharat but have suffered persecution on the ground of religion after partition” and assured the country’s muslim that NRC is not related to CAA.

The Home Minister in a podcast with ANI on excluding muslims from the act says those “countries are declared Islamic states as per their constitution, the Muslim majority there obviously cannot be victims of religious persecution”. He reminded that CAA was a part of the manifesto promise of BJP and enacted in the first year after it returned to power in 2019.

Opposition parties refuse implementation of act.

States like Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi have raised concern over the act. Opposition party has said that they won’t implement the law in their state but the question is can the state government refuse the implementation. Shah reminded them that citizenship is a union list subject, giving the center exclusive power to decide all citizenship matters.

And for this government has launched the online application named Citizenship Application and this CAA rules call for a new body. A body that will report to the central government only. Only they can receive and approve the citizenship request.

This application has relaxed the threshold to prove that you are a migrant. Earlier migrants requires very specific document valid passport or an Indian Residential Permit to prove that you are a migrants but not you can produce any identity document, certificate, letter from the government a tenancy agreement, any document from a public sector Bank, certificate from local lawmaker, utility bills and even a marriage certificate any of this can prove your date of entry into India, which must be till 31 December 2014. So the idea is to lower the threshold to make it easier for people to get Indian citizenship.

Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi, MK Stalin, Mamata Benerjee and Arvind Kejriwal have raised the concern over the act saying it will affect Indian minorities. They say it will strip down Indian Muslim of their citizenship. The Home Minister hitting back at opposition leaders accused them of indulging in politics of lies and appeasement. On Mamata’s statement that lakhs of people will lose citizenship because of CAA, Shah said, “please do not do injustice to Bengali Hindus who have come from Bangladesh. I request her to not to stop CAA. Rather, she should prevent Bangladeshi infiltrators from entering Bengal”. Countering Arvind Kejriwal’s statement that giving citizenship to immigration under CAA will increase robberies and rapes, shah accused him of doing vote-bank politics and noted that he had never raised any concern regarding Bangladeshi and Rohingya ‘infiltrators’.

Western media on implementation of CAA in India.

The coverage of the implementation of the CAA in western media is seen focusing on concerns regarding the potential exclusion of certain religious minorities, particularly Muslim, from citizenship eligibility. While some highlight the Indian government’s stance on addressing persecuted minorities from neighboring countries.

The ministry of external affair (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on 15th March reacted to the United State comment and said “lectures by those who have a limited understanding of India’s pluralistic tradition and region’s post-partition history are best not attempted. Partner and well wishers of India should welcome the intent with which this step has been taken”. The US State department spokesperson expressed concern and said “we are concerned about notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act on March 11. We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented ,Matthew Miller said.

The Home Minister further says “CAA will never be taken back. It is our sovereign decision to ensure Indian citizenship in our country, we will never compromise on it ”.

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

THIS WEEK’S

by Vivek kr. Gupta on January 22