People who meet the requirements of CAA-2019 can now apply for Indian citizenship thanks to the release of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which is a crucial step in helping those who are being persecuted find safety.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) guidelines were formally announced by the Union Home Ministry on Monday. In the same year, Parliament passed the CAA, a key plank of the BJP's 2019 agenda. People who meet the requirements of CAA-2019 can now apply for Indian citizenship thanks to the release of the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which is a crucial step in helping those who are being persecuted find safety.
According to the Home Ministry, those who meet the requirements of CAA-2019 would be entitled to petition for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules.
View some of the Citizenship Amendment Act's key details here:
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by the Modi administration in 2019, aims to award Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants who are facing persecution. This covers those who came to India before December 31, 2014, including Christians, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Hindus who immigrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. For those who qualify under CAA-2019, the regulations now offer a framework for the application procedure. Visit our website and know what is CAA rule in India.
Indian citizens are not covered by the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Its main goal is to grant Indian citizenship to some overseas nationals who have been subjected to religious discrimination because of their faith in neighbouring nations.
For people who are forced or compelled to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion, the law is applicable.
Areas covered by the Inner Line Permit system and those under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution are not included in the CAA. The purpose of this exclusion is to protect the interests of the northeastern tribes and indigenous populations. Under the CAA, residents of these designated locations will not be qualified to seek for Indian citizenship.
India has awarded citizenship to around 2,830 citizens of Pakistan, 912 citizens of Afghanistan, and 172 citizens of Bangladesh within the last six years. Interestingly, a sizable portion of these people are members of the majority populations of the nations where they live.
The CAA does not target any specific foreign religious community. Rather, it creates a structure that allows migrants who otherwise might have been regarded as "illegal" to seek for Indian citizenship, given that they fulfill specific requirements.
Nationwide protests and widespread resistance to the law have been observed. The Congress party is among the several opposition groups that have denounced the law and called it discriminatory. The rule announcement was released at an odd time, raising suspicions that it was meant to sway the results of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal and Assam.
