The CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) 2019 which was in the barrel has been implemented after 4 years of its Legislation. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided a web portal for people to apply for citizenship.
Source: India Today
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The Modi government will now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan — Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians — who had come to India till December 31, 2014. This decision comes after 4 years and a series of protests against this law. The BJP in its 2019 election manifesto had a goal to implement the CAA. This comes less than a month after Home Minister Amit Shah stressed that the CAA will be implemented before the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
Opposition comes from the non-BJP governed States. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee says so long as she lives she will not allow the CAA to be implemented in her State, she also accuses the BJP of implementing the CAA to garner votes ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The States of Tamil Nadu headed by Chief Minister Stalin says the Act is against “Communal Harmony”. The state of Telangana had also expressed against the legislation of the bill, and so did the Congress government of Madhya Pradesh.
Source: Hindustan Times
The CAA which for the first time makes Religion the basis of Granting Citizenship was met with fierce protest, with over 100 people losing their lives. The argument that goes against the bill is that it violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution which states that “ The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” and also provides citizenship based on religion, violating Article 15(1) of the Indian Constitution. Another argument that goes against this act is that not only Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians have been persecuted, there are others like the Ahmadis and the Shias who have been persecuted. Countries like China and Sri Lanka have also persecuted Buddhists and the Tamil population but there are no provisions for them in this act. Moreover, the CAA act does not mention the word “Religious Persecution” which goes against the very idea it is supposed to affirm.
Some arguments that go in the CAA’s favor are that it is an act to confer citizenship and not deprive citizenship, it also implies that religious persecution is a reasonable classification under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution and hence only religious persecution was the criteria, and not ethnicity or language, like in the case of Tibetan Buddhists or the Sri Lankan Tamil population. Finally, it protects the tribal interests of the northeastern states that come in the 6th schedule and the inner line permit.
Source: Mint
There have been PIL(Public Intrest Litigation) filed on the same and the Supreme Court has yet to hear the petitioner. It will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court perceives this Act and what judgment it gives.
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