Image: ANI
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be implemented once Covid-19 pandemic subsides, Union Minister Amit Shah announced to a rally in Jalpaiguri on May 5, 2022, said Times of India.
Addressing the gathering in West Bengal nearly an year after state elections, Shah said that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has falsely claimed that the CAA will not be implemented. He referred to an earlier statement of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wherein she said that the Act had lapsed.
In response, Shah accused the state government of allowing “refugee-infiltration” while the Centre granted recognition to the refugees. He went on to say that the administration was trying to divide the Gorkhas, Rajbanshis and Adivasis in the north.
The CAA passed by the Parliament in 2019 provides citizenship to refugees from six non-Muslim minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, on the condition that they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014. This in turn means that Muslims from these regions will not be granted citizenship – a fact that sparked widespread protests at the time. The February 2020 North-east Delhi violence has been blamed on anti-CAA protests in the area. As per a May 18 Rajya Sabha response, 52 people died and 545 persons were injured.
The law is yet to be implemented because the rules under this Act have still not been framed. Still, north-eastern states fear the impact of this law when used with the National Register of Citizens to disenfranchise citizens of this country. Several states such as Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have moved a resolution against the CAA.
According to NDTV, over 4,000 foreigners were granted citizenship in the last five years with Gujarat leading the tally. A nearly equal number of applications from people from the Hindu community and seeking Indian citizenship is pending.
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