His announcement is likely to have significant political implications in West Bengal, which sends the third-highest number of MPs to the Lower House.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah has declared that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be implemented before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections likely to take place in April-May. To subscribe please click tau.id/2iy6f and access our live channel.
The BJP continues to woo the Matua community, which has a decisive presence in the Bongaon, Ranaghat and Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituencies as well as in pockets of north Bengal.
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What is CAA
The Citizenship Amendment Act Bill provides an accelerated pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians, and arrived in India before the end of December 2014.
The law, however, does not grant such eligibility to Muslims from these countries. was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. The act was the first time that religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law and it attracted global criticism.
CAA and its Criticism
The Bill has faced stiff opposition from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has vowed she will not let it be implemented in the state.
The amendment has been criticized as discriminatory on the basis of religion particularly for excluding Muslims. The Office of the United Nations High Commissions (OHCHR) called it “fundamentally discriminatory”.
Government’s Verdict
Honourable Home Minister Amit Shah stated, “CAA is the law of the land, it will be implemented before the elections. There should be no confusion. I want to make it clear, CAA will not take away anyone’s citizenship. Minority brothers and Muslims are being instigated. No one can lose their citizenship because of CAA, there is no such provision. It is a law to grant citizenship to religiously persecuted Hindus from Bangladesh and Pakistan, there should be no objection from anyone, I feel.”
Conclusion
The CAA was passed in Parliament in December 2019, to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists and Jains from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India before 31 December 2014, without any documents.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra had in November last year claimed that the Matua community in West Bengal will get citizenship soon and no one cannot deny them their right as the final draft of CAA is likely to be ready by 30 March this year.
