14 Individuals Receive Citizenship Certificates for the First Time Under CAA

Union Home Secretary Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to applicants in Delhi. These certificates were made available under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The CAA reduces the citizenship application period from 11 to 5 years for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. During the interactive session, Secretary Posts, Director (IB), Registrar General of India, and senior officers were also present.

Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla highlighted the key features of the CAA, which was enacted in December 2019. The Act grants Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from the specified countries, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. The rules for granting Indian citizenship under the CAA were issued in March 2021, following a delay of over four years. The ruling party, BJP, attributed this delay to the pandemic, as it had committed to enacting the Citizenship Amendment Bill in its 2019 manifesto.

The implementation of the CAA drew criticism from the opposition, which viewed it as discriminatory and linked to the Lok Sabha elections. However, the government maintains that the CAA does not prevent persecuted Muslims from applying for Indian citizenship under existing laws. Despite these assurances, protests against the CAA were witnessed in various parts of the country, with concerns that the law could be used to declare individuals as illegal immigrants and strip them of their Indian citizenship. The government, on the other hand, asserts that the law is aimed at helping minorities facing persecution in Muslim-majority nations.

The Ministry of Home Affairs led by Amit Shah emphasized that no Indian citizen would be required to produce documentation to prove citizenship. Additionally, the Ministry stated that the Citizenship Act does not address the deportation of illegal immigrants.