14 Individuals Receive Citizenship Certificates Under CAA for the First Time

Union Home Secretary Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla recently handed over citizenship certificates to applicants in Delhi. The certificates were given under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which reduces the qualification period for citizenship application 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 event, Secretary Posts, Director (IB), Registrar General of India, and other senior officers were also present. The CAA, enacted in December 2019, aims to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from the aforementioned countries, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians.

The Act received the president’s assent, and the rules for granting Indian citizenship were issued after a delay of over four years on March 11, 2021. The ruling BJP attributed the delay to the pandemic, as it had committed to enacting the Citizenship Amendment Bill in its 2019 manifesto. The notification of the CAA’s implementation drew criticism from the opposition, which deemed the move discriminatory and politically motivated. However, the Centre has maintained that the CAA does not prevent persecuted Muslims from applying for Indian citizenship under existing laws and does not deal with the deportation of illegal immigrants.

Despite the government’s assurances, protests against the CAA have taken place in several parts of the country, with some expressing fears about its potential use to declare them as illegal immigrants and strip them of Indian citizenship. The government denies these claims and asserts that the law is intended to aid minorities facing persecution in Muslim-majority nations. The Ministry of Home Affairs, headed by Amit Shah, emphasized that no Indian citizen would be required to produce any documents to prove their citizenship. The ministry clarified that the purpose of the CAA is to provide persecuted minorities with the opportunity for a happy and prosperous future in India.