National Desk, 27th December: Union Home Minister Amit Shah has firmly stated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be implemented, emphasizing its status as the law of the land. He accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading the public on this matter. The Citizenship Amendment Act, a significant amendment to the 1955 Citizenship Act, has been a topic of intense political debate in India.
Introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2016, the CAA came into force on January 10, 2020, with its implementation beginning on December 20, 2019. Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya granted citizenship certificates to seven Pakistani refugees on that day.
The essence of the CAA is to provide a pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014. This includes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who faced persecution in their home countries. Notably, India lacks an official refugee/asylum policy.
Amit Shah’s vocal support for the CAA has been consistent, reiterating its legal standing and dismissing any attempts to halt its implementation. Despite opposition, particularly from parties like the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee, Shah remains steadfast in the government’s commitment to the CAA.
Shah’s confidence in the CAA’s implementation aligns with his political goals for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal, where he aims to secure a significant number of Lok Sabha seats. The BJP’s notable gains in the state are attributed, in part, to the promise of implementing the CAA.
While the CAA’s passage in December 2019 faced strong opposition, the rules governing the law are yet to be notified by the Union home ministry. Despite this, Shah’s statements indicate a clear and unwavering stance by the central government in favor of enforcing the CAA.