The Centre on Monday implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), five years after it was passed in Parliament. The notification comes ahead of the announcement of dates for the Lok Sabha elections by the Election Commission of India.
In February, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the CAA, which was enacted in 2019, will be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections this year after issuing the rules in this regard.
The CAA, enacted by Parliament on December 11, 2019, has been a subject of intense debate and widespread protests across India.
The CAA amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 to provide a fast-track pathway to Indian citizenship for migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who belong to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian communities and who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, due to facing religious persecution in their home countries.
There were sit-ins at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh and protest gatherings in Guwahati, Assam. All the protests fizzled out during the Covid-induced restrictions and lockdowns.
Even after four years of its passing in Parliament, the CAA was not implemented as the rules and the process were to be finalised.