On Monday evening, the government issued a notification for the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), set to be implemented just weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha election. The CAA, which introduces religion as a factor in Indian citizenship for the first time, had sparked fears of targeting religious minorities and was cleared by Parliament in December 2019 amidst nationwide protests that resulted in over 100 deaths and fierce opposition from activists and politicians.
With the notification issued, the central government can now grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. Eligible individuals can submit applications online without additional documentation.
The implementation of the CAA was a significant campaign promise for the BJP before the 2019 election. Home Minister Amit Shah, who led the government’s efforts on this issue in Parliament, recently reaffirmed the CAA’s impending notification, dismissing concerns about targeting Muslims.
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a vocal critic of the CAA, quickly responded, pledging to oppose anything discriminatory. She criticized the timing of the notification, just before the election, as politically motivated.
Opposition to the CAA extends beyond Bengal, with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin also refusing to implement it, accusing the BJP of undermining communal harmony. Several states, including Kerala and Punjab, as well as those formerly ruled by the Congress, such as Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, have opposed the CAA and halted NPR and NRC activities.
The Assam Students Union, which led protests against the CAA in the northeast, has called for renewed agitation. In Telangana, the former ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi and the Madhya Pradesh government, then under Congress rule, also passed resolutions against the CAA, with some BJP leaders and lawmakers from Madhya Pradesh criticizing the law.
While the government argues that the CAA assists minorities from Muslim-majority countries facing religious persecution, critics argue it discriminates against Muslims and violates the Constitution’s secular principles.
