CAA Turns Into Reality: After 4 Years of Bill Passage, BJP Govt Releases Notification

The BJP’s government made a marquee announcement about the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). On Monday evening, as the Central Government released the notification from the CAA just a few weeks ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, it turned up the political heat across the nation.

With this act, the central govt can now provide citizenship to the people of other countries according to their religion. This is the first act in India that makes religion a test for a nation’s citizenship. 

However, the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act was a major campaign platform for the BJP before the 2019 polls. When the bill was presented in parliament in 2019, violent protests took place across the country. However, amid the protest, the bill got cleared in both houses. After four years of the bill’s clearance, the BJP govt issued the notification today. 

So, the notification was issued, and now the central govt can grant citizenship to non-Muslim migrants, especially Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Pharsis, and Christians who came to India from Muslim countries, mostly Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, before December 31, 2014.

A month ago, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stressed the CAA and said, “CAA is an act of the country. Definitely, it will be notified. Nobody needs to be confused about this. It will come into effect before the polls.” Nonetheless, Mr. Shah also sought to minimize fears of the CAA Act, and to target religious minorities, the equally contentious National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be combined.