The notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) rules has been pending for more than two years. The government has said that the law is “compassionate and remedial” and will not deprive any Indian of citizenship. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in its new annual report for 2020-21, has said, “The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a legislation made in a limited context and with a specific purpose, adopting a sympathetic and remedial approach with a clear ‘cut-off’. With the date, an attempt has been made to give exemption to particular communities coming from a few selected countries. It is a kind and corrective law.”
It aims to provide citizenship to members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have faced or are facing persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
It states that “CAA does not apply to Indian citizens. Therefore, it does not in any way abridge or curtail the rights of any Indian citizen. Further, the current legal process for obtaining Indian citizenship by any foreigner of any category provided in the Citizenship Act-1955 is very much operational and the CAA does not in any way amend or alter this legal position. Therefore, legal migrants of any religion from any country will continue to enjoy Indian citizenship as long as they fulfill the eligibility conditions already provided in the law for registration or naturalisation.”
The CAA, which aims to give citizenship to migrants from Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, was notified on December 12, 2019, and came into force on January 10, 2020. There were widespread protests across the country over the government’s plan to enumerate the National Register of Citizens (NRC). This was perceived as an attempt to deprive Muslims of Indian citizenship. The notification of its rules, without which the law cannot be enforced, is pending without any commitment from the government as to when this will happen.
The annual report once again seeks to allay the apprehensions about this law in the Northeast, stating that the inclusion of areas under the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and those under the Inner Line Permit regime will help the region The protection of indigenous and tribal population will be ensured.