Migrants from six minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh looking to become Indian citizens under the Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA will be granted citizenship with retrospective effect, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Tuesday, a day after the law was implemented.
“Persons granted citizenship by registration or naturalization under Section 6B of the Citizenship Act shall be deemed to be a citizen of India from the date of his/her entry into India,” stated the FAQs posted by the ministry on the portal – https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/#caa – also launched on Tuesday.
6B was inserted in the Citizenship Amendment Act for the acquisition of citizenship by naturalization by migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh, who belong to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities and who entered India before December 31, 2014.
The law was implemented on Monday after the government issued its rules, more than four years after it was passed by Parliament.
CAA Rules
About the portal, unveiled on Tuesday and which allows individuals to create a login and then submit their applications, the MHA said on its X (formerly Twitter) account – “The Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 under the CAA-2019 have been notified. A new portal has been launched; persons eligible under CAA-2019 can apply for citizenship on this portal”.
A mobile application, ‘CAA-2019’, will also be launched “shortly” to facilitate applications through mobile, the ministry said.
The frequently asked questions (FAQs), seen by HT, further assert that a person from six minority communities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh applying for citizenship will be eligible for it if he/she fulfils the following criteria: – “he/she has either resided in India or been in the service of a government in India or partly the one and partly the other, throughout 12 months immediately preceding the date of the application”; “during the fourteen years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months, he/she has either resided in India or been in the service of a government of India, or partly the one and partly the other, for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less than five years”; “he/she is a good character”; “he/she has an adequate knowledge of a language specified in the eighth schedule to the constitution of India”.
In a case where a valid passport or visa is not available, the FAQs state the person will be eligible only if he or she has entered India before December 31, 2014, and has been exempted under the Passport Act or Foreigners Act.
Also read | NIA conducts raids in four States in terrorist-gangster nexus case
The applicants must also provide an eligibility certificate from the locally reputed community institution stating that the person “belongs to Hindu/ Sikh/ Buddhist/ Jain/ Parsi/ Christian community and continues to be a member of the community”.
Speaking on the law at a social media volunteers meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Secunderabad on Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit out at the Congress for ignoring minorities from these three countries since independence.
He said the Congress was against CAA due to appeasement and vote-bank politics.
“We had said we would bring CAA. The Congress party opposed it. Since Independence, it was a promise of the Congress and makers of our Constitution that citizenship would be granted to those persecuted on religious grounds in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, who come to India. But, due to appeasement and vote-bank politics, the Congress party opposed the CAA,” Shah said.
The home minister said lakhs and crores of people from Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India felt insulted as they were not granted citizenship.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi honored them (the refugees) by implementing the CAA,” Shah added.
As protests were reported from certain parts of the country on Tuesday, MHA clarified that the CAA will not take away anyone’s citizenship.
“Many misconceptions have been spread regarding the CAA. It will not take away the citizenship of any Indian citizen, irrespective of religion,” said an MHA spokesperson on Tuesday.
“CAA removes legal barriers to rehabilitation and citizenship for members of these six communities. It will give a dignified life to refugees who have suffered for decades, and such citizenship rights will protect their cultural, linguistic, and social identity. Besides, it will also ensure economic, commercial, free movement, and property purchase rights,” said an MHA official who didn’t want to be named.
For more updates, click here.
