Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Draft to be Released by March 30 Before Lok Sabha Elections

The final draft of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which is also known as CAA can be ready by 30 March next year. This development was informed by Ajay Mishra, the Union Minister of State for Home. Citizenship Amendment Act, 1955 gives eligibility for Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, and who entered India on or before 31 December 2014.

The Act does not mention Muslims!

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra announced that the rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be formulated by the end of March 2024.  He told the Matua community in West Bengal, which consists of persons who have sought asylum from religious persecution in Bangladesh, that their citizenship rights would be respected. The Act states that these individuals must have resided in India for at least six years and entered the country before December 31, 2014.

“The process to roll out CAA has gained momentum in the last couple of years, some issues are being sorted out. Nobody can snatch citizenship rights from the Matuas. By March next year, the final draft of the CAA is expected to be ready for coming into force,” Mishra said, as quoted.

People from these communities who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, will not be classified as illegal immigrants under the Act. But they will be granted Indian citizenship. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had aggressively opposed the revised Act’s implementation. She described it as a means to “politicize” citizenship standards.

The Citizenship Amendment Act was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. The amendment has been criticized as discriminating based on religion, particularly for excluding Muslims. The act was the first time that religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law, and it attracted global criticism.