Indian Central government officially notified that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will come into force from today i.e., January 10, 2020.
Despite nationwide protests against the implementation of CAA, the Home Ministry has declared that it will be in force from today. Though the rules have not been yet framed, the CAA will be in force from today.
The Union Home ministry notification said –
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (47 of 2019), the Central Government hereby appoints the 10th day of January 2020, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force,
It is known that the CAA was passed in the Indian Parliament and got the nod from President of India too. Many of the Indian states have also opposed and declared that they won’t be implementing this Act.
What CAA is?
According to the new Citizenship Amendment Act, Immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddist, Jain, Parsi and Christian religions will be granted Indian citizenship. Immigrants facing prosecution charges until December 2014 will be covered under this new Act.
What is the Controversy in this Act?
The main controversy that lies in this bill is the omission of the Muslim community. The opposition in India pointed to the central government’s discretion among the people on the basis of community which is against the Constitution of India.
Around 100 petitions were filed in different High Courts of the respective states those who refuse to implement the CAA.
Apart from this, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah also stated that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will also be implemented across India. This stoked fears among Muslims of losing their citizenship.
However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not commented on the implementation of NRC.