New Delhi: The Indian government has expanded the rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) to make it easier for persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to obtain Indian citizenship. The Union Home Ministry announced that any official document issued by the Centre, state governments, or quasi-judicial bodies in India, proving that the applicant’s parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were citizens of any of these three countries, will now be acceptable for citizenship applications.
This clarification by the Home Ministry follows difficulties faced by several applicants seeking Indian citizenship under the CAA due to specific clauses in the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. The original clause required proof that either of the applicant’s parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents was or had been a citizen of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan, which had caused confusion and delays in processing applications.
The Ministry emphasized that these clarifications should be considered when deciding on any citizenship application under the CAA, 2019.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, which came into effect in December 2019, aims to provide Indian citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution. While the CAA received presidential assent in 2019, the rules governing citizenship grants under the Act were only issued on March 11, 2024, following a four-year delay.
Since May 2024, the government has been granting citizenship to eligible individuals under the CAA. However, the Act has been highly controversial, sparking widespread protests across the country. Critics argue that the CAA is discriminatory, as it excludes Muslim migrants from the same provisions. The protests against the CAA led to significant unrest, resulting in the deaths of over 100 people during clashes with police and in various demonstrations.
As the government moves forward with implementing the CAA, the expanded rules are expected to facilitate the citizenship process for eligible minorities, while the debate surrounding the Act continues to evoke strong reactions from different sections of society.
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