Modi government has implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Sources say that this law will not take away the citizenship of any Indian, no matter which religion he belongs to.
The CAA will grant citizenship to people facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who took refuge in India before December 31, 2014. The government has cleared many misconceptions regarding CAA.
An official informed that citizenship rights will protect cultural, linguistic and social identity.
It will also ensure economic, commercial, free movement and the right to buy property. The six persecuted communities include Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians.
Sources have said the CAA will remove legal barriers to resettlement and ensure a dignified life for refugees who have suffered for decades by granting citizenship. He said that many misconceptions have been spread regarding CAA.
There is a law to give citizenship, not to take it away
The officer said that this is a law to grant citizenship, not to take away the citizenship of any Indian, no matter what religion he belongs to.
He said that this law is only for those who have suffered persecution for years and who have no other refuge in the world except India.
The Constitution of India empowers the government to grant citizenship to refugees facing religious persecution in their country on humanitarian grounds.
Officials clarified that there was a delay in implementing the CAA due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The BJP, the ruling party at the Centre, had said in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections that the party was committed to implementing the CAA for the protection of persecuted religious minorities from neighboring countries.