The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): On Wednesday, the Union government initiated the process of granting citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in West Bengal, Haryana, and Uttarakhand. This act, enacted in December 2019, aims to provide Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014.
Applicants from these states were granted citizenship by their respective State Empowered Committees, as confirmed by a statement from the Union Home Ministry. This development follows the issuance of the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, which were handed over by the Union Home Secretary in New Delhi on May 15.
This second batch of citizenship certificates comes just days before the final phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections on June 1, with several constituencies in West Bengal set to vote on Saturday. The vote counting is scheduled for June 4.
Despite being enacted in 2019, the rules for granting citizenship under the CAA were only issued on March 11 of this year, following a delay of over four years. These rules outline the application process, including the procedure for processing applications by the District Level Committee (DLC) and the scrutiny and grant of citizenship by the State Level Empowered Committee (SLEC). The entire application process is conducted through an online portal.
The passing of the CAA in 2019 led to widespread protests across the country, with critics labeling the law as “discriminatory.” Over a hundred people lost their lives during these protests or due to police actions. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has consistently asserted that the implementation of the CAA is unstoppable, describing it as the law of the land and accusing the opposition of misleading the public on this issue