The entire process is expected to be conducted online, with applicants required to declare the year of their entry into India without travel documents.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI/PATNA – Reports circulating in the power echelons of Lutyens’ Delhi suggest that the home ministry is all set to release the long-awaited rules for the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The proposed law has been a focal point of the country’s political discourse for the past four years.
These reports started surfacing immediately after Home Minister Amit Shah, at a recent public rally in West Bengal, reiterated the government’s commitment to implement the controversial CAA. Reliable sources indicate that these rules are set to be unveiled well in advance of January 26.
However, opposition voices have escalated their critique with Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi denouncing the CAA as unconstitutional. Owaisi contended that the law, operating on religious criteria, should be scrutinised in conjunction with the National Population Register-National Register of Citizens (NPR-NRC).
Speaking to media personnel in Hyderabad, Owaisi expressed concerns that the law may impose the arduous task of proving citizenship, particularly on individuals from economically disadvantaged, Muslim, and Dalit communities.
Joining the dissent, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury questioned the timing of the impending CAA rules, alleging a political motive behind the delayed issuance.
In a talk with the media in New Delhi, Yechury suggested that the government is seeking to exploit the CAA for communal polarisation and political gain, particularly with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Despite these reservations, home ministry sources affirm the readiness of the CAA rules, unveiling an online portal for the application process. The entire process is expected to be conducted online, with applicants required to declare the year of their entry into India without travel documents.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav also voiced concerns over the impending implementation of the CAA. “Issues surrounding Hindu-Muslim dynamics are likely to hog the limelight as the 2024 Lok Sabha elections draw near,” he said.
Responding to Amit Shah’s commitment to implement CAA, Tejashwi cautioned that such pronouncements often resemble balloons released into the air with no tangible results.
At an interaction with the media here on Tuesday, the RJD leader asserted that the looming elections could bring contentious issues like Hindu-Muslim relations to the forefront of political discourse.
The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, aims to provide Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
As the political discourse intensifies, the nation eagerly awaits the unveiling of CAA rules, a development that undoubtedly holds the potential to shape the country’s socio-political landscape in the coming months.
