The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued the first set of citizenship certificates under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla distributed citizenship certificates to first 14 people in New Delhi after their applications were processed online through an assigned portal. Many other applicants are being given digitally signed certificates through email.
The 14 people who received the certificates in Delhi came from Pakistan in 2013. The country of origin of the applicants was not disclosed by the government but reportedly, most applicants were Pakistani Hindu, Government sources said.
In total, the Union Government granted citizenship certificates to more than 300 people who applied under the Citizenship across the country who applied under the Act.
The controversial CAA Rules
The rules envisage the manner of application form, the procedure for processing applications by the District Level Committee (DLC), and the scrutiny and grant of citizenship by the state level Empowered Committee (EC) headed by the director (census operation).
MHA notified the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) in March this year. The CAA was enacted in December 2019 to grant Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. These include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians. The Act got the President’s assent but the rules under which the Indian citizenship was granted were issued only on March 11 this year after over four years delay.
IUML reaches Supreme Court
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), an ally of Congress in Kerala, has decided to approach the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India, citing the violation of poll guidelines. It had moved the Supreme Court earlier also, seeking a stay on the CAA and rules notified by the government in March.
The operationalization of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 is a blow to the Indian constitutional values of equality and religious non-discrimination and inconsistent and incompatible with India’s international human rights obligations, stated Amnesty International at time of passing of the Act.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar had reacted to US Ambassador Eric Garcetti’s remark on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying he questions the country’s understanding of India’s history.
Justifying the law, which fast-tracks Indian citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the minister said India has the obligation to those “who were let down at the time of Partition”.
Massive protests had erupted across India when the act was passed in 2019, in which over a hundred people lost their lives. After it was passed, there were objections, but they only less intensified after the COVID-19 outbreak and a number of petitions are still pending before the Supreme Court.
