PM Modi To Address The Nation Shortly, Major Announcement Expected

The Union Home Ministry is set to announce the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) today. This as per reports from news agency ANI.

Introduced by the Narendra Modi government, the CAA aims to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The act includes Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians among those eligible for citizenship.

Online registrations, along with dry runs conducted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, have commenced. Notably, the majority of applications received are from Pakistan.

The Union Home Ministry's annual report reveals that from April 2021 to December 2021, 1,414 non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan were granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship Act of 1955.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah reaffirmed on February 10 that the CAA would be notified and enforced before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He emphasized that the Act was a fulfillment of a promise made by the Congress government to provide refuge to persecuted minorities.

The Act, which excludes Muslims, has faced criticism for allegedly discriminating on religious grounds. Critics accuse the Modi government of undermining the secular principles of the Indian Constitution and showing bias against the Muslim community.

District authorities have been empowered to grant long-term visas, laying the groundwork for the implementation of the CAA. District magistrates and home secretaries across nine states have been authorized to confer Indian citizenship upon eligible individuals from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan belonging to specified minority communities.