May 16, 2024
NEW DELHI – The first set of citizenship certificates after notification of India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024 were handed over today.
The CAA envisages the granting of Indian citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have entered India up to December 31, 2014, due to persecution on the grounds of religion or fear of such persecution, the Indian Home Ministry said in a statement.
Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over citizenship certificates to 14 applicants at an event in New Delhi, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
The Empowered Committee, Delhi, headed by the director (Census Operation), Delhi, after due scrutiny, decided to grant citizenship to 14 applicants. Accordingly, the director (Census operation) granted certificates to these applicants.
The CAA was passed by parliament in 2019 but the BJP-led central government notified the CAA implementation rules in March this year.
The rules envisage the manner of application forms, procedures for processing applications by district-level committee (DLC), scrutiny and grant of citizenship by state-level empowered committee.
Several Opposition leaders, including West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, have vowed that they will not implement the law in their respective states saying it discriminates Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan in grant of citizenship.
On the other hand, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have promised that the law will be implemented across the country.