NEW DELHI: India’s government has announced to implement a controversial citizenship law that is being strongly criticized for being anti-Muslim.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will allow non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to seek Indian citizenship.
According to the authorities the law will help those facing persecution.
The law was passed in 2019 – triggering mass protests in which scores of people killed and many more were arrested.
The country’s home affairs minister Amit Shah on Monday made the announcement on Monday. In a post on social media he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had realized the promise of the makers of Indian constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries.
Implementation of the CAA has been one of the key promises of Modi’s Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the general elections this year.
The Modi government also made changes to the 64-year-old Indian Citizenship law, which stops illegal migrants from becoming Indian citizens.
Under the law, those seeking Indian citizenship will have to prove that they came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan by 31 December 2014.
The Indian government has not announced a date for when the law change will be implemented.
Critics of the CAA say it violates the secular principles enshrined in the constitution of India, that stops discrimination against citizens on religious basis.
The new law does not cover those fleeing legal battles in non-Muslim countries, including Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka and Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar.
Opposition has also criticized recent announcement accusing the government of trying to influence the upcoming general election.
