Those Seeking Citizenship Under CAA 'Must Submit Proof Of Religion': MHA

A Home Ministry official has revealed that migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, will have to submit proof of their religion while seeking Indian citizenship under the new Citizenship Amendment Law,

However, it is still not clear, on what grounds the government officials will identify that an applicant had faced persecution in any of these countries, The Indian Express reported

The Citizenship Amendment Act expedites granting of Indian citizenship to the non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who have come to India before December 31, 2014.

When the contentious Bill was first introduced in the Parliament, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said that minorities face persecution in the Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh and hence the refugees from these countries will be given citizenship. However, in the bill, the word 'persecuted' is not mentioned.

It seems that government officials will now presume that all the applicants seeking Indian citizenship have faced persecution. The draft CAA, 2019, rules will seek documents from applicants that they entered India before December 31, 2014, and that they belong to any of the six religions mentioned in the Act.

On anonymity, a Home Ministry official told the national daily that the process of granting citizenship will be done after the submission of any Indian government document acquired before December 31, 2014, in which the applicant has declared his/her religion like Hindu, Sikh Christian, Parsi, Jain, or Buddhist.

The official citing an example said that if a person has enrolled his/her kid in a government school than they already have declared their religion. He further said that a person who has acquired Aadhaar before December 31, 2014, and has declared his/her religion as being from among the six mentioned in the Act then it would be acceptable, adding that any form of government document declaring religion will be accepted.

On the implementation of CAA in Assam, the official said that the Home Ministry has accepted the demand of shortening the time period to three months or six months to those seeking citizenship.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and his Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had made the request to the home ministry to keep a limited period window for applying under the CAA.

States like Kerala, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Punjab have already passed a resolution against the CAA in their state assembly. Many more states are expected to follow suit. According to The Hindu, an MHA official said that the States will have no role in the implementation of CAA as the citizenship was the domain of the Centre.

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