The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act is linked to the Covid-19 situation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said in an exclusive interview to Network18 Group Editor-in-Chief Rahul Joshi, while maintaining that there is “no question” on going back on it.
The CAA, which facilitates granting of Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and the Presidential nod was received the next day. However, the law is yet to be implemented as rules under the CAA are yet to be framed.
Asked when the CAA would be implemented, Amit Shah said in the interview: “As long as we are not free from Covid-19, this can’t be a priority. We have seen three waves. We have seen three waves. Thankfully, things are getting better, the third wave is receding. The decision is linked to the Covid situation. But there is no question of going back on it. The question does not arise.”
In January this year, the Union Home Ministry had approached the parliamentary committees seeking more time for framing rules under the CAA.
According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within six months of presidential assent or seek extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Since, the Home Ministry could not frame rules within six months of the enactment of the CAA, it sought time from the committees — first in June 2020 and then four more times.
The Central government has already made it clear that the Indian citizenship to the eligible beneficiaries of the CAA will be given only after rules under the legislation are notified.
The objective of the CAA is to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Those from these communities who had come to India till December 31, 2014, facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants and given Indian citizenship.
After the CAA was passed by Parliament in 2019, widespread protests were witnessed in the country. Those opposing the CAA contended that it discriminates on the basis of religion and violates the Constitution. They also alleged that the CAA along with the National Register of Citizens is intended to target the Muslim community in India.
However, Amit Shah had dismissed the case and described the protests against the CAA as “mostly political”. He had asserted that no Indian would lose citizenship due to the Act.
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