One of the most vociferous and ferocious opponents of the CAA for a long time, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has declared that her government will not tolerate "anything that discriminates (against) people".
A few weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, is scheduled to take into effect, according to a notification released by the government on Monday night.
After over 100 people died in nationwide violent protests, the CAA faced strong opposition from activists and opposition politicians and was approved by Parliament in December 2019. The CAA makes religion the first litmus test for Indian citizenship and has raised concerns that it could be used to target religious minorities.
The central government can now offer citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, including those from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
According to a Home Ministry representative, qualified candidates might apply "in a completely online mode." One official stated that no more paperwork will be required from the applicants.
The central government can now offer citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, including those from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
According to a Home Ministry representative, qualified candidates might apply "in a completely online mode." One official stated that no more paperwork will be required from the applicants.
One of the main campaign promises made by the BJP prior to the 2019 election was the implementation of the CAA.
And less than a month after Home Minister Amit Shah declared that the CAA was "an act of the country" and that it will undoubtedly be notified, this notification has been made. The CAA will take effect prior to the election.
The Home Minister, who spearheaded the government's push for this issue in both chambers of Congress, downplayed concerns that Muslims would be singled out by the CAA and the National Register of Citizens.
He charged that Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of Bengal, who has long been among the most outspoken and vociferous opponents of the CAA, has intentionally misled her state's citizens on this issue. With 42 Lok Sabha seats, Bengal is expected to play a significant role in the BJP's pursuit of its 370-seat goal.
At a hurriedly called press conference, Ms. Banerjee, in the meantime, made her position clear almost immediately, telling reporters that her government will firmly oppose "anything that discriminates (against) people".
"We will not tolerate discrimination of any kind. whether it be language, caste, or religion. In two days, they won't be allowed to grant citizenship to anyone. "This is just a show-off and lollipop," she exclaimed.
"After multiple extensions in four years, its implementation two to three days before the election announcement shows that it is being done for political reasons," she said of the BJP.
The leader of the Trinamool Party also mentioned that she did not want disturbances before the election and that the CAA, the NRC, and the NPR, or National Population Register, were delicate subjects in Bengal and the northeast.
It's noteworthy that the CAA does not apply to certain areas of the northeast.
Also, she charged that the BJP was using the CAA controversy in order to get votes. "BJP has once again dragged up CAA to garner political advantages as elections draw near. But I refuse to let that happen as long as I live."
The Assam Students Union, which spearheaded protests in the state four years ago, has called for another uprising in the northeast, where anti-CAA demonstrators and the police engaged in violent altercations.
There are other opposition politicians who have opposed the CAA besides Ms. Banerjee.
MK Stalin, the leader of Tamil Nadu, was equally forceful in his remarks as the leader of Bengal. The leader of the DMK also pledged he would not enforce the law, accusing the BJP government of acting "against communal harmony".
Other states that rejected the CAA and passed resolutions included Kerala, Punjab, and states that were ruled by the Congress in the past and the BJP currently, such Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In actuality, all NPR—the National Population Register—and NRC work was discontinued by the governments of Bengal and Kerala.
Along with passing resolutions against all three, the then-ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao called on the government to "remove all references to any religion, or to any foreign country" in Telangana, citing concerns voiced by thousands of people nationwide.
A resolution was also passed by the Madhya Pradesh government, which was then run by the Congress. Interestingly, a number of state legislators and leaders of the BJP also opposed the legislation.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, according to the government, will assist minority who fled countries with a majority of Muslims in obtaining citizenship if they did so because of religious persecution. Critics counter that it goes against the Constitution's secular values and is intended to discriminate against Muslims.
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