IT’S OFFICIAL NOW! MODI GOVT KEEPS CAA PROMISE

New Delhi: The government on Monday evening issued a notification for implementation of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act. The CAA - which makes religion, for the first time, a test of Indian citizenship - was cleared by Parliament in December 2019 amid violent protests, in which more than 100 people died, and fierce resistance from opposition politicians and opposition-ruled states.

Now that the notification is issued, the govt can grant citizenship to nonMuslim migrants - from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan - who came to India before December 31, 2014. A spokesperson for the Union Home Ministry said eligible individuals could submit citizenship applications in “a completely online mode, for which a web portal has been provided”. No other documentation will be sought from the applicants, official said.

This comes just weeks before the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, in which PM Modi’s party will bid for a 3rd consecutive term. And it comes less than a month after HM Amit Shah stressed CAA will “definitely be notified”.