CAA to be notified and implemented before Lok Sabha polls : Amit Shah

PTC News Desk: With Lok Sabha Elections 2024 approaching and expected to take place between April and May 2024 to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha,  Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed by the Parliament in December 2019, will be notified and implemented before the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.  

Speaking at the national summit, Amit Shah said, “CAA is an Act of the country, it will be definitely be notified. It will be notified before the polls. CAA will be implemented by the polls, and there should be no confusion around it." 

Amit Shah emphasised that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was originally a commitment made by the Congress government. During the partition when minorities faced persecution in certain countries, Congress assured refugees of their welcome in India and the provision of Indian citizenship.

However, Shah criticized the current stance of the Congress, accusing them of backtracking on their promise.

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He clarified unequivocally that the CAA was introduced with the intention of granting citizenship, not revoking anyone's citizenship.

"Minorities in our country, and specially our Muslim community, are being provoked. CAA cannot snatch away anyone's citizenship because there is no provision in the Act. CAA is an act to provide citizenship to refugees who were persecuted in Bangladesh and Pakistan," says Amit Shah.  

The CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, aims to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians, who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

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Following the passage of the CAA by Parliament in December 2019 and its subsequent presidential assent, significant protests erupted in various parts of the country.