Omkar Dattatray
The much controversial citizenship Amendment Act which has been passed in year 2019 by both the houses of parliament and had also got the assent of the president and has become a law .But the irony is this that despite of its passing by the both houses of parliament and it became a law and still government has failed to notify the rules concerning with the important Act and it stands to be dumped into the dust bin .However the union home minister Amit shah has made it crystal that the rules concerning to CAA will be notified before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and this has been said by no less than by the home minister Amit Shah the other day while answering the question concerning with the CAA and it is so good that the MEA has declared that the rules concerning with the CAA will be notified shortly before the general elections .It is the irony of this country that each and every thing is politicized here and same is the case with CAA’s notification with the result that it has not been notified despite it becoming a law in 2019.Unnecessarily the much needed and important piece of legislation has been politicized by the cunning politicians for their personal benefits ,with the result that it could not become a law .Better late than never ,centre likely to notify CAA rules before Model Code of Conduct imposition .The ministry of Home Affairs is set to announce the regulations for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA ) 2019 before the imposition of MCC in the country for the Lok Sabha elections .The CAA aims to grant Indian Citizenship to the West Pak refugees and to be specific persecuted non Muslim migrants from Bangladesh ,Pakistan ,and Afghanistan. Thus centre could notify the rules for the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act -CAA before the Election Commission of India implements the MCC before the Lok Sabha elections .Union Home Minister Amit Shah recently asserted that the CAA would be notified before the Lok Sabha polls and reiterated that the Act does not take away anyone’s citizenship as it lacks such a provision .Shah said, ”Our Muslim brothers are being misled and instigated against CAA .The CAA is only meant to give citizenship to those who came to India after facing persecution in Pakistan ,Bangladesh and Afghanistan .It is not for snatching anyone’s Indian citizenship. He also stated that the CAA was a promise of the congress government and accused them of backtracking on their assurance to provide Indian citizenship to refugees persecuted in Pakistan ,Afghanistan and Bangladesh .It is likely that the code of conduct might be implemented any time in March .The regulations are ready and an online portal for the entire procedure ,which will be carried out digitally ,is ready in place. Applicants will be required to state the year they entered India without any travel documents and no further documentation will be needed .As usual Asaduddin Owasi of AIMIM chief has reacted on expected lines in response to home ministers candid reply that CAA rules and regulations will be notified before the general elections and even before the imposition of MCC in the country and said that law is to trouble Muslims. The home minister Amit Shah has categorically stated that no power can stop the country to enforce the CAA as it has already become a law of the land .Amit Shah further said,” The regulations are prepared and online portal is already set up for the entire process ,which will be conducted digitally .Applicants will need to disclose only the year of their entry to India without any travel documents .No additional documentation will be required from the applicants. ”The CAA ,proposed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government ,intends to offer Indian citizenship to oppressed non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh ,Pakistan and Afghanistan who came to India prior to December 31,2014.The CAA 2019 aims to amend the citizenship Amendment Act 1955 to provide a fast -track pathway to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan ,Pakistan and Bangladesh who entered Indian on or before 31st December 2014.Earlier there was unnecessary hullabaloo ,hue and cry and the unprecedented protests in Shahin Bagh Delhi and other places in the country forcing the government to put the law into hold .However the MHA will notify the rules and regulations in this regard and the law will be notified before the general elections and it is a good thing as it provides for equality between citizens as the refugees will be treated and offered Indian citizenship and discrimination with these migrants will cease .It is in the fitness of things to note that the Citizenship Amendment Act became a law in December 2019 ,but has not been functional for the last four years as the Ministry of Home Affairs sought repeated extensions to frame rules under it .The rules under CAA under works ever since the Act was passed at the end of 2019-are now ready and will be notified before 2024 Lok Sabha elections .The CAA was passed in the lower house on December 10,2019 and in the upper house two days later after it was introduced in the upper house by union home minister Amit Shah .The move drew heavy criticism from politicians and citizens alike for ostensibly singling out Muslims and excluding them from its purview .The Act aims to provide citizenship to Hindus ,Sikhs ,Jains, Parsis ,Christians ,Buddhists purportedly fleeing persecution from India’s Muslim -majority neighbors’ ,namely ,Pakistan ,Afghanistan and Bangladesh .The notable absence of Muslims from the provisions of the legislation ,irrespective of whether or not they are being persecuted in their countries ,as well as the unconstitutional nature of the legislation when coupled with National Register of Citizens -NRC ,had drawn widespread protests from thousands of citizens across the country .Despite the protests and violence that ensured ,the government notified the law in January 2020.Yet,the rules have remained unwritten until now ,four years later .”All things are in place and yes ,they are likely to be implemented before the elections .Over the last few years, .BJP leaders have brought up the CCA multiple times in rallies and promised that the Act will soon be functional .Most recently ,Amit Shah said at a rally in West Bengal last week ,”Didi (west Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee) often misleads our refugee brothers regarding CAA .Let me make it clear that CAA is the law of the land and no one can stop it. Everybody is going to get citizenship .This is our party’s commitment .A bench of petitions challenging the legal validity of the CAA are pending before supreme court .In October 2023,the union government submitted an affidavit in the court defending the law and calling it a ”benign piece of legislation.”
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).
