New Delhi, March 12: Days before the announcement of dates for general elections, the government on Monday notified the rules for implementing the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, passed on December 11, 2019. Civil society and Muslim groups call it unconstitutional.
Indian Union Muslim League filed a plea in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, requesting a stay on the newly implemented CAA Rules 2024.
However, CAA-2019 will not be implemented in tribal areas in Northeastern states, including those granted special status under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution. As per the law, it won’t be implemented in all Northeastern states where Inner Line Permit (ILP) is required for a visit by people from other parts of the country. Presently, ILP is in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur.
The CAA seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis who came to India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
S.Q.R Ilyas, president of Welfare Party of India, said, “CAA was passed four years back; now its rules have been framed. It’s just a political move to polarise voters on religious lines. People must ask the Government, ‘If you welcome people in large numbers from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, have you provided livelihood for all Indians?’ Muslims should not protest singlehandedly. If it is to be done, it should be a joint protest with civil society.”
Nadeem Khan of United Against Hate said, “As Parliament notified rules for CAA, we declare our unequivocal opposition to the discriminatory CAA/NRC/NPR. We view the CAA-2019 as being violative of the fundamental principles of the Constitution. The Constitutional provisions (Articles 5 to 11) and fundamental rights underline the fundamentals of equality and non-discrimination.”
“The CAA is not a mere change in the statute but is a law that seeks to fundamentally alter the character of Indian Republic. Indian Citizenship flows from the Constitution that grants it as a Fundamental Right. A right cannot be Religion-Specific or Country or Origin-Specific. We, see CAA/NRC/NPR as intricately interconnected, where NPR will be feeding into the development of NRC. We also believe CAA is a dishonest attempt on the part of the government to further its Hindutva agenda under the garb of providing assistance for refugees,” said Khan.
“We therefore reject the discriminatory CAA. We call for a complete halt to NPR/NRC process. We pledge to stand united against this communally divisive law. We also extend our solidarity to the political prisoners incarcerated under UAPA for last four years for protesting against CAA. We reaffirm our faith in the Preamble of the Constitution,” he said.
