CAA India Updates: Muslim activists express support for Citizenship Amendment Act

Four years after the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, was introduced, the Union home ministry on Monday introduced the rules to implement the law. Coming just ahead of the general elections, this move is once again bound to polarise the polity as it did in 2019. Read More

"There are three main reasons why we oppose it. Firstly, it changes the definition of citizenship and links it to religion which is highly discriminatory. Secondly, we oppose it because of the timing of this announcement. BJP thrives on polarisation and division - it is in the DNA of their politics," she said.

Maurya pointed out that the union home ministry notified rules for implementation of CAA on Monday, days ahead of the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections schedule.

The Assam Police have issued notices to opposition parties "ordering" them to "withdraw" the hartal over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and warned that "legal action" will be taken against them if they fail to follow the diktat.

Meghalaya CM Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday said the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will not have any impact in the state since the sixth schedule areas have been exempted from its purview even as several organisations including the North East Students Organisation burnt copies of the CAA notification to protest its implementation.

NESO chairman Samuel B Jyrwa led the protest at the Khasi Students Union (KSU) monument, adjacent to the Raj Bhavan here. NESO constituents in other NE states also protested by burning copies of the notification.

Protests against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) erupted across Assam on Tuesday with effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and copies of the law being burnt.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), 30 non-political indigenous organisations besides Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), Congress, Raijor Dal and CPI(M) launched protests in various parts of the northeastern state a day after the CAA was implemented by the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Sufi Khanqah Association president Kausar Hasan Mazidi in a statement said there is a need among the Muslim community that they should not sway away by rumours and fake news spread by divisive forces and not indulge in any kind of violence.

Sufi Islamic Board national president Mansoor Khan said a new section 6 (b) of the CAA proposes that if the victims of religious persecution register themselves by adopting the specified conditions, they will be able to obtain citizenship of India.

Maharashtra Minister and BJP leader Mangal Prabhat Lodha expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday as the Union Home Ministry notified rules for implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said that people who had to tolerate persecution for the last 75-100 years will get justice.

Lodha said, "People who had to tolerate persecution for the last 75-100 years will get justice. Those who have roots in India if they are not accepted in other countries then where will they go? A good decision has been taken by PM Narendra Modi and HM Amit Shah. On behalf of the 140 crore people of India, I express my gratitude to them."

CAA India LIVE updates: The Home Ministry emphasized on Tuesday that Indian Muslims needn't be concerned about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act affecting their citizenship status. They asserted that the Act does not target any specific community and reaffirmed that Muslims enjoy equal rights alongside their Hindu counterparts. The ministry aimed to address the apprehensions among certain Muslims and students regarding the Act, clarifying that Indian citizens won't be required to furnish any documents to prove their citizenship post the enactment of this law.

On Monday, the Central government issued the regulations for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, aimed at expediting citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has honoured Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain refugees by giving them citizenship through CAA, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Tuesday and maintained there is no provision of stripping of anyone's citizenship in the new law.

Hitting out at the Congress and AIMIM, Shah, addressing party meetings here, said AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Hyderabad Lok Sabha member Asaduddin Owaisi are lying that minorities of the country will lose their citizenship with the implementation of CAA.

Around 55 students were detained on Tuesday as they gathered to protest against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at the Delhi University Arts Faculty, police said.

Scores of students from the Left affiliated AISA had called for a protest against the implementation of the CAA notified by the Centre on Monday.

Delhi University AISA unit president Manik Gupta said that the students were detained by the police even before the protest started.

"Many students who were simply standing outside the Arts Faculty and not participating in the protest were detained by the police on the basis of mere doubt," he alleged, claiming that students were brutally handled.

Most tribal areas in northeastern states, including those granted special status under the 6th Schedule of the Constitution, have been kept out of the purview of The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which came into effect on Monday.

According to the law, it is also not going to be implemented in those northeastern states where Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime is in existence.

The ILP is in force in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur whereby anyone from other parts of the country seeking to visit these states needs special permission from the state government.

Individuals applying for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) are allowed to furnish one of nine documents, which may include a valid or expired passport, ID cards, or land tenancy records, to establish their nationality from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan.

Additionally, applicants have the option to present one of 20 documents, such as a copy of their visa and immigration stamp upon arrival in India, or a certificate issued by an elected member of any rural or urban body, or a revenue officer. These documents are required to demonstrate their entry into India on or before December 31, 2014, in accordance with the regulations outlined in the CAA rules issued on Monday.

Hitting out at the Opposition, Amit Shah said that Owaisi, Kharge, Rahul Gandhi were lying that minorities will lose citizenship due to CAA.

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the Congress consistently opposed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) due to its indulgence in appeasement and vote bank politics. He further highlighted that during the country's independence, the drafters of the Constitution had pledged to grant Indian citizenship to refugees fleeing oppression in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

The Politbureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued a statement on Tuesday expressing strong opposition to the notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) regarding the rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The party emphasized that linking citizenship to religious identity, as outlined in the CAA, is a violation of the secular principle of citizenship enshrined in the Constitution.

On Tuesday, student groups at Jamia Millia Islamia staged protests against the enforcement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and urged the government to revoke it. Speaking at a press conference near the university's entrance, the demonstrators called for the repeal of the CAA and the release of all students who were detained during the anti-CAA demonstrations approximately four years ago. Additionally, they insisted on the withdrawal of legal charges against these students.

Pakistani Hindu refugees residing in Delhi say they can finally look forward to a secure future as the government notified rules for implementation of the CAA.

They claim they have been living in semi-kutcha houses, cooking in mud and brick stoves, and using tents for defecation in Majnu-Ka-Tilla area ever since they moved to India.

"I moved to India from Pakistan in 2011 and since then, we have not got even the basic facilities here, be it water, electricity or cooking gas," voice of the Pakistani Hindu refugee community in Majnu-Ka-Tilla, Dharamveer Solanki, told PTI.

CAA India LIVE updates: Addressing an official programme at Habra in North 24 Parganas district, Banerjee said she would not allow the implementation of the CAA in West Bengal and urged the people to think several times before applying for citizenship under the law.

"I have doubts if the CAA rules notified yesterday have legal validity. There is no clarity on it," she said.

"The CAA and the rules framed are unconstitutional, and discriminatory under Article 14 of Constitution, which is the fundamental right to equality," she said, claiming that the Centre was "bluffing" over providing citizenship.

CAA India LIVE updates: "It was passed in 2019, but notifying the CAA (rules) just a few days before the bugle of elections is to be blown, perhaps it makes it clear what the aim is. They (BJP) were saying that after the (construction) of the Ram Temple, they cannot lose. But perhaps they feel that their position is weak and that is why they have to use these new weapons," Omar Abdullah told reporters.

CAA India LIVE updates: Speaking about the CAA, home minister Amit Shah said in Telangana, “PM Modi honoured Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain refugees through CAA.”

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. He said, "Those who could not come to India at the time of partition and were persecuted on the basis of religion in these different countries."

He added, "People who came to India before 2014 had no rights here, so PM Modi has done a good job by giving them citizenship so that they can also live their lives with dignity and raise their children."

CAA India LIVE updates: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin firmly rejected the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Tuesday, labeling it as 'divisive and lacking in utility'. He emphasized that the state would not enforce it. Stalin criticized the BJP government for hastily announcing the rules for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, particularly with the upcoming Lok Sabha elections looming. He argued that both the Act and its associated rules contradicted the fundamental principles of the Constitution.

Check out our coverage on the latest Citizenship Amendment Act notification.

CAA India LIVE updates: On Tuesday, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti asserted that the BJP's implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) mirrored the concept of two two-nation theory advocated by the Hindu Mahasabha. In a post on X, she said, "77 years after partition, BJP is still wedded to the concept of two nation theory of Hindu Mahasabha. To further their agenda they have thus implemented CAA to create another partition among our people".