Voice 9, New Delhi Bureau: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), passed by Parliament in December 2019, has sparked protests in various parts of the country. According to sources within the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the guidelines for implementing the CAA are expected to be officially announced in the coming two weeks. An MHA official mentioned that the notification is likely to precede the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The MCC becomes effective upon the announcement of polls by the Election Commission, and it is anticipated that the dates for the Lok Sabha polls will be declared next month. Under the CAA, non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan can seek Indian citizenship through the naturalization process, provided they belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Jain, or Buddhist communities. The legislation is based on the premise that these communities have encountered religious persecution in the aforementioned Islamic nations.
Sources have indicated that individuals can establish their eligibility by presenting any government document from India that demonstrates their declaration of religion as Hindu, Sikh, Christian, Parsi, Jain, or Buddhist before December 31, 2014. For instance, enrolling children in a government school or obtaining an Aadhaar card before the specified date and declaring one's religion as per the Act's criteria would be considered valid. Essentially, any official government document indicating one's religion will be deemed acceptable for this purpose.
