CAA implemented in India ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

Delhi:

Central Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday notified implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections.

The contentious Act has faced numerous delays and continued criticism from the Opposition ranks in the past. More than 100 people have lost their lives to protests and consequent police action since it was passed in December 2019.

The CAA rules aim 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 2014. Applications have to be submitted online through a newly formed portal with citizenship hopefuls declaring the year in which they entered India without travel documents.