After the delay of four years, the government has finally notified the rules under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, which will be implemented in the entire country. Though the CAA was already enforced in nine states.
The notification of CAA will fast-track citizenship of thousands of undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Until now, these migrants were living in India illegally or were on long-term visas.
Who will Benefit?
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, at least 30,000 “persecuted” minorities such as Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Sikhs and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh could benefit from the CAA.
The CAA presumes that the members of these communities faced religious persecution in these three countries. It says if any member of these communities, who entered India illegally or legally, from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before December 31, 2014, shall be eligible for the Indian citizenship.
Among the refugees, around 180 families living in the Majnu Ka Tila area of Delhi could benefit from the issuance of the CAA rules. The refugee families said they have been living in the refugee settlements in Delhi for more than a decade and they do not even have passports and cannot go to other areas for work, as told to ETV Bharat.
Dharamveer Solanki, who is considered the chief of the Pakistani Hindu refugee community in Delhi, that around 500 from the community will receive citizenship, as quoted by news agency PTI.
Rajasthan & UP
The CAA will benefit around 17,574 non-Muslims and 331 Muslims from Pakistan staying in Rajasthan on long-term visas, according to state’s former additional chief secretary Rajeeva Swarup.
BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, which became the first state to implement CAA, had Bangladesh refugees settled in 19 districts. In Pilibhit district of UP, around 440 Hindu refugee families who fled Bangladesh after the 1971 Liberation War have been benefited, according to The Economic Times.
There are nearly 42,000 Hindu refugees living in 19 districts of Uttar Pradesh, including Pilibhit, Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Agra, Bareilly, Lucknow and Gorakhpur, according to surveys conducted for CAA. Out of these, 37,004 refugees are in Pilibhit.
West Bengal
The Matua communities in Bongaon, Siliguri and Hooghly are celebrating after their long-term demand of CAA will be implemented. They currently comprise 17.4% of the West Bengal population, the second largest after Rajbanshis in the state.
The BJP had promised Matuas and other refuges of West Bengal Indian citizenship through the CAA. They are mainly concentrated in 24 North and South Parganas, bordering districts such as Cooch Behar, North and South Dinajpur, Malda and Nadia.
The Matuas belong to Namashudra (Dalit/SC) community in West Bengal. The sect was founded by Harichand Thakur, who was born in Orakandi in 1812 in erstwhile Bengal. They migrated to Bengal after Partition of Bengal, and have been wooed by major political parties such as the Trinamool Congress, BJP and Left since then.
Another group, the Rajbanshis, from north Bengal, who include Hindu refugees from Bangladesh, could benefit from CAA. The community forms 75.2% of the Scheduled Caste population and 37.7% of the total population, according to the 2011 census.
The Rajbanshis mainly live in Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduars, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur.
What Will Change With CAA?
The provisions of Citizenship Act of 1955 barred illegal migrants in India. People who entered the country without a valid travel document or overstayed in the country beyond the permitted period were defined as foreigners, and could not apply for citizenship, and were deported.
The CAA grants Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan immunity from legal proceedings for illegally entering India or exceeding their stay in the country. Earlier, as per the old law, the migrant had to live in India for “not less than 11 years” to qualify for citizenship. CAA reduced it to “not less than five years” for the eligible minorities.
The CAA exempts the members of the six communities from any criminal case under Foreigners Act, 1946 and Passport Act, 1920 which specify punishment for entering the country illegally and staying on expired visas and permits.
The CAA was passed in December 2019 but subsequently got the President’s assent. Its passage was followed by nationwide protests.
Which States Have Already Implemented CAA?
Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have CAA in force.
Most regions of the northeast are exempted from the CAA. The tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur are exempted from provisions of the CAA.
The home ministry’s annual report for 2021-22 shows at least 1,414 foreigners from the non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were given Indian citizenship by registration or naturalisation under the amended the Citizenship Act, 1955.