Indian Muslims Are Exempt From This Law, So They Should Accept CAA: President of the All India Muslim Jamaat

Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi, the president of the All India Muslim Jamaat, welcomed the Citizenship Amendment Act shortly after it was announced by the central government. He attempted to ease Muslim concerns by stating that the law will not affect their position as citizens.

The CAA legislation has been enforced by the Indian government. This legislation is great. Though it’s better late than never, this should have been completed far sooner. About this law, there are a lot of misconceptions among Muslims. Muslims have nothing to do with this legislation. The Maulana told reporters, “Prior to this, there was no legislation granting citizenship to non-Muslims fleeing religiously motivated crimes from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

“This legislation will not have any impact whatsoever on the communities of Indian Muslims. No Muslim will have their citizenship revoked by this legislation. It has been observed that there have been demonstrations in previous years; these were the result of miscommunications. Certain political figures sowed mistrust among Muslims… “All Indian Muslims ought to embrace the CAA,” he said.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said unequivocally in February that the purpose of the CAA was to grant citizenship, not to revoke anyone’s already obtained. Minorities in our nation are being incited, particularly the Muslim minority. Since the Act makes no mention of citizenship, CAA cannot take away someone’s citizenship. Shah has said, “The purpose of the CAA is to provide citizenship to refugees who were subjected to persecution in Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Days before the Lok Sabha election schedule was announced, on Monday night, the Union Home Ministry informed the public of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) implementation guidelines. The goal of the 2019 Parliament-passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was proposed by the Narendra Modi government, is to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants who have been persecuted and who came to India before December 31, 2014, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians.

A web gateway has been made available for the submission of citizenship applications, which must be made entirely online. After the CAA was approved by Parliament in December 2019 and the President signed it into law, there were large-scale demonstrations around the nation. The creation of the regulations that go along with the CAA was required, even though it has been postponed for more than four years.

In accordance with the parliamentary procedures manual, the government was required to either request an extension from the Committees on Subordinate Legislation in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, or formulate the guidelines for any legislation within six months of the presidential assent. The process of developing the regulations related to the Act has been ongoing since 2020, and the Ministry of Home Affairs has been requesting continuances from the parliamentary committees on a regular basis.

More than a hundred people died as a result of police action after the bill was passed by Parliament or during the protests. The Citizenship Act of 1955 has allowed more than thirty district magistrates and home secretaries in nine states to grant Indian citizenship to Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Christians, and immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan during the last two years.

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ annual report for 2021–22, 1,414 members of non-Muslim minority communities who were born in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan between April 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021 received Indian citizenship by virtue of registration or naturalization under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization under the Citizenship Act of 1955 in nine states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra. It’s noteworthy that officials in West Bengal and Assam districts—two politically delicate areas when it comes to this issue—have not yet been given access to these powers of giving citizenship.