India announced regulations on Monday to implement a citizenship law passed in 2019, just weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks re-election for a third term. Critics have strongly condemned the law, calling it discriminatory against Muslims.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) offers a path to citizenship for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who entered India from neighboring Muslim-majority countries (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh) before December 2014, if they faced religious persecution.
The law’s passage in December 2019 sparked widespread protests and violence, particularly in New Delhi. The government had delayed crafting implementation rules until now.
A government spokesperson confirmed the implementation through a text message, stating it fulfills a promise made in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 2019 election manifesto. They framed the law as a way for persecuted minorities to gain citizenship.
However, Muslim groups fear the CAA, combined with a proposed national registry of citizens, could lead to their disenfranchisement. With an estimated 200 million Muslims in India, the country has the world’s third-largest Muslim population. Critics worry undocumented Muslims could be stripped of their citizenship, particularly in border states.
The government maintains the CAA is not discriminatory and is necessary to protect minorities facing religious persecution in neighboring countries. They insist the law grants citizenship and doesn’t take it away, dismissing earlier protests as politically motivated.
Prime Minister Modi, known for his Hindu nationalist views, has focused on economic growth, social welfare programs, infrastructure development, and promoting Hindu nationalism during his terms. Opinion polls suggest a comfortable victory for him in the upcoming general election, which must be held by May 2024.