‘Big win for persecuted minorities’: US advocacy group welcomes center’s CAA move

The organization also stressed that the rules would not affect existing Indian citizens of any faith.

New Jersey:

US-based advocacy group Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) has welcomed India’s formal notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and said the decision is a “major victory” for Pakistan’s persecuted religious minorities. , Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“This is a major win for human rights for persecuted religious #minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. India has finally notified the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the Indian Parliament in 2019!” CoHNA at Said in a post on X.

The group also stressed that the rules would not affect existing Indian citizens of any faith and would speed up the Indian citizenship process for religious minorities fleeing Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“As a reminder, the CAA has no impact on existing Indian citizens of any faith. It only expedites the process of Indian citizenship for approximately 31,000 religious minorities who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan when facing extreme and systematic persecution, ” CoHNA said.

“For example, in Pakistan alone, more than 1,000 underage girls from minority communities are abducted every year, with the support of police and judicial authorities, forcibly converted and ‘married’ to their abductors. As a result, children with young children Frightened families with children fled to India for basic safety,” it added.

Additionally, the organization said it launched an education and awareness campaign against CAA in 2020 to counter false propaganda surrounding the topic (eight cities passed resolutions of opposition). It urges U.S. and Canadian residents to educate themselves and those around them about the CAA rules.

“To prevent the spread of misinformation, we urge residents of the United States and Canada to educate themselves and those around them. Our CAA page provides comprehensive resources,” CoHNA said.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Monday notified the provisions of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA-2019).

Known as the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024, these rules will enable persons eligible under CAA-2019 to apply for the grant of Indian citizenship. The Home Office said applications will be submitted entirely online and a portal has been made available.

The CAA rules proposed by the Narendra Modi government seek to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants arriving in India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains Buddhists, Parsis and Christians. In India before December 31, 2014.

After the CAA was passed by Parliament in December 2019 and subsequently approved by the President, massive protests broke out across the country.

Implementation of the Civil Aviation Law, which has been delayed for more than four years, requires the formulation of relevant rules.
On December 27, Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that the implementation of the CAA cannot be stopped as it is the law of the country. He also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading the public on the matter.

Ensuring implementation of the controversial CAA was a key electoral agenda item for the BJP during the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in West Bengal. Saffron party leaders see this as a sure factor in the rise of the BJP in the state.
Since 2020, the Home Office has regularly sought extensions from parliamentary committees to continue developing rules related to the legislation.

More than a hundred people have been killed during protests or as a result of police actions after parliament passed the law.
Over the past two years, more than 30 district magistrates and home secretaries in nine states have been empowered to indemnify Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Granted Indian Citizenship. Act 1955.

According to the Home Ministry’s Annual Report 2021-22, a total of 1,414 people from the non-Muslim minority communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were granted Indian citizenship through the Citizenship Act, 1955, between April 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021. Act to register or naturalize.

According to the Citizenship Act, 1955, non-citizens from nine states of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan (such as Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi) Muslim minorities obtain citizenship in India and Maharashtra through registration or naturalization.

Notably, authorities in Assam and West Bengal, two politically sensitive regions on the issue, have so far not been authorized by these citizenship-granting bodies.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)