New Delhi:

The Union Home Ministry is likely to issue a notification later tonight to implement the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill, sources told New Delhi TV on Monday afternoon.

Less than a month ago, Home Minister Amit Shah stressed that the CAA would be implemented before the Lok Sabha elections in April/May. “The CAA is a state act… will definitely be notified. The CAA will come into effect before the elections (and) no one should be confused about it,” Mr Shah said at an event in Delhi.

The CAA, which for the first time uses religion as a citizenship test for “persecuted” non-Muslim refugees from Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, was approved by parliament in December 2019 amid violent protests across the country.

The epicenter of these unrest was Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, where hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across India, where thousands of men and women staged months-long protests that prompted the Pink Floyd co-founder The attention of celebrities such as Roger Waters.

Shah last month sought to downplay concerns that the CAA and the equally controversial NRC (National Register of Citizens) would be merged to target minority communities.

“Our Muslim brothers are being misled and incited (against the CAA) just to provide citizenship to those who came to India after persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This is not to take away citizenship from anyone.”

Meanwhile, as the CAA approaches notification (and implementation), opposition politicians have spoken out, insisting that the bill will not be enforced in their respective territories.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in January that the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is seeking a third consecutive term at the centre, has now raised the issue for polls.

“With the elections approaching, the BJP is again raising the CAA issue for political gain. But I want to make it clear that I will not allow it to be implemented in Bengal as long as I am alive,” she said at a public event. Dinjapur District, North.

Ms Banerjee’s counterpart in Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin, also emphasized this point.

The DMK boss accused the BJP-led government of acting “against communal harmony” and vowed that his government would never implement the law.

Several other non-BJP-ruled states, such as Kerala and Punjab, also opposed the CAA and passed many resolutions; Bengal and Kerala also stopped all NPR and NRC work.