Rajat Sharma, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV.
CAA law came into force across the country from March 11. Although the CAA was passed in the Parliament in December 2019 and signed by the President, but after that the Covid pandemic came. Therefore, the rules of CAA could not be notified till now. The government notified the CAA rules on Monday evening. Since Home Minister Amit Shah had said in Bengal three months ago that CAA will be implemented across the country before the elections, many leaders and Muslim organizations including Mamata Banerjee, Asaduddin Owaisi had opposed it. In 2019 too, there were protests across the country against CAA, the Shaheen Bagh protest in Delhi went on for several months, so as soon as the government issued the notification on Monday, Muslim organizations protested. Owaisi called it an election gimmick, Akhilesh Yadav said, when the citizens of the country are forced to go out for livelihood, then what will happen by bringing citizenship law for others? Home Minister Amit Shah issued a 39-page notification on social media. The rules and regulations for acquiring citizenship have been fixed. Under this law, people persecuted on the basis of religion in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be able to take Indian citizenship. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from these countries who have come to India before December 31, 2014, will be able to get citizenship under CAA. Muslim citizens of these countries will not be able to get Indian citizenship. Refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who want to get Indian citizenship will be able to apply online. All these refugees will not automatically get Indian citizenship. They will have to submit online application. An empowered committee will be formed in every district. This committee will scrutinize the applications and every district committee will have the right to grant Indian citizenship after examining the documents. Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have to take care of two things. Firstly, they will have to provide documents proving that they were citizens of these countries and secondly, they will have to provide documents proving that they have been living in India before December 31, 2014.
According to the notification, those applying for citizenship will have to produce the passport of their country, any license issued by the local government, certificate of citizenship, birth certificate, land documents or the documents of their parents or grandparents who are Pakistani, Bangladeshi or You can also submit a certificate of being an Afghan citizen. Apart from this, if he had come to India before December 31, 2014, then a copy of the visa, certificate of residence in India issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, certificate of admission in school, birth certificate, Aadhaar card, any document like driving license etc. It must be proved that the person applying for citizenship has been living in India before 2014, all these documents will have to be submitted online along with the application. The level committee will examine them, then can call the applicant and if everything is fine, can give Indian citizenship. As soon as the news of CAA implementation came, the Matua community in West Bengal started celebrating. Women of the Matua community welcomed the implementation of the new law by beating drums. People of Matua community had taken refuge in India after being persecuted in Bangladesh but till now they had not got Indian citizenship. They were living like refugees, they did not get the benefits of government schemes. BJP leader Shubhendu Adhikari said that due to the implementation of CAA, there is a wave of happiness among 2.5-3 crore Hindus in Bengal because with this they will not have to run here and there for verification and jobs. But Mamta spoke carefully. She said that CAA is a political maneuver of BJP, she will first read the rules of this law and then say something. CPM leader Muhammad Salim said that when Modi and Mamata met at Raj Bhavan in Kolkata, a deal was struck between the two on CAA. AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that CAA is against the Constitution, hence, Muslims will continue to protest against it and then take to the streets.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh said that the law was made four years ago, it was notified before the elections so that religious sentiments could be instigated.
After CAA became law, the biggest question that has arisen is why was this law implemented after 4 years? Does it have any connection with the elections, then I would say that there is a connection with the elections. When leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal and Owaisi oppose CAA, BJP will definitely benefit. When there will be rhetoric regarding CAA, efforts will be made to intimidate Muslim brothers, when it will be made an issue in the elections, then obviously BJP will benefit. But I think there is a need to understand this law and its rules apart from electoral gains. It is important to tell the reality to Muslim brothers and sisters.
The first thing is that CAA has nothing to do with Indian citizens. No Indian’s citizenship will be lost in this. These laws are only to help the minorities who are victims of atrocities in neighboring countries. It is for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Buddhists and Parsis who fled to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. People from these communities who came to India before 31 December 2014 will now be able to get Indian citizenship. This will not make any difference to the citizenship of any Muslim or Indian belonging to any other religion in our country, neither questions will be raised on it, nor will any documents be asked from them. All these apprehensions are baseless and baseless. CAA is only a law to give citizenship, not to take it. That’s why no one needs to be worried about this law. Since it is an election season, many leaders and Maulanas will jump into the field carrying ration water and talk about various things, but there is no need for anyone to panic. No one needs to be afraid. That’s it, everyone needs to be careful. (Rajat Sharma)
Watch: ‘Aaj Ki Baat with Rajat Sharma’ full episode of 11 January 2024
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