Amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the Central Government of India, on the 10th of January, issued a notification and implemented the Act.
The Act promises Indian citizenship to persecuted Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi and Jain refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have been residing in India since or before the 31st of December, 2014.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an official gazette implementing the Act. Anil Malik, Additional Secretary of the MHA, said, “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of the Section 1 of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (47 of 2019), the Central Government hereby appoints the 10th day of January, 2020, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force.”
With the Act coming into force, illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, based on their religious beliefs, would get citizenship of India.
However, the rules and regulations of the newly implemented Act are yet to be made.
While states like Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh accepted the Act, West Bengal, Kerala, Odisha, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab are against it.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, came into effect from the 10th of January, 2020.
Stay tuned for further updates.
