Will Muslims Lose Their Citizenship Due To CAA? Check What Law Says

Fulfilling its long-pending poll promise of bringing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the BJP-led NDA government today notified rules for implementation of the CAA. This comes after multiple recent statements by Home Minister Amit Shah where he maintained that the CAA is the law of the land and no one can stop its implementation.  Reacting to the CAA notification, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that CAA is divisive & based on Godse’s thought that wanted to reduce Muslims to second-class citizens.

"Give asylum to anyone who is persecuted but citizenship must not be based on religion or nationality. The govt should explain why it kept these rules pending for five years & why it’s implementing it now. Along with NPR-NRC, CAA is meant to only target Muslims, it serves no other purpose," said Owaisi.

Will Muslims Lose Indian Citizenship?

There were allegations that the CAA would snatch the citizenship of Muslims in India. However, the government has maintained that the CAA is a law to give citizenship and not to take back citizenship. Home Minister Amit Shah said that these rules will now enable minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship in our nation.

"The Constitution of India grants us the right to provide religious persecuted refugees with fundamental rights and to grant citizenship from a humanitarian perspective. The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment  Act was delayed due to the COVID pandemic," said the Ministry of Home Affairs. Therefore, the rule won't impact the Muslim citizens of India.

What Is CAA?

The CAA rules, introduced by the Narendra Modi government and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants - including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians - who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Will It Impact The Indian Job Market?

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that the Modi government brought the CAA at a time when the youth of the country is struggling to get a job. "That means they want to bring people from neighbouring countries to India and settle them. Why? To create your vote bank. When our youth do not have employment then who will provide employment to the people coming from neighbouring countries?" asked Delhi CM Kejriwal.

However, as mentioned in the CAA rule, only those who have already come and settled in India before 2014 will get citizenship under the rule. Thus, the CAA doesn't invite fresh refugees from any of the neighbouring countries. Those who entered India before 2014 are already doing something to survive and Indian citizenship will end their refugee status giving them a chance to lead a respectable life. So, they won't make any immediate pressure on the Indian job market.