Friday, March 29, 2024

CAA will be implemented once COVID vaccination drive is over: Amit Shah

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act will be implemented once the COVID-19 vaccination drive is over, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday.

Shah gave this assurance to Suvendu Adhikari, the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal assembly, when he met him in Parliament House Tuesday, according to Indian Express.

The Bengal BJP leader said Shah has conveyed to him that the Union Government will go ahead with the long-pending implementation of the CAA once the third dose of COVID-19 vaccination is completed.

The vaccination is expected to be completed in nine months.

Muslims across India, northeastern states, Opposition parties and international organisations including the United Nations, had said India’s citizenship law is discriminatory and have been calling for its repeal.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act fast-tracks nationality for non-Muslim minorities from neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan but excludes Muslims.

The citizenship law, passed 2019 December, sparked nationwide peaceful protests largely led by Muslims, who fear millions of members of the community will be rendered stateless or disenfranchised.

Experts warned that the CAA, coupled with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), violates international law, specifically the prohibition on rendering people stateless.

Nearly two million people were excluded from a citizenship list in the northeastern state of Assam where the NRC exercise was concluded in 2019.

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