India begins granting citizenship to non-Muslims under controversial law

Ankara (AA) – India on Wednesday began granting citizenship under a contentious citizenship law, which was passed in 2019 and took effect in March this year.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.

“First set of citizenship certificates” were issued on Wednesday, the Indian Home Ministry said in a statement.

Fourteen people from India’s neighboring countries were granted citizenship, the ministry said without specifying their previous nationalities.

The ministry said it had received applications from “persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have entered into India up to 31.12.2014 on account of persecution on grounds of religion or fear of such persecution.”

Home Minister Amit Shah called it a “historic day.”

“Today the wait of decades has ended and through CAA, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian brothers and sisters who came to India from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution have started getting Indian citizenship,” he wrote on X.

“I assure all my refugee brothers and sisters that the Modi government will give citizenship to every refugee through CAA,” he added.

The CAA was a key component of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) 2019 general election manifesto, but it has faced opposition in states ruled by opposition parties, which pledged not to implement the new citizenship law.

In 2019, when the act was passed, India witnessed widespread protests in many states. After countrywide protests, the matter reached the country’s Supreme Court, where many petitions against the law are pending.