"Religion cannot be criteria for citizenship": CPI General Secretary questions timing of CAA implementation

New Delhi [India], March 14 (ANI): Communist Party of India General Secretary D Raja has questioned the timing of notifying the rules for the citizenship-amendment-act">Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), alleging that the law is "discriminated".
Speaking to ANI, Raja said that the Constitution makes it clear that religion cannot be a criterion for citizenship.
He also CAA which was opposed in the Parliament when it was presented in December 2019 is "discriminated".
"People are questioning the content and timing of CAA notifications. When the legislation was debated in the Parliament, there was opposition. When it was passed, huge protests took place all over the country, including the National Capital...This CAA is discriminated. Citizenship is defined based on religion, our Constitution makes it clear that religion cannot be criteria for citizenship. The timing- we are just on the eve of the elections, dates are to be announced soon and hence it (CAA) has been questioned..." he said.
The CAA rules, notified by the Narendra Modi government on March 11 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.
Under the Citizenship Act of 1955, Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization is granted to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan in nine states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra.
Reacting to the Opposition questioning the Centre's timing of implementation of the citizenship-amendment-act">Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) before the Lok Sabha elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah in ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash gave a clear-cut rebuttal.
Replying to the Opposition's claim, Amit Shah said, "First of all I will talk about the timing. All opposition parties including Rahul Gandhi, Mamata or Kejriwal are indulging in jhooth ki rajneeti (politics of lies) so the question of timing does not arise. BJP has made it clear in its 2019 manifesto that it will bring CAA and provide Indian citizenship to refugees (from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). BJP has a clear agenda and under that promise, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was passed in both houses of Parliament in 2019. It got delayed due to Covid. BJP had cleared its agenda well before the party got its mandate in the polls." (ANI)