Earlier today, 168 people, 28 of them Afghan nationals desperate for the Taliban, landed in India.
New Delhi:
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today cited the evacuations from Afghanistan in support of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, which sparked an escalating series of protests across the country. Nearly 100 people had died in police fire and related violence. The law allows citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims who reached India before 2015.
“Recent developments in our unstable neighborhood and the way Sikhs and Hindus are going through a harrowing time are exactly why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act,” tweeted Mr Puri.
Recent developments in our volatile neighborhood and the way Sikhs and Hindus are going through a harrowing time are exactly why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act.#CAA#Sikhs
https://t.co/5Lyrst3nqc through @IndianExpress
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 22, 2021
Earlier today, 168 people, 28 of them Afghan nationals, including two senators desperate for the Taliban, landed in India. The government has promised aid to Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan, as well as to its friends in the country who need help.
“India must not only protect our citizens, but also provide a refuge for Sikhs and Hindu minorities who want to come to India. We must also provide every possible assistance to our Afghan brothers and sisters who are seeking help in India,” said Prime Minister Narendra. Modi was quoted as saying at a meeting of the cabinet committee on security last week.
The CAA, passed in December 2019, provides citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan if they flee persecution and entered India before 2015.
Critics have argued that the law, along with the National Register of Citizens, will be used to target Muslims. The epicenter of the protests was in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, where women of all ages held out around the clock for nearly three months until the Covid pandemic hit and lockdown was declared.
The law came into effect on January 10, 2020. But the rules under the law are yet to be disclosed and citizenship will be given to the eligible beneficiaries after these rules are formed.
On August 4, during the parliament’s monsoon session, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai told the Rajya Sabha that there is no pending proposal from the government for further amendment of the Citizenship Act.
