The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, which seeks to grant Indian nationality to refugees who had sought shelter in India before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, will not take away citizenship of any Indian irrespective of their religion, sources said.
The citizenship rights will protect their cultural, linguistic, and social identity and it will also ensure economic, commercial, free movement, and property purchase rights.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, seeks to grant Indian citizenship to refugees who had sought shelter in India before December 31, 2014, due to religious persecution in three neighbouring countries -- Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The six persecuted communities are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians.
The law will remove legal barriers to rehabilitation, and according citizenship will give a dignified life to the refugees who have suffered for decades, the sources said.
Many misconceptions have been spread regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act, they said.
This is a law to give citizenship and not take away citizenship of any Indian irrespective of their religion, the official said, adding the act is only for those who have suffered persecution for years and have no other shelter in the world except India.
The Constitution of India grants the government the right to provide citizenship from a humanitarian perspective to refugees who faced religious persecution in their countries.
The officials clarified that the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act was delayed due to the COVID pandemic.
The ruling BJP had said in its 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto that the party is committed to enacting the Citizenship Amendment Bill for the protection of persecuted religious minorities from neighbouring countries.
Today, the Modi government has fulfilled this promise within the spirit of the Constitution, the sources said.
