The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) today filed a plea against the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) Rules 2024 in the Supreme Court of India (SC), as reported by Bar & Bench.
The IUML requested the apex court to halt the implementation of the CAA Rules in its plea, stating that they eliminate the previously established tiered scrutiny process and empower District Level Committees to verify documents and administer allegiance oaths under the CAA. Live Law further reported that the IUML views the CAA Rules as “prima facie unconstitutional.”
The Centre brought the CAA implementation notice just less than a month before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The Union Government on Monday announced the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 after the act was passed in Parliament in December 2019 amidst massive protests by citizens, activists and opposition politicians.
The act allows the Central Government to grant citizenship to individuals belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain, or Christian communities from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. These individuals must have arrived in India on or before 31st December 2014, fleeing religious persecution.
A spokesperson for the Home Ministry said eligible individuals could submit applications in “a completely online mode”. No other documentation will be sought from the applicants, said the spokesperson’s official X handle.
The timing of the announcement has once again sparked controversy and protest across India, criticising the law as being “anti-Muslim”.
CAA Rules resistance
Today, the Chief Ministers of Kerala and West Bengal declared their refusal to enforce CAA within their respective states, despite the Centre’s recent notification of the 2019 Act on Monday.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan criticized the timing of the central government’s move, saying, “The action of the central government, which notified the provisions of the Citizenship Amendment Act ahead of the elections, is to disturb the country. The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a notification regarding the amendment of the Citizenship Act just before the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections.”
Similarly, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee voiced concerns over the lack of clarity in the notified CAA rules and questioned their legal validity. She said, “Do not be afraid. We will not allow CAA here. This is Bengal”.
Meanwhile, the United Opposition Forum of Assam (UOFA), comprising 16 parties, declared a statewide hartal to protest against the CAA, with plans for further agitational programs. Guwahati police issued a legal notice to the organizations calling for the hartal.
Opposition Congress leader, MP Shashi Tharoor criticized the CAA, labeling it as morally and constitutionally incorrect. “The basis on which partition occurred, was one country saying that religion was the basis of their country, and they went on and created Pakistan and Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Dr Ambedkar, had said that religion won’t be the basis of our nationhood. Our struggle for freedom is for everyone, and the constitution and nation we create will be for everyone,” said Tharoor.
He also pledged that if the INDIA alliance and Congress come to power, they will repeal this provision of the law, asserting their commitment to keeping religion separate from citizenship.
Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey also criticized the timing of the law’s introduction just before the Lok Sabha polls, accusing the BJP of creating an atmosphere of chaos for electoral gain.
After the announcement was made yesterday, security measures were heightened in the national capital following the implementation of the CAA, with police and the RAF conducting flag marches in areas like Delhi’s Seelampur.
On Monday, the North East DCP Joy Tirkey informed of making necessary arrangements in the North East district. “Our experience in 2020 was unpleasant which resulted in heavy loss. The rules will be notified today and we were alerted by the Police Headquarters”.
Seelampur in Northeast Delhi was one of the major areas where people protested for two months (until February 2020) after the law was passed in 2019. The protest was later dispersed due to COVID-19 lockdown in India.
DCP Tirkey further informed that the police had a meeting of the Aman Committee where the police briefed people of both communities.
He added, “We have tagged the potential troublemakers and some known criminals. We are in touch with our beat constables and keeping an eye on social media too. We are doing a flag march for two days and will have an extensive flag march from Tuesday. Special care will be taken in sensitive areas through drones.”
About Author
Leave a Reply