The government today reiterated that the newly-implemented Citizenship Amendment Act or CAA doesn’t curtail the freedom and opportunity of Indian Muslims amid sharp criticism from the opposition, which terms the move as discriminatory and motivated by the approaching Lok Sabha elections. It also asserted that there is no bar on Muslims from anywhere in the world to seek Indian citizenship.
“Muslims from anywhere in the world can seek Indian citizenship under Section 6 of the Citizenship Act, which deals with citizenship by naturalisation,” the Home Ministry said.
The Centre on Monday notified the rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act to reduce the qualification period of application for citizenship from 11 to 5 years for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014.
