The Citizenship (Amendment) Act officially came into effect from 10 January. Despite weeks of protests by thousands of citizens all over the country, the Centre issued a gazette notification announcing that the Act has been official. However, the Centre is yet to frame rules for the Act.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, the central government, hereby, appoints the 10th day of January 2020, as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force,” stated the home ministry notification.
Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 comes into force from 10 January 2020. #CitizenshipAmendmentAct #CAA_NRCProtests #CAA pic.twitter.com/sB9LDNkYFO
— B&B Associates LLP (@BandBAssociates) January 11, 2020
Earlier on 11 December 2019, the Parliament passed the CAA bill, following which it received the President’s assent on 13 December 2019. The contentious act grants the non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who have entered India before 31 December 2014, the citizenship of India and will be exempted from the definition provided under Section 2(1)(b) of the Act which defines ‘who is considered an illegal immigrant in India.’
This has led to a widespread protest all over the country from civil servants to actors, eminent personalities, students and various other common people who have voiced their opinion, speaking up against the Act and demanding justice for the violence being perpetrated against protesting people. Starting from New Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia University, students protested in universities such as Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jadavpur University among others against the CAA.
