Delhi, India, May 15 (HBTV): The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday handed over citizenship certificates to 14 people under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The law was passed by the parliament in 2019. However, the BJP-led Central government notified the CAA rules in March this year.           

In its Lok Sabha elections manifesto, the Bharatiya Janata Party promised that it would grant citizenship to eligible applicants under the Citizenship Act. Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla handed over the documents to some applicants in the national capital. The ministry said in its statement that the authorities have been receiving applications from people belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who were persecuted on religious grounds and entered India by December 31 th, 2014.              

It further said the District Level Committees (DLC), which are chaired by designated officers, have administered oath of allegiance to the applicants after verification of documents. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act was notified by the Central government on March 11, weeks before the commencement of the Lok Sabha elections.               

The CAA rules authorize the DLCs to accept applications of eligible people for Indian citizenship. They empower the state level empowered committee to scrutinize the applications ahead of granting citizenship.                

Several Opposition leaders including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan have vowed that they will not implement the law in their respective states.  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union minister Amit Shah, on the other hand, have promised that the law will be implemented across the country. The Opposition says that the CAA discriminates against Muslims and is unconstitutional. The BJP accuses the Opposition of misleading the Muslims for vote bank politics, saying that the law is not aimed at snatching away their citizenship.