Nationwide CAA implementation within 7 days: Shantanu Thakur

Union minister Shantanu Thakur has asserted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will be implemented nationwide within the next seven days. Speaking at a public rally in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas, Thakur, BJP's Lok Sabha MP from Bangaon, guaranteed the implementation of CAA across all states in India. He made this statement while addressing the crowd, linking it to the recent inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, a controversial legislation passed by the Modi government, grants Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. The CAA sparked widespread protests in various parts of the country after its passage in December 2019. More than a hundred people lost their lives during the protests or police action after Parliament passed the law.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on December 27, emphasized that the implementation of the CAA is inevitable, labeling it as the law of the land. He accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading people on the matter. Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress has been consistently opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

According to the annual report of the ministry of home affairs for 2021-22, from April 1, 2021, to December 31, 2021, a total of 1,414 foreigners belonging to these non-Muslim minority communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan were given Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

Authorities of none of the districts of Assam and West Bengal, where the issue is politically very sensitive, have been given the powers so far.