Union Minister Shantanu Thakur Asserts: CAA Implementation Across India in Seven Days

Union Minister Shantanu Thakur, BJP's Lok Sabha MP from Bangaon, has asserted that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA will be implemented across the entire country within the next seven days. Speaking at a public rally in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas, Thakur emphasized, "The Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has been inaugurated, and within the next seven days, the CAA will be implemented across the country. This is my guarantee. Not just in West Bengal, the CAA will be implemented in every state of India within a week."

VIDEO | "Ram Mandir has been inaugurated (in Ayodhya), and within the next seven days, the CAA - Citizenship (Amendment) Act - will be implemented across the country. This is my guarantee. Not just in West Bengal, the CAA would be implemented in every state of India within a… pic.twitter.com/f5Ergu5TG3 — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 29, 2024

The controversial CAA, introduced by the Narendra Modi government, grants Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants – Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians – from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who arrived in India until December 31, 2014.

Massive protests erupted in various parts of the country after Parliament passed the CAA in December 2019, receiving subsequent Presidential assent. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on December 27 last year, asserted that no one could hinder the implementation of the CAA, branding it as the law of the land. He accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of misleading the public on the matter.

The Trinamool Congress, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, has been consistently opposing the CAA. The BJP, considering the promise of CAA implementation as a significant factor, made it a major poll plank in the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in West Bengal, contributing to the party's rise in the state.

Despite the controversy, the Ministry of Home Affairs has been seeking extensions from parliamentary committees since 2020 to frame rules for the legislation, as per the manual of parliamentary procedures.

More than a hundred lives were lost during protests or police actions following the passage of the CAA in Parliament. Notably, in the last two years, over 30 district magistrates and home secretaries of nine states have been empowered to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan under the Citizenship Act of 1955. However, authorities in sensitive districts of Assam and West Bengal have not been granted such powers so far.

(With inputs from agencies)