De Indian government implemented a controversial citizenship law more than four years after it was passed. The law, called the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), sparked months of protests and unrest in 2019. It made it easier for religious minorities from neighboring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who immigrated to India before December 31 2014 to obtain Indian citizenship. This opportunity should be open to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Christians and Jains, but not to Muslims. Therefore, the law was seen as discriminatory and an attempt to link citizenship and religious affiliation.

Critics alleged that the law was a desire of ruling Hindu nationalists to advance their agenda and turn the secular country into a Hindu state in which religious minorities play a subordinate role. It is “morally and constitutionally wrong” to introduce religious affiliation as a criterion for citizenship, said politician from the opposition Congress Party Shashi Tharoor. “In India, citizenship has never had anything to do with religion,” the politician said. Home Minister Amit Shah announced its implementation on Monday evening. After that, there was also criticism regarding the timing of its implementation shortly before the parliamentary elections. There were protest demonstrations in several states.

The implementation of the law just before the elections was clearly intended to polarize voters, said Congress party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh at the Platform of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The government has delayed implementing the law after it was passed in 2019. The riots left dozens of people dead and hundreds injured. Only the coronavirus pandemic and government measures to combat the spread of the virus were able to finally end the protests.

The government presents this innovation as a form of humanitarian assistance for persecuted minority groups. Thousands of migrants from three neighboring countries who were previously living in India illegally or on long-term visas are likely to benefit from the law. With this implementation, the Ministry of Home Affairs has now also simplified the methods that applicants can use to prove their origin. Therefore, any kind of document that can prove that parents, grandparents or great-grandparents came from one of these countries is sufficient.

Applicants must also provide a visa or entry stamp to show that they immigrated to India before the end of 2014. Religious affiliation must be proven by a certificate from a recognized community institution.