NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, NOV 30
As rules for Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) are yet to be framed, the Centre has informed Parliament on Tuesday, that it has no plans to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) at the national level as of date. Answering a question by Congress MP Hibi Eden, MoS Home Nityanand Rai wrote that a total number of 1,33,83,718 Indian nationals are living in foreign countries. Under CAA, those covered the law may apply for citizenship after the rules are notified under the law.
Currently, the Assam NRC co-ordinator has approached the Supreme Court seeking a comprehensive and time-bound re-verification of draft NRC. In 2019, 19,06,657 Assam residents were found ineligible in the final NRC list. Of those excluded, 7 lakh were Muslims and over 5 lakh Hindu Bengalis.
On July 27, Union Home Ministry sought another six months extension to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act – i.e upto 09.01.2022. This was the fifth extension sought by the government for framing these rules. According to the Manual on Parliamentary Work, the rules for any legislation should have been framed within 6 months of presidential assent or seek an extension. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has stated that the Act will be implemented once vaccination drive is completed in India.
Protests against CAA-NRC-NPR which began in Assam spread throughout the country, culminating in the Delhi riots in February 2020, where 54 were killed. Violent protests were witnessed in Uttar Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Gujarat, Karnataka, Bihar, Delhi, and Maharashtra. While thousands were detained by the police throughout the country, over 100 people have died in these protests. Several universities – Jamia Millia, Aligarh, Madras University witnessed clashes between police and students which resulted in alleged lathi-charging, tear gas and rubber pellet action by police and vandalism by protestors. The biggest protest was held by Muslim women in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh which was disrupted due to Delhi riots.
