Government's Explainer On Citizenship Law Amid Opposition Attacks
NDTV
Congress boss Mallikarjun Kharge has slammed the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, as the BJP's "desperate attempt at divisive politics".
The amendments to the citizenship law - passed by Parliament in 2019 and notified by the government Monday evening, to come into effect weeks before the general election - have triggered a back-and-forth with the opposition accusing the ruling BJP of polarising voters, and the government, hitting back.
Amidst this opposition pushback, the Union Home Ministry has released a statement clarifying various points within the CAA and answering questions raised by its critics.
The first point in the government's rebuttal is to stress that Indian Muslims' citizenship rights will not be rescinded or scrapped. The estimated 18 crore Muslim population in India has "equal rights as any other Indian citizen", the government clarified in its statement.
