NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministry on Tuesday sought to counter a “misinformation campaign” against the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), stating that the law does not have anything to do with the deportation of any foreigner in India.
The law is only for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who migrated from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to India up to December 31, 2014, on account of persecution faced by them due to religion, it said.
The ministry said that the deportation process of any foreigner irrespective of religion or country is implemented as per the mandate of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and/or the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.
The ministry also said that the National Register of Citizens and the CAA are two different issues.
“The legal provisions regarding NRC have been part of The Citizenship Act, 1955, since December, 2004. Also, there are specific statutory rules of 2003 to operationalise these legal provisions. They govern the process of registration of Indian citizens and issuance of national identity cards to them. These legal provisions have been on the statute books since last 15-16 years. The CAA has not altered them in any way whatsoever,” the Home Ministry said in a statement.