Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019

The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 amends the Citizenship Act 1955.

It seeks to grant citizenship to a class of migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.

It exempts the members of the six communities from any criminal case under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act 1920 (The two acts specify punishment for entering the country illegally and staying here on expired visas and permits)

The amendment act reduces the time period that a person must reside in India to be eligible for citizenship from 11 years to 5 years for all respective migrants.

The conspicuous exclusion of Muslims from the purview of the Act has evoked widespread condemnation