Making CAB officially an Act, Prez Kovind gives his assent to the historic bill

New Delhi, December 13: A bill that became the voice of minorities, the persecuted Hindus who as minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were ill mannered and faced lot of atrocities. President Ram Nath Kovind gave his nod to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 late on Thursday, letting it become an Act after the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) passed the Bill. The CAB gives Indian citizenship to the members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan till December 31, 2014 to India due to religious persecution.

 

According to the gazette of India, it read, “Parliament received the assent of the President on December 12, 2019, and here by published for general information.” The Act came to force after the official gazette published it on Thursday.

 

As per the citizenship bill, the migrants of these six communities will be given Indian citizenship after residing in the country for five years, changing from the earlier requirement of 11 years. The Bill also gives protection to these people from cases of illegal migrants filed against them. It will not be applicable to the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura and in the areas covered under the Inner Line Permit, notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.

Home Minister Amit Shah while introducing the bill and during his reply in both the houses of the Parliament had stated that the bill is not intended to any religion in particular and would not harm any rights of Indian Muslims living in the country. Earlier, the Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday and the Lok Sabha (Lower House) approved it after midnight on Monday.