Citizenship Amendment Act across India in 7 days, says Union minister

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand CM Dhami says state to enact UCC soon

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could soon move on two contentious issues from its pending agenda — the Centre implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and some of its state governments initiating the legislative process to adopt the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).

On Monday, Union Minister Shantanu Thakur told a news channel that the CAA would be implemented in the country within a week. Thakur is a BJP MP from West Bengal’s Bongaon constituency in the North 24 Parganas. The area, on the Indo-Bangladesh border, has a significant population of the Scheduled Caste Matua community.

The BJP has in the past flagged the persecution of the community in Bangladesh and the need to give Hindu migrants Indian citizenship. The party has also raised illegal migration from the neighbouring country during elections. Thakur, the Union minister of state for ports, shipping and waterways and Matua community leader, made a similar comment on Sunday.

In another development, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami posted on X that his government soon to enact the UCC in the state. Dhami said the committee to prepare the UCC draft will submit its report to the state government on February 2.

“We shall bring the UCC Bill in the forthcoming Assembly session and pave the way for its implementation in the state,” he said. The Budget session of the Uttarakhand Assembly will begin on February 5. Uttarakhand’s UCC draft could look at banning polygamy and amending inheritance laws to ensure an equal share of property for women.

The CAA provides for granting Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants, such as Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014.

The Parliament passed the CAA in December 2019. The Congress and other parties had opposed it. The law triggered nationwide protests. According to sources, the rules for the CAA could be notified “much before” the announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. Last month, addressing a meeting in Kolkata, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the implementation of the CAA was inevitable.

Reacting to Thakur’s comments, the Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of trying to “fool” the people on the issue for the last five years and attempting it again. “Our party supremo and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have clearly said CAA won’t be implemented in West Bengal. The BJP leaders are attempting political gimmickry by making such false promises before the Lok Sabha elections,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.