New Delhi: Several noted Muslim activists and leaders have expressed their support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which offers a legal route to get Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
“One of the several objectives of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is stoppage of further influx of illegal immigrants, who have been eating into the tax-payers money," Kashish Warsi, President, Bartiya Sufi Foundation, told PTI.
He said the CAA provides the persecuted minorities of the three Islamic countries a special status in the naturalisation process, adding it does not prevent other communities from pursuing Indian citizenship through the general asylum process.
"A number of Muslim leaders have understood the ramifications of the Act and have appealed to the Muslims from various platforms to maintain peace and brotherhood and keep away from divisive forces on the pretext of CAA," he said.
Sufi Khanqah Association president Kausar Hasan Mazidi said in a statement that the Muslim community should not be swayed by rumours and the spread of fake news by divisive forces and not indulge in any kind of violence.
Sufi Islamic Board national president Mansoor Khan said a new section 6 (b) of the CAA proposes that if the victims of religious persecution register themselves by adopting the specified conditions, they will be able to obtain citizenship of India.
“Moreover, if such migrants obtain citizenship after fulfilling the conditions of Section 5 or third schedule of the Citizenship Act 1955, then they would be given citizenship from the date on which they arrived in India. Many refugees have come before 31 December of 2014 — all of them will get citizenship from the date they have come,” he said.
Published 12 March 2024, 16:50 IST