Citizenship Act comes into force from Jan 10

The Citizenship Amendment Act came into effect on Friday with the government issuing notification, ignoring largescale protest against the contentious legislation.

The gazette notification was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. "...the Central government hereby appoints the 10th day of January 2020 as the appointing day on which the provisions of the said Act will come into effect," the notification said.

This comes against the backdrop of countrywide protests, indicating that the government is firm about implementing it. The Act provides for citizenship for religiously persecuted minorities in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh while excluding Muslims from its ambit, which the Opposition and activists have opposed.

Congress Working Committee is scheduled to meet on Saturday to discuss anti-CAA protests. Opposition parties are also meeting on Monday to take stock of the situation and decide on future strategy on protests.