Home Ministry to set up helpline for those seeking Indian citizenship under CAA; check details

livemint.com:

ALSO READ: CAA rules notified: Here is what the 2019 Bill on Citizenship Amendment Act proposed The law will pave the way for Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian, and Parsi refugees, who came to India before December 31, 2014, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to acquire Indian citizenship without having a valid passport of these countries or an Indian visa. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed in Parliament in December 2019.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on December 9 while the Rajya Sabha passed it on December 11. Amid protest against the CAA, the MHA released a statement, to allay fears of discrimination against Muslims in India, saying 18 crore Indian Muslims have equal rights like their Hindu counterparts and no citizen would be asked to produce any documents to prove citizenship.

"Indian Muslims need not worry as CAA has not made any provision to impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the present 18 crore Indian Muslims, who have equal rights like their Hindu counterparts. No Indian citizen would be asked to produce any document to prove his citizenship after this Act," the ministry said in the statement.

ALSO READ: ‘CAA does not cancel…’: Govt issues statement for 18 crore Indian Muslims amid protests The government said due to the persecution of minorities in some Muslim countries, "the name of Islam was badly tarnished". "However, Islam, being a peaceful religion, never preaches or suggests hatred/violence/any persecution on religious grounds.

This Act, showing compassion and compensation for the persecution, protects Islam from being tarnished in the name of persecution," it added. The government said the concern of a section of the people that the CAA is against Muslims is