Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that developments in the volatile neighbourhood are the reason why enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act is necessary after an exclusive Indian Air Force (IAF) repatriation flight carrying 168 people from Kabul landed at Ghaziabad Hindon airbase on Sunday.
Posting a news article, Singh tweeted, “Recent developments in our volatile neighbourhood and the way Sikhs and Hindus are going through a harrowing time are precisely why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act.”
The MEA has averred the government is committed to the safe return of all Indian nationals from Afghanistan. The MEA said that the main challenge for travel to and from Afghanistan is the operational status of the Kabul airport. Spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs (MEA), Arindam Bagchi, earlier tweeted: two Nepalese citizens were among those on board the Air India flight from Kabul.
The CAA permitted the persecution of minorities associated with the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to apply for Indian citizenship.
As per the listed provisions of the act, people from these communities who arrived in India till December 31, 2014, about the religious persecution in these three countries will not be labelled as illegal migrants and provided with Indian citizenship. President of India Ram Nath Kovind acceded to the legislation on December 12, 2019.
However, the Opposition parties and several groups have protested and condemned the implementation of the CAA. They believe that the law paired with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise targets the minorities in India.
