The Indian Home Ministry has broadened the list of acceptable documents for citizenship applications under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). This change is aimed at making it easier for persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to obtain Indian nationality.

Previously, applicants faced challenges with a specific clause in the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. The new guidelines clarify that "any document" issued by central or state governments or quasi-judicial bodies in India can now be used. This includes documents like land records and judicial orders that prove that the applicant’s parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were citizens of the three specified countries.

The Home Ministry emphasized that these documents are valid for proving citizenship status for those seeking nationality under the CAA. This update follows reports of difficulties faced by applicants due to the earlier regulations.

The CAA, enacted in December 2019, aims to grant Indian nationality to persecuted Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India before December 31, 2014. The rules for implementing the CAA were officially issued in March 2024, four years after the law was enacted. Since May, the government has begun processing citizenship applications under this act.

The introduction of the CAA sparked nationwide protests, with critics calling it discriminatory. These protests led to significant unrest, resulting in over a hundred fatalities due to police action and related violence.

This latest update is expected to address some of the procedural hurdles faced by applicants and streamline the citizenship process.

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