The Government of India on Monday notified the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 that enables persecuted non-Muslim religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived in India by 2014 to attain Indian citizenship. The eligible minorities were stated as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians.

“With this notification PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has delivered on another commitment and realised the promise of the makers of our constitution to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians living in those countries”, Union Minister Amit Shah had said in a post on X.

The announcement has been met by mixed reactions with both celebrations as well as protests in the country.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019 and has been implemented just weeks ahead of the Parliamentary elections.