"Good Law": Sufi Bodies Hail Implementation Of Citizenship Act

Kanpur/Nagpur [India]: As the opposition parties voiced concerns about the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the country, several Sufi faith leaders hailed the Central government, saying that the law does not take away the citizenship of Indians, but gives.

The CAA rules, notified by the Narendra Modi government on Tuesday and passed by Parliament in 2019, aim to confer Indian citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants - including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians - who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

National President of Sufi Kanqah Sufi Mohammad Hasan Majidi, while speaking to media said that there are several people who are "trying to create unnecessary confusion" regarding the act that Muslims will lose their citizenship.

"This CAA has nothing to do with Indian citizens, similarly, it has nothing to do with Indian Muslims. This is for Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Jain, Buddhists, and Parsi, who faced atrocities based on religion in countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

Those who came to India on December 31, 2014, and living as refugees, will be given Indian citizenship. Some are trying to create unnecessary confusion regarding the citizenships of Muslims that they (Muslims) will lose their citizenship.

They should alert as in the name of Muslim leadership, they are pushing the agenda of division..." he said.

Pyare Khan, Chairman of Hazrat Baba Tajuddin Trust hailed the Centre's decision, saying that It is the law that gives, not the one that takes away citizenship.

"CAA is a very good law, it is a law that gives citizenship to people, not one that takes away anyone's citizenship. If you see, a similar misconception was spread a lot before (removal of Article) 370.

When I went to Kashmir and talked to the Muslims there, see the development of Kashmir today, after the removal of Article 370, this type of activity will continue in the country, but today's Muslims are very intelligent," he said.

He further said that Indian Muslims have nothing to do with the law.

"For those who have been persecuted, this is the law for them. Muslims have nothing to do with it and useless Muslims are being dragged under this law, political parties are earning their living, so there is nothing like that. It is the law that gives, not the one that takes away citizenship," he added.

Under the Citizenship Act of 1955, Indian citizenship by registration or naturalization is granted to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan in nine states: Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Maharashtra.