'CAA is not anti-Muslim': Govt calls Al Jazeera's report as 'misleading'

The Central government's Press Information Bureau's fact-checking wing has refuted a claim made by foreign news organisation Al Jazeera on Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as 'misleading'. PIB has also called the AJ's CAA article as false.

"Misinformation is being spread by @AJEnglish regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act, calling the act 'anti-Muslim,'" stated the fact-checking division of PIB.



The government agency further clarified that "CAA will not take away the citizenship of any Indian citizen irrespective of religion. It's not against any single religion/community. It's an enabling law only to provide citizenship to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan & Bangladesh."

What Is CAA?
The Citizenship Amendment Act, CAA, was introduced and passed in 2019. On March 11, 2024, five years after its introduction, the Home Ministry notified the rules of the act and its implementation.

The act aims to provide 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.

The CAA Act does not apply to Indian citizens as it seeks to grant Indian citizenship to particular foreigners who have suffered persecution on grounds of their religion in the three neighbouring countries.

The introduction of the law in 2019 led to nationwide protests. Thousands took to the streets to oppose the law. However, after its notification, the opposition has alleged that the ruling party has implemented CAA weeks before the elections with a "political agenda" in mind. Various states have opposed the law and Kerala, has become the first state to only say that it will not be implementing the CAA Act.