India's home ministry on Tuesday excluded Muslims in an order that permits members of other minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to stay in India without a passport or other valid documents, provided they arrived before or on 31 December 2024.
The order applies to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who entered India to escape religious persecution. This decision will permit individuals to stay in the country without any valid travel documents, reports The Wire.
This directive is a part of several new directives issued by the ministry related to the Immigration and Foreigners Act-2025, which came into effect in India from Monday (1 September).
Previously, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which came into force in 2024, only applied to those who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. While it provided a pathway to citizenship for various religious groups, Muslims were not included in its provisions.
However, the recent order does not offer citizenship, but it is expected to provide relief to many people, particularly Hindus from Hindus from Pakistan, who arrived in India after 2014 and had been awaiting clarity on their status.
The exclusion of Muslims and the focus on specific religious groups had previously led to widespread concerns and protests across India when the CAA was implemented.
The new order, though not granting citizenship, extends legal protection for a broader group of undocumented non-Muslim migrants.
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