By The Wire Staff
New Delhi: In an order issued on Tuesday (September 2), the Union home ministry has stated that members of minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who arrived in India till December 31, 2024 to avoid religious persecution will be allowed to stay in the country without a passport or other travel documents.
The order is among several other directives issued by the ministry in relation to the recently passed Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025, which came into effect from Monday (September 1), reported Hindustan Times.
Earlier, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which came into force last year, applied only to those who came to India on or before December 31, 2014 for eligibility to acquire citizenship. Notably, while the law includes other religions, it excludes Muslims.
While the latest order allows those who came till December 2024 stay without a passport, it doesn’t guarantee citizenship.
However, the fresh order will come as a relief to a large number of people, especially Hindus from Pakistan who came to India after 2014 and till now were seeking more clarity on their fate.
“People belonging to a minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians – who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or for fear of religious persecution and entered the country on or before December 31, 2024 without valid documents or with documents that have expired” will be covered under the order.
The CAA aims to provide citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians purportedly fleeing persecution from India’s Muslim-majority neighbours – namely, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh – and who arrived in India before 2015.
The exclusion of Muslims from the Act’s provisions and fears that it would disenfranchise many Muslims in India when combined with the National Register of Citizens had sparked concerns and protests from thousands of citizens across the country.
This story was originally published in thewire.in.
