A social media post claims that after implementing the CAA, 132 Hindu doctors from Pakistan have been registered as full-time medical practitioners and that they obtained Indian citizenship because of the CAA. The post further shares a screenshot of a news clip in support of the argument. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: 132 Hindu doctors who came from Pakistan obtained Indian citizenship because of the CAA, and have been registered as full time medical practitioners.
Fact: Firstly, the central government has not yet framed rules under the CAA. Hence, it unlikely that these 132 Pakistanis acquired the Indian citizenship under the CAA, as claimed. Further, the news article referred in the post mentioned that some of them have come to India in 2000s and acquired the Indian citizenship in 2016, before the introduction of CAA. Lastly, as per Citizenship Act of 1955, not just a Pakistani but any other national, belonging to any religion could acquire the Indian citizenship, provided they follow the due process prescribed by the act. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
While it is true that 132 migrant Pakistani Hindu doctors have recently cleared the NMC exam and will now be able to practice medicine in India, these people however, came to India much before and not after the introduction of CAA, as claimed in the viral post.
Firstly, although the CAA bill was passed by both houses and received assent from the President in December 2019, the central government has not yet framed rules under the act. Without the rules being framed, the Act cannot be implemented, thus contradicting the viral claim. According to reports recently in January 2023, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has requested another six-month extension to frame the rules under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
Further, the Time of India news article referred to in the viral post itself mentions that a few of these doctors arrived in India in the early 2000s and obtained Indian citizenship in 2016.
This implies that these migrants could have acquired Indian citizenship by the registration and naturalization process, prescribed in the Citizenship Act of 1955 (here & here). Moreover, as per the 1955 act, not just a Pakistani but any other national, belonging to any religion could acquire Indian citizenship, provided they follow the due process, prescribed by the Citizenship Act, 1955.
To sum it up, these 132 Pakistani Hindus acquired Indian citizenship much before the introduction of the CAA.
