The Narendra Modi government is framing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) as a measure to aid persecuted Hindus from neighboring Muslim-majority nations, assuring that no Indian citizen will lose their citizenship, and maintaining complete silence on the National Register of Citizens (NRC). These are the defining elements of the controversial law, the rules of which were notified on Monday.

Read: Why Parsis and Christians are Eligible under CAA While Muslims Aren’t: Amit Shah’s Explanation

Portraying the CAA as “justice for persecuted Hindu (and Sikh) immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh,” the Modi government aims to alleviate Muslim concerns by dissociating it from a nationwide NRC. This departure from the previous linkage of the NRC and CAA, signaled by Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s earlier remarks in 2019, seeks to allay fears among Muslims that the CAA could render many of them stateless if their documents were deemed insufficient. This marks a significant shift from the government’s prior stance, which triggered widespread protests across the nation, particularly among Muslim communities and their allies.

Read: Smriti Irani Accuses Mamata Banerjee of Vote Bank Politics over CAA

Speaking in Hyderabad on Tuesday, Shah reiterated that the new law does not entail stripping any Indian of citizenship. Throughout the day, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) issued messages dispelling “myths” about the CAA and reassuring Indian Muslims that they would not suffer any consequences due to it.

Since its passage in Parliament in December 2019, Prime Minister Modi has consistently emphasized that the CAA will not impact any Indian citizen. He categorically stated that his government had not fueled “NRC fears” and clarified that the NRC proceedings in Assam were initiated during the Congress regime. Modi assured that his government was committed to ensuring land and other rights for all, irrespective of religion or caste.

While a court-mandated NRC was conducted in Assam starting in 2018 to update data from the 1951 NRC, its final enumeration remains pending as it was not accepted by the Assam government. Despite discussions by the BJP about a nationwide NRC, no such exercise has been conducted to date. However, Shah’s statements had heightened apprehensions surrounding the CAA.