CAA has become a contentious matter because it provides citizenship to immigrants from Hindu, Zoroastrian, Sikh, Christian, Jain and Buddhist communities who came to India by December 31, 2014 after fleeing religious persecution in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The exclusion of Muslims has raised concerns given how India is based on tenets of secularism, plurality and equality where religion is not to have a bearing in matters of granting citizenship.