New Delhi, March 13 -- India this week implemented the contentious 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), sparking sporadic protests and a war of words between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government and opposition groups weeks before national elections are held.

Here is a look at the law, its implications and the concerns surrounding it.

What is the CAA?

The CAA fast-tracks citizenship for persecuted Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India before Dec. 31, 2014 from Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh due to religious persecution.

The enactment of the law by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 2019 triggered massive protests and sectarian violence in w...