The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA) of the Parliament of India amended the Citizenship Act of 1955. It is actually providing a path to Indian citizenship for religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
The religious minorities given eligibility are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. Muslims of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are not eligible for this criteria, but they can get citizenship of India by the normal procedure. (citizenship by registration or naturalization)
The Citizenship Amendment Bill became an Act on 12 December 2019.
Citizenship in India
The Citizenship Act, 1955 regulates citizenship in India. The Act specifies that citizenship can be acquired in India through five methods,
- by birth in India,
- by descent,
- through registration,
- by naturalisation (extended residence in India), and
- by incorporation of the territory into India.
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019: New Criteria for determining citizenship
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act grants citizenship to the Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis — from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who had arrived in India before 31 December 2014.
The Act proposes that the specified class of migrants from the three countries will not be treated as illegal migrants. This Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 is making them eligible for citizenship.
So, on acquiring citizenship, such migrants shall be deemed to be Indian citizens from the date of their entry into India. And all legal proceedings regarding their status as illegal migrants or their citizenship will be closed.
The Act allows a person to apply for citizenship by naturalization if the person meets certain qualifications. The requirement for them to stay in India for at least 11 years before applying for Indian citizenship is going to be five years now onwards.
CAA Simplified
Exclusion area
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not apply to tribal areas of Tripura, Mizoram, Assam, and Meghalaya because of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.
Also, areas that fall under the Inner Limit notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, will also be outside the Act’s purview. This keeps almost entire Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Nagaland out of the ambit of the Act.
Arguments in Favour
- The government has clarified that Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh are Islamic republics where Muslims are in the majority. So, one can not treat them as persecuted minorities. It has assured that the government will examine the application from any other community on a case to case basis. (Fair enough)
- This Act will come as a big boon to all those people who have been the victims of Partition and the subsequent conversion of the three countries into theocratic Islamic republics.
- After Independence, not once but twice, India conceded that the minorities in its neighbourhood are its responsibility. First, immediately after Partition and again during the Indira-Mujib Pact in 1972 when India had agreed to absorb over 1.2 million refugees. It is a historical fact that on both occasions, only the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians sided to India.
Arguments Against the Act
- The fundamental criticism of the Act has been that it specifically targets Muslims. Critics argue that it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution (which guarantees the right to equality) and the principle of secularism.
- India has several other refugees that include Tamils from Sri Lanka and Hindu Rohingya from Myanmar. For now, this act does not consider them.
- It will be difficult for the government to differentiate between illegal migrants and those persecuted.
These all some lame reasons as the war for Tamils from Sri Lanka has been over for the decades now. So, there were never persecutions on the religious lines. It was racial/ethnic war.
Now the question arises why only Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jainas and Parsis?? So, answer to this question is very simple, these religious groups have a minority status in the states of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Moreover, they are facing many religious and cultural persecutions. I have to share one relevant article about the conditions of Hindus in Pakistan from the BBC here.
Now, don’t consider me Pro-Hindu, I can share some statistics for Sikhs too, an article from India Today, Sikhs on verge of extinction in Pakistan.
For sure, one can understand the cause of tension in Assam, as the state is fearing of losing cultural and ethnic practices after the assimilation of immigrants. But still, Assam is doing protests marching hand in hand in every district of Assam peacefully! Protesting by singing songs, by Satyagrahs! It’s not against any community or religion. (From the Facebook Wall of Papon)
The government must consider Assam’s issue and act accordingly while implementing this Act.
NRC link to the Citizenship Amendment Act
The NRC (National Register for Citizens), which identified and eliminated illegal immigrants from Assam on Supreme Court orders. It was a longstanding demand of Assam. But ever since its implementation, there has been a growing demand for its nationwide implementation.
Differences between CAA and NRC.
- While the CAA is an Act, NRC is a digital register.
- NRC is not based on religion, while CAA is.
- The base-year of NRC is 1971 (in the case of Assam), while the base-year of CAA is 2014.
NRC is a verified digital register having names and basic demographic information about all Indian citizens in a digital format.
So, this was all about the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. Guys, please don’t be misguided, first try to understand the facts and act accordingly.
I know, it’s not easy to accept changes but changes are the rule of nature, we all have to adapt changes to grow.
Thanks and Stay Civilized. ☺️
Recent Comments