The enforcement of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 has set forth protest across the Nation, with many fearing that the Act has been established to cut out Muslims from India and destroying the remarkable secularism of India. Yet others believe that the Amendment has been implemented to aid India in identifying its citizens and has no intention of making any religious classification.
What exactly is the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019?
Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 was passed to determine the eligible migrants residing in India and to provide them with Indian citizenship. The Act also relaxes the eligibility criteria for migrants to avail Indian Citizenship. The bare text of the Amendment is as follows:
2. In the Citizenship Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in section 2, in sub-section (1), in clause (b), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:—Provided that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered into India on or before the 31st day of December, 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this Act;
The Amendment essentially narrows the definition of illegal migrants and states that Non-Muslims who entered into India on or before 31st December 2014 from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan shall not be considered as illegal migrants.
Why People have been protesting against the Amendment?
The main issue of the Act is the exclusion of Muslims from getting Indian Citizenship and people fear that the exclusion would destroy the best feature of India which is secularism. protestors have opined that CAA, 2019 is the first law in India since its independence to distinct based on religion. It is also believed that the Act is unconstitutional as it violates the principles enshrined in Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution. However, the reasons for the protest vary with geographical locations.
Apart from the fear of destroying the secularistic nature of India, Assam People have their own reasons for their protest against CAA, 2019; They were concerned about their limited resources and cultural identity, with the influx of a large number of illegal migrants from Bangladesh. They already suffered from the influx of such migrants before the Assam Accord which nearly caused them to lose their culture. In Assam Accord 1985, the cut-off date was 1966 after which illegal migrants entering Assam are not accepted by Assam people. The new cut-off date i.e 31st December 2014 introduced in CAA, 2019 made them fear that it would further increase the influx of such migrants in Assam and jeopardise their cultural ethos.
The rationality behind the Amendment:
The central government claims that the classification was not based on any religious ideas but rather based on persecution faced by people especially on religious grounds in those countries. Pakistan and Afghanistan are Muslim-majority country since from the very beginning whereas Bangladesh, though was a multi-religion country at the beginning but recently announced Muslim as their national religion. The union government can not believe that Muslims would face persecution in a country where Islam is being the national religion. Therefore, they are satisfied to exclude illegal Muslim migrants entering India from those countries to get Indian citizenship. Adding further, it is also reasonable to make classification to exclude Muslims by way of reasoning in terms of persecution, under Article 14 of the constitution, thereby validating its constitutionality.
A great deal of history exists for establishing persecution of Muslims in such Muslim-majority countries. Hazaras - a Muslim Sect - was persecuted in Afghanistan; Shias and Ahmadiyas (Muslim Sects) were are also persecuted in Pakistan. In fact, Ahmadiyas were not even considered as Muslims by Pakistan's Islamic Consitution. But India does consider them as Muslims only and it is evident that these Muslims face persecution in Muslim-based countries. Critics have argued that people like Ahmadiyyas were persecuted in such Muslim countries and India does not consider them as non-Muslims; therefore, it is not reasonable to exclude Muslims from CAA by distinguishing or making classification on the basis of persecution because of the fact that Muslims do face persecution in Such Muslim-majority Countries. Further, they were also concerned about Sri Lankan Tamilians who fled persecution during the long-running Sri Lankan Civilian War.
The union government claimed that the classification made in CAA, 2019 was based on religious persecution and here in the case of Ahamdiyas from Pakistan, it does not matter whether they are considered as Muslims by India because the persecution faced by Ahamdiyas in Pakistan was political or ethnic-based which cannot be considered for the purpose of CAA, 2019. Rohingyas from Myanmar is a different case because various reports have been released regarding 'forced conversion of Hindu Rohingya' and many more. Therefore, to ensure the safety of the people of India, Rohingyas were excluded from CAA, 2019. regarding Sri Lankan Tamilians, it was observed that the persecution was on the ethno-lingual basis and therefore not comes under the purview of CAA, 2019 which deals with only religious persecution. Although, the government has provided some of the Sri Lankan Tamilians with Indian citizenship during the period of 1970s-1980s.
Government's Response to Assam people:
The government made it clear that the CAA does not apply to areas mentioned in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution along with the areas that follow the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system. Inner Line Permit system requires a document which can be obtained from the concerned state as permission for entering areas within India which are protected by ILP. Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram were already following ILP and during the enforcement of the CAA, 2019, Nagaland and parts of Mizoram were also made to follow ILP by amending BERF, 1873 (Bengal Eastern Regulation Frontier). The CAA is also not applicable in the State of Assam as it is listed in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Therefore illegal migrants residing in these areas are not eligible to apply for Indian citizenship even though they belong to any one of the six religions mentioned in the Amendment.
India - Not a Signatory of UN refugee convention, 1951:
It is important to note that India is not under any obligation to provide refuge to any migrants as India is not a Signatory of any of the refugee conventions including UN refugee convention, 1951. Nevertheless, The Point is, India has provided shelter to thousands of refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and so on. Refugees from other than CAA are governed by the Ad-hoc refugee policy of India.
Major References:
- https://asiatimes.com/2019/12/indias-citizenship-act-is-not-discriminatory/
- https://medium.com/@parihar.parth/why-indias-citizenship-amendment-act-is-not-selective-b8c925fb9d99
- https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-caa-and-nrc-1630771-2019-12-23
- https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/dec/14/explained-what-is-the-inner-line-permit-and-why-is-the-northeast-clamouring-for-it-2076129.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam_Accord
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