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=== Exclusion of non-Muslim countries ===
=== Exclusion of non-Muslim countries ===
The Act does not include migrants from non-Muslim countries fleeing persecution to India. For example, Hindu refugees from [[Sri Lanka]]. The Sri Lankan Tamils were allowed to settle as [[refugees in India|refugees]] in [[Tamil Nadu]] in 1980s and 1990s due to systemic violence from the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. They include 29,500 "hill country Tamils" (Malaiha).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/16112019-plea-to-render-justice-for-malaiha-hill-country-tamil-refugees-from-sri-lanka-oped/|title=Plea To Render Justice For Malaiha (Hill Country) Tamil Refugees From Sri Lanka – OpEd|author2=SAAG|author1=V. Suryanarayan| date=16 November 2019|website=Eurasia Review|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref><ref>V. Suryanarayan, Geeta Ramaseshan, [https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/Citizenship-without-bias/article14587201.ece Citizenship without Bias], The Hindu, 25 August 2016.</ref>
The Act does not include migrants from non-Muslim countries fleeing persecution to India. For example, several parties such as Shiv Sena have spoken out in favor of Hindu refugees from [[Sri Lanka]]. The Sri Lankan Tamils were allowed to settle as [[refugees in India|refugees]] in [[Tamil Nadu]] in 1980s and 1990s due to systemic violence from the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. They include 29,500 "hill country Tamils" (Malaiha).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/16112019-plea-to-render-justice-for-malaiha-hill-country-tamil-refugees-from-sri-lanka-oped/|title=Plea To Render Justice For Malaiha (Hill Country) Tamil Refugees From Sri Lanka – OpEd|author2=SAAG|author1=V. Suryanarayan| date=16 November 2019|website=Eurasia Review|access-date=18 December 2019}}</ref><ref>V. Suryanarayan, Geeta Ramaseshan, [https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/Citizenship-without-bias/article14587201.ece Citizenship without Bias], The Hindu, 25 August 2016.</ref>


The Act does not provide relief to [[Refugees in India#Tibet|Tibetan Buddhist refugees]] from China.<ref name="WPCitizenship" /> They came to India in the 1950s and 1960s. Their status has been of refugees over the decades, though one source states that Dalai Lama was granted political asylum in 1959. According to a 1992 UNHCR report, the then Indian government stated that they remain refugees and do not have the right to acquire Indian nationality.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aab124.html |title=Refworld {{!}} India: 1) Legal status of Tibetan refugees; 2) Rights of Tibetans to Indian nationality|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=Refworld|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref>
The Act does not provide relief to [[Refugees in India#Tibet|Tibetan Buddhist refugees]] from China.<ref name="WPCitizenship" /> They came to India in the 1950s and 1960s. Their status has been of refugees over the decades, though one source states that Dalai Lama was granted political asylum in 1959. According to a 1992 UNHCR report, the then Indian government stated that they remain refugees and do not have the right to acquire Indian nationality.<ref>{{Cite web|url= https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6aab124.html |title=Refworld {{!}} India: 1) Legal status of Tibetan refugees; 2) Rights of Tibetans to Indian nationality|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=Refworld|access-date=17 December 2019}}</ref>

Revision as of 13:05, 21 December 2019

This article is about a law in India. For the article covering protests, see Citizenship Amendment Act protests.

Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019
Parliament of India
  • An Act further to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955.
CitationAct No. 47 of 2019
Passed byLok Sabha
Passed10 December 2019 (2019-12-10)
Passed byRajya Sabha
Passed11 December 2019 (2019-12-11)
Assented to12 December 2019 (2019-12-12)
Signed byRam Nath Kovind
President of India
Signed12 December 2019 (2019-12-12)
EffectiveNot yet; to be notified by the government on a date chosen by it. (Not yet; to be notified by the government on a date chosen by it.)[1]
Legislative history
First chamber: Lok Sabha
Bill titleCitizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019
Bill citationBill No. 370 of 2019
Introduced byAmit Shah
Minister of Home Affairs
Introduced9 December 2019; 4 years ago (2019-12-09)
First reading9 December 2019 (2019-12-09)
Second reading10 December 2019 (2019-12-10)
Third reading11 December 2019 (2019-12-11)
Amends
Citizenship Act, 1955
Status: In force

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing a path to Indian citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities fleeing persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.[2] The act was the first time religion had been used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law.[3]

The religious persecution of minorities such as Hindus, Sikhs and Christians has been a serious and widespread problem in Pakistan.[4][5][6] The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the Indian government, had promised in previous election manifestos to offer Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from neighboring countries.[7][8] Under the 2019 amendment, migrants who had entered India by 31 December 2014, and had suffered "religious persecution or fear of religious persecution" in their country of origin were made eligible for citizenship.[2] The amendment also relaxed the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from eleven years to five.[9] According to the Indian Intelligence Bureau, the act will add about 31,300 new citizens to India's 1.3 billion population. About 25,400 Hindus and 5,800 Sikhs, along with about 60 Christians and other religious minorities, are expected to be immediately eligible for citizenship under the amended Citizenship Act.[10][11]

The amendment has been widely criticised as discriminating on the basis of religion, in particular for excluding Muslims.[12][13] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights called it "fundamentally discriminatory", adding that while India's "goal of protecting persecuted groups is welcome", this should be accomplished through a non-discriminatory "robust national asylum system".[14] Critics express concerns that the bill would be used, along with the National Register of Citizens, to render 1.9 million Muslim immigrants stateless. Commentators also question the exclusion of persecuted religious minorities from other regions such as Tibet, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.[15][16] The Indian government says that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are "Muslim-majority countries" where Islam has been declared as the official state religion through constitutional amendments in recent decades, and therefore Muslims in these Islamic countries are "unlikely to face religious persecution" and cannot be "treated as persecuted minorities".[17][18][8]

The passage of the legislation caused large scale protests in India.[19] Assam and other northeastern states have seen violent demonstrations against the bill over fears of non-Muslim illegal immigrants being naturalized under these provisions, thus impacting the local culture and society.[20][21][22][23] Universities across the country saw huge protests by students and the police were subsequently accused of resorting to brutal suppression.[24] As of 12 December, the protests had resulted in more than a thousand arrests and six deaths; civil liberties and communication facilities were frequently suspended by the police in response.[25] The current protests are happening nearly eight years after riots between Muslim migrants and native Bodo Hindus over illegal immigration to Assam resulted in 77 deaths.[26]

Background

The Indian government passed the Citizenship Act in 1955, seven years after India became an independent country. This act, and its subsequent amendments, prohibited illegal migrants from obtaining Indian citizenship. The act defined illegal migrants as citizens of other countries who entered India without valid travel documents, or who remained in the country beyond the period permitted by their travel documents. It also allowed for these individuals to be deported or jailed.[27] According to UNHCR, there are more than 200,000 refugees residing in India.[28][29][a] India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and does not have a national policy on refugees. All refugees are classed as "illegal migrants". While India has been willing to host refugees, its traditional position formulated by Jawaharlal Nehru is that such refugees must return to their home countries after the situation returns to normal.[28][31]

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which won the 2014 Indian general elections, declared in its election manifesto that "India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus".[32] This led to debate in the media over the nature of the Indian state and its responsibilities to religious minorities fleeing persecution.[33] In 2015, the government legalised such refugees, granting them long-term visas.[34] They also announced that Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to "minority communities" would be exempted from the requirements of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946.[35] Specifically mentioned were "Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists," who had been "compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution". Eligibility for the exemption was made contingent on a migrant having arrived in India by 31 December 2014.[36]

The BJP government introduced a bill to amend the citizenship law in 2016, which would have made Non - Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh eligible for Indian citizenship.[37][38] Although this bill was passed by the Lok Sabha, or lower house of Indian parliament, it stalled in the Rajya Sabha, following widespread political opposition and protests in northeast India. Opponents of the bill raised concerns that the demography of the region would change with an influx of migrants from Bangladesh.[38][39][40][41]

The BJP reiterated its commitment to amend the citizenship act in its 2019 election campaign. Among its other priorities was its belief that India had a large number of illegal Muslim immigrants. The BJP government completed an effort to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the state of Assam.[42][43][44] The stated aim of this exercise was to identify illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh, a Muslim majority country.[43] Commentators said it was an effort to target Muslim migrants.[43] The updated register was made public in August 2019; approximately 1.9 million residents were not on the list, and were in danger of losing their citizenship.[42][43][44] A majority of those affected were Bengali Hindus, who constitute a major voter base for the BJP. Shortly before the publication of the register, the BJP withdrew its support for the entire exercise.[45]

Religious persecution

According to Farahnaz Ispahani – a Pakistani American and a Public Policy Scholar at the Wilson Center, militancy and sectarianism has been rising in Pakistan since the 1990s, and the religious minorities have "borne the brunt of the Islamist's ferocity" suffering "greater persecution than in any earlier decade". This has led to attacks and forced conversion of Christians and Hindus, as well as attacks on Sufis and Ahmadis.[4][5][6]

Pakistan has been accused by London-based Minority Rights Group and Islamabad-based International and Sustainable Development Policy Institute of "high levels of religious discrimination", and intensified "violence and discrimination against religious minorities such as Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus". According to these human rights groups, the religious minorities in Pakistan face "legal and social discrimination in almost every aspect of their lives, including political participation, marriage and freedom of belief".[46] Similarly, the Brussels-based Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization stated in 2019, that "in recent years, the systematic and ongoing violations of freedom of religion in Pakistan has become an alarming matter. Religious minorities, including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Ahmadis and Shia Muslims, have perpetually been subjected to attacks and discrimination by extremist groups and the society at large."[47]

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedoms in recent years has stated that "extremist groups and societal actors [have] continued to discriminate against and attack religious minorities" in Pakistan. It adds, "extremist religious parties" in Pakistan have entered into "the political arena" and thus has "led to increased threats and hate speech against religious minorities".[48][49][50] The European Parliament, similarly has expressed its concerns to Pakistan of systemic persecution of minorities citing examples of attack on Christian churches and institutions and Hindu temples, hundreds of honor killings, its blasphemy laws that "make it dangerous for religious minorities to express themselves freely or engage openly in religious activities".[51] According to various resolutions adopted in the EU parliament, "for years Pakistan's blasphemy laws have raised global concern because accusations are often motivated by score-settling, economic gain or religious intolerance, and foster a culture of vigilantism giving mobs a platform for harassment and attacks" against its religious minorities. Another motion stated that Islamist groups active in Pakistan have taken "its toll on the Pakistani people, in particular, on religious minorities, women and children" and dozens of violent attacks have been targeted against Christians and other religious minorities.[52][53]

According to a US State Department 2018 report, hundreds of cases such as of "killings, attempted killings, death threats, assaults, rapes, kidnappings, and attacks on homes, businesses, and places of worship" on religious minorities were reported in 2017 in Bangladesh.[54]

In September 2019, Baldev Singh – a Sikh and a former member of Pakistan's legislative assembly belonging to Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party – sought asylum in India, along with his family. He stated that the minorities in Pakistan were being persecuted, face "atrocities" and he fears for his family's safety.[55] Commentators state that the Citizenship Act is necessary to provide "rights and reliefs" to human beings who have suffered sustained persecution because of their religious beliefs and minority status, and that it is consistent with India's long-held humanitarian values.[56][57]

Refugee and naturalization laws in India

According to the Indian government, Sections 5 and 6 of its existing Citizenship Act offer a "legal process of acquiring Indian citizenship by any foreigner of any category" without limit on numbers or religion.[58][59] Under these provisions, hundreds of Muslims have applied and been granted Indian citizenship in the "last few years", according to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs as quoted by the Times of India.[58] According to Shuvro Sarker, since the 1950s and particularly since the 1990s, the Indian governments under various political parties have studied and drafted laws for the naturalization of refugees and asylum seekers. These drafts have struggled with issues relating to a mass influx of refugees, urban planning, cost of basic services, the obligations to protected tribes, the impact on pre-existing regional poverty levels within India.[60] India is not a signatory to either the 1951 UN Convention or the 1967 Protocol on refugees.[61][62]

Legislative history

The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 19 July 2016 as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. It was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 12 August 2016. The Committee submitted its report on 7 January 2019 to Parliament. The Bill was taken into consideration and passed by Lok Sabha on 8 January 2019. It was pending for consideration and passing by the Rajya Sabha. Consequent to dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha, this Bill has lapsed.[63]

Subsequently after the formation of 17th Lok Sabha, the Union Cabinet cleared the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, on 4 December 2019 for introduction in the parliament.[38][64] The Bill was introduced in 17th Lok Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah on 9 December 2019 and was passed on 10 December 2019,[65] with 311 MPs voting in favour and 80 against the Bill.[66][67][68]

The bill was subsequently passed by the Rajya Sabha on 11 December 2019 with 125 votes in favour and 105 votes against it.[69][70] Those voted in favour included BJP allies such as Janata Dal (United), AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, TDP and YSR-Congress.[69][70]

After receiving assent from the President of India on 12 December 2019, the bill assumed the status of an act.[71] The act will come into force on a date chosen by the Government of India, and will be notified as such.[1]

The first hearing by the Supreme Court of India on 60 petitions challenging the Act was on 18 December 2019. During the first hearing, the court declined to stay implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. The court has set 22 January 2020 as the next date of hearing.[72]

The Amendments

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 amended the Citizenship Act, 1955, by inserting the following provisos in section 2, sub-section (1), after clause (b):[1]

Provided that persons belonging to minority communities, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who have 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 order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrants for the purposes of that Act;[1]

A new section, 6B, was inserted, providing further that:

on and from the date of commencement of the [Act], any person referred to in the first proviso shall be eligible to apply for naturalisation and any proceeding pending against such person in respect of illegal migration or citizenship shall stand abated on conferment of citizenship to him.[1]

The "exempted" classes of persons were previously defined in the Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015, (issued under the Foreigners Act, 1946):[36]

3A. Exemption of certain class of foreigners. – (1) Persons belonging to minority communities in Bangladesh and Pakistan, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution and entered into India on or before the 31st December, 2014

(a) without valid documents including passport or other travel documents and who have been exempted under rule 4 from the provisions of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950 [...]; or
(b) with valid documents including passport or other travel document and the validity of any of such documents has expired,

are hereby granted exemption from the application of provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the orders made thereunder in respect of their stay in India without such documents or after the expiry of those documents, as the case may be [...].[36]

The Rules were further amended in 2016 by adding Afghanistan to the list of countries.[73]

Analysis

The Bill amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 to give eligibility for Indian citizenship to illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and who entered India on or before 31 December 2014. The bill does not include Muslims.[74][75] Immediate beneficiaries of the Bill, according to Intelligence Bureau records, will be just over 30,000 people.[76] India's previous citizenship law, Citizenship Act 1955, did not consider religious affiliation to be a criterion for eligibility.[77]

Under the Act, one of the requirements for citizenship by naturalisation is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years. The Bill relaxes this 11-year requirement to five years for persons belonging to the same six religions and three countries. The bill exempts the tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura from its applicability. It also exempts the areas regulated through the Inner Line Permit, which include Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.[78][79][80] The inclusion of Manipur in Inner Line Permit was also announced on 9 December 2019.[40]

The Bill includes new provisions for cancellation of the registration of Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) such as registration through fraud, in case of OCI holder sentenced to imprisonment for two or more years within five years of registration and in necessity in the interest of sovereignty and security of India. It also includes a provision on violation of any law notified by the central government. It also adds the opportunity for the OCI holder to be heard before the cancellation.[38]

Exclusion of Muslims

Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan are not offered citizenship under the new Act.[81][82][83] Critics have questioned the exclusion. The Amendment limits itself to the Muslim-majority neighbours of India and, secondly, takes no cognizance of the persecuted Muslims of those countries, such as Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan and the Hazaras in Afghanistan and Pakistan. There are said to be refugees belonging to these groups in India, who have not been offered any relief.[28][30]

The Indian government has stated that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are Muslim-majority countries. They have modified their Constitutions in recent decades to declare Islam as their official state religion, and therefore Muslims in these Islamic countries are "unlikely to face religious persecution". The government states that Muslims cannot be "treated as persecuted minorities" in these Muslim-majority countries.[17][18][8] Critics state Ahmadis are a Muslim sect who have been "viciously hounded in Pakistan as heretics" and the Hazaras Muslims have been murdered by the Taliban in Afghanistan. They should be treated as minorities.[84]

Exclusion of non-Muslim countries

The Act does not include migrants from non-Muslim countries fleeing persecution to India. For example, several parties such as Shiv Sena have spoken out in favor of Hindu refugees from Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Tamils were allowed to settle as refugees in Tamil Nadu in 1980s and 1990s due to systemic violence from the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka. They include 29,500 "hill country Tamils" (Malaiha).[85][86]

The Act does not provide relief to Tibetan Buddhist refugees from China.[15] They came to India in the 1950s and 1960s. Their status has been of refugees over the decades, though one source states that Dalai Lama was granted political asylum in 1959. According to a 1992 UNHCR report, the then Indian government stated that they remain refugees and do not have the right to acquire Indian nationality.[87]

Furthermore, the Act does not address Hindu and Buddhist refugees from Nepal and Bhutan. There are reports that Bhutan discriminates against Hindus living in the country through a Buddhist-only society[88], and there are currently thousands of Buddhist and Hindu refugees from Bhutan living in refugee camps in Nepal who are unable to gain citizenship to neither Bhutan, Nepal or India, and are effectively stateless.[89]

The Act is silent about the minority Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar who are currently in India.[17]

Reception

Main article: Citizenship Amendment Act protests
Locals protest against the CAB in the capitol on 14 December 2019
Locals and Jamia Millia Islamia students protest against CAA/NRC in New Delhi on 15 December 2019

Protests

After the bill was cleared on 4 December 2019, violent protests erupted in Assam, especially in Guwahati, and other areas in the state.[90] In Dispur, several thousands of protesters broke down police barricades to protest in front of the Assam Legislative Assembly building.[91][92] Demonstrations were held in Agartala.[93] Six people have died and fifty people have been injured in the protests against the Act.[94][95]

Internet access was restricted in Assam state. Curfew was declared in Assam and Tripura due to the protests. The royal family of Tripura filed a petition in the Supreme Court of India against the bill.[96] The army was called in to as protestors defied those curfews. Railway services were suspended and some airlines started offering rescheduling or cancellation fee waivers in those areas.[97] Officials reported that at least two people died after clashes with police in Guwahati, Assam.[98]

No play was possible on the fourth day of the cricket match between Assam and Services in the 2019–20 Ranji Trophy because of the protests.[99] The India-Japan summit in Guwahati, which was supposed to be attended by Shinzō Abe was also cancelled.[100][101]

Protests against the bill were held in well as several metropolitan cities across India, including Kolkata,[102] Delhi,[103][104] Mumbai,[69] Bengaluru,[105] Hyderabad,[106] and Jaipur.[103] Smaller rallies were also held in the southern states of Kerala and Karnataka.[102]

The UK, USA, France, Israel and Canada issued travel warnings for people visiting India's north-east region, telling their citizens to "exercise caution". Chief Ministers of Indian states of West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh said they will not implement the law.[102][107][108]

On 15 December, police forcefully entered the campus of Jamia Millia Islamia university, where protests were being held, and detained the students. Police used batons and tear gas on the students. More than a hundred students were injured and an equal number were detained. The police action was widely criticized, and resulted in protests across the country.[109][110][111]

On 16 December, after the protests entered the fifth day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm in a series of tweets saying "No Indian has anything to worry regarding this act. This act is only for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go except India".[95][112]

On 19 December, police banned protests in several parts of India with the imposition of section 144 which prohibits the gathering of more than 4 individuals in a public space as being unlawful, namely, parts of the capital Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka, including Bangalore. Police in Chennai denied permission for marches, rallies or any other demonstration.[113][114] Internet services were shutdown in several parts of Delhi. As a result of defining the ban, thousands of protesters were detained, including several opposition leaders and activists such as Ramachandra Guha, Sitaram Yechury, Yogendra Yadav, Umar Khalid, Sandeep Dikshit, Tehseen Poonawalla and D Raja.[115][116][117]

Support

Rallies in support of the Amendment Act were led by BJP leaders in West Bengal, who alleged that the state government blocked them. They also accused the chief minister Mamata Banerjee's party members of misinforming the state's residents about the new law.[118] Similarly, some 15,000 people joined a BJP-organized rally in support of the Act in Rajasthan.[119]

Student groups such as those from the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad – a student wing of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, held rallies in support of the amended Citizenship Act.[120][121]

On 21 December, 1100 academics and intellectuals issued a joint statement supporting the Act. It says, the Amendment "fulfills the long-standing demand of providing refuge to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan" by "political parties like the Congress, CPI-M, cutting across the ideological spectrum". It adds that the Amended Act "stands up for forgotten minorities and upholding the civilizational ethos of India".[122]

Implementation

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya gave citizenship certificates to seven refugees from Pakistan on 20 December 2019.[123]

Reactions

Domestic

The foreign intelligence agency of India R&AW had expressed concern while deposing in front of the joint parliamentary committee, and had stated that the bill could be used by agents of the foreign intelligence agencies to infiltrate legally into India.[124] Harish Salve, former Solicitor General of India, said that the bill does not violate Article 14, Article 25 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India.[125] He points out that Article 15 and Article 21 apply only to the entities which reside in India, not to those which want to enter India. Salve says that the bill doesn't violate secularism and describes it as a 'narrowly-tailored' provision that is designed to address a specific issue.[126]

Home Minister Amit Shah quoted several famous Congressmen's sympathies for persecuted minorities from Muslim-majority countries in order to justify the passage of this bill.[127]

A petition opposing the bill was signed by more 1,000 Indian scientists and scholars.[128] The bill was opposed by the Indian National Congress, who said it would create communal tensions and polarize India.[129] Indian Union Muslim League petitioned the Supreme Court of India to declare the bill illegal.[130]

The legislation has been criticised in India and abroad by commentators who claim that it violates the secular Constitution of India and its promise of equality under Article 14.[27][131] According to Nitin Gadkari, Citizenship Amendment Act is needed because India is not a Hindu nation.[132]

Commentators have expressed concerns that the people who are unable to produce required documents to prove their citizenship and inclusion in NRC will be accepted as migrants and given Indian citizenship under the Bill but the people, of the community other than six religious communities mentioned in the Bill and could not prove their citizenship, will risk being staleless because they are not included under the Bill.[42][133][134]

International

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) criticized the Act and called it "fundamentally discriminatory in nature". It added, "Although India’s broader naturalization laws remain in place, these amendments will have a discriminatory effect on people’s access to nationality."[135]

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) called for sanctions[136] against Amit Shah and "other principal leadership" over passage of the Bill.[137] India's Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement in response, stating that the statement made by the USCIRF was "neither accurate nor warranted", and that neither the CAB nor the NRC sought to strip Indian citizens of citizenship.[138][139][140] The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs questioned the intent of the Bill and noted that "[a]ny religious test for citizenship undermines this most basic democratic tenet."[141] On 19 December, however, the United States Secretary of State state said that the US respects Indian democracy since it has a “robust” internal debate on the Citizenship Act.[142]

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan criticized the Act in that "violates all norms of international human rights law and bilateral agreements with Pakistan".[143] Bangladesh's Minister of Foreign Affairs, A. K. Abdul Momen said that Bill could weaken India's historic character as a secular nation and denied that minorities were facing religious persecution in his country.[144]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Indian government statistics show 289,394 "stateless persons" in India in 2014. The majority are from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka (about 100,000 each), followed by those from Tibet, Myanmar, Pakistan and Afghanistan.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019" (PDF). The Gazette of India. 12 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Parliament passes the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  3. ^ Slater, Joanna (18 December 2019). "Why protests are erupting over India's new citizenship law". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b Farahnaz Ispahani (2017). Purifying the Land of the Pure: A History of Pakistan's Religious Minorities. Oxford University Press. pp. 165–171. ISBN 978-0-19-062165-0.
  5. ^ a b Bert B. Lockwood (2006). Women's Rights: A Human Rights Quarterly Reader. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 227–235. ISBN 978-0-8018-8373-6.
  6. ^ a b Javaid Rehman (2000). The Weaknesses in the International Protection of Minority Rights. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 158–159. ISBN 90-411-1350-9.
  7. ^ Sankalpit Bharat Sashakt Bharat, BJP Sankalp Patra Lock Sabha 2019 (Manifesto, 2019)
  8. ^ a b c Kaur Sandhu, Kamaljit; Singh, Mausami (9 December 2019). "Citizenship Amendment Bill has public endorsement, was part of manifesto: Amit Shah". India Today. Retrieved 19 December 2019. The Citizenship Amendment Bill [...] was required to give protection to people who are forced to live in pathetic human condition while rejecting the argument that a Muslim may suffer religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan saying that a Muslim is unlikely to face religious persecution in an Islamic country
  9. ^ "The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019" (PDF). PRS India. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  10. ^ "How many immigrants will benefit from Citizenship Act? 25,447 Hindus, 5,807 Sikhs, 55 Christians, two Buddhists and two Parsis, says Intelligence Bureau". Firstpost. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  11. ^ Tripathi, Rahul (17 December 2019). "Citizenship Amendment Act decoded: What it holds for India". The Economic Times. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  12. ^ Helen Regan, Swati Gupta and Omar Khan, "India passes controversial citizenship bill that excludes Muslims," CNN News.
  13. ^ Sam Gringlas, "India Passes Controversial Citizenship Bill That Would Exclude Muslims", NPR
  14. ^ Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jeremy Laurence, UNHCHR, Geneva (13 December 2019)
  15. ^ a b Chaudhry, Suparna (13 December 2019). "India's new law may leave millions of Muslims without citizenship". Washington Post. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  16. ^ Gettleman, Jeffrey; Raj, Suhasini (11 December 2019). "Indian Parliament Passes Divisive Citizenship Bill, Moving It Closer to Law". New York Times. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  17. ^ a b c "What Does India's New Citizenship Law Mean?". The New York Times. 13 December 2019. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
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Further reading

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