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In 2019, the Indian government amended the rules for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, which provides fast track citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from 3 neighbouring countries. The rules for citizenship under CAA seek to provide illegal migrants belonging to religious minorities from 3 neighbouring countries, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, a pathway to Indian citizenship. Huge protests were witnessed across India against the bill and led to global criticism. The government’s clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 was scrutinised by the public. Read on to understand the CAA law in India and its repercussions in detail.
The Rules for Citizenship Under CAA
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was a bill passed by the Indian Parliament on 11th December 2019, which altered the Citizenship Act of 1955 by offering Indian citizenship to religious minorities from 3 neighbouring countries, namely, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, who arrived in India before 31st December 2014. The bill included non-muslim religions like Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists and Jains. The public opposed the bill on the ground that it violates the secularity of the nation.
CAA Law in India
The rules for citizenship under CAA were criticised as being discriminatory on the basis of religion. Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan were not eligible to apply for citizenship under the CAA. The CAA law in India did not include migrants from other neighbouring nations (like the Buddhists from Tibet, Hindus from Sri Lanka, or Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar) trying to seek shelter from prosecution.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was promised to be implemented all across India in the 2019 election manifesto. It raised concerns that the proposed CAA law in India will protect non-Muslims while Muslims will not be protected. These claims prompted widespread protests in different parts of India (majorly the North Eastern India). There were protests in Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi. Many students from well-known institutions like IIT Kanpur, Jadavpur University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Aligarh Muslim University, IIT Madras, etc. protested. The public and media sought the government’s clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019.
Government’s Clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019
The government’s clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 was that it seeks to help all the religious minorities who sought shelter from persecution in their countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to pacify the situation by tweeting, “I want to unequivocally assure my fellow Indians that CAA does not affect any citizen of India of any religion. 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.”
As the public started raising concerns about the joint effects of the CAA law in India and the NRC, both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah stated that no discussions are going on to implement a nationwide National Registry of Citizens. The government claimed that the opposition was trying to spread misinformation against the CAA. The government’s clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 had little to no effect in calming the protestors.
International Response
The CAA law in India was criticised by most of the foreign media. Foreign nations like USA, UK, France and Canada informed their migrant population to practise caution while going to northeast India. The India-Japan summit, which was supposed to be held in Guwahati in the presence of Japan’s former Prime Minister, was cancelled. International protests were witnessed in many foreign cities like Amsterdam, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Helsinki, Washington D.C. etc.
Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), the foreign intelligence agency of India, also raised their concerns that hostile foreign agents can misuse the rules for citizenship under CAA to infiltrate India legally. The United Nations criticised the government’s clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 by calling it ‘discriminatory’ on religious grounds.
Support for the Law
Amidst the widespread protests, there were few rallies supporting the CAA law in India. Most of these rallies were organised by right-wing students and political groups.
Conclusion
The CAA law in India sought to help minorities from 3 neighbouring countries fleeing from religious persecution. This led to nationwide chaos and protests. Many protesters were injured and killed as a result of this. The government’s clarification on Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 did little to relieve the protesters. Soon after the law was passed, there was the COVID outbreak. Hence, the protests lost their momentum.
There is a lot of ambiguity about the CAA law in India and NRC. The Home Ministry extended the timeline to finalise the rules of the act due to the Coronavirus outbreak. However, during Amit Shah’s visit to West Bengal, he stated that the CAA laws will be implemented sooner or later.
