What is it
The Citizenship Act, 1955 provides for the acquisition and determination of Indian citizenship. The Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 was first introduced in Lok Sabha in 2016 which it passed on 9th December 2019. Raj Sabha passed the same on 11th December 2019.
Under this Act, migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities who entered India on or before 31st December 2014 due to religious persecution in the above countries will not be treated as illegal immigrants and will be granted Indian Citizenship. For this purpose, they are eligible for Citizenship by naturalization if they can prove their residency in India for 5 years instead of for the existing clause of 11 years.
The amendments to the Act do not apply to certain tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur under the area covered in “The Inner Line” under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 to protect indigenous populations of North Eastern States. Home Minister, Amit Shah informed that Manipur has also been included the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime.
The Act also introduces a provision for cancelation of registration of Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder in case of violation of any provisions of the Citizenship Act or any other law being in force, after being provided an opportunity to be heard.
Issues with the Act
The Act seems to discriminate in terms of religion and geography as it excludes Muslims from the religious communities protected under the provisions of the amendment. It also excludes neighboring countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka. In a press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Home Minister Amit Shah justified that only minority communities that are being persecuted on the basis of religion in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan have been included and since these are Islamic states, Muslims are not included. Although, it excludes several religious minorities such as Ahmadiya and Shia Muslims in Bangladesh and Pakistan, Hazaras in Afghanistan, Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar from its protection, no explanation has been given for the same.
The Home Minister further claimed that the partition of India was on religious lines and the Act was essential to protect the rights and dignity of the minorities in these countries.
The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 violates the non-discriminatory provisions of Article 14 of the Indian constitution and Article 26 of the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights.
The Act has brought concerns to the North East on grounds that illegal immigrants would dilute the cultural authenticity and political power of the people.
By Parnika Gupta
(Image Sources- newyorker.com)
(Literary Sources- PrintRelease.aspx, http://164.100.47.4/BillsTexts/LSBillTexts/Asintroduced/370_2019_LS_Eng.pdf, https://thewire.in/politics/amit-shah-citizenship-act)