UNTANGLING OF THE CONVOLUTION AND REPERCUSSIONS OF THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT, 2019

1. INTRODUCTION

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAA Bill) was first introduced in 2016 in Lok Sabha by amending the Citizenship Act of 1955. This bill was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, whose report was later submitted on January 7, 2019. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on 8th January, 2019. The CAA was passed to provide Indian citizenship to the illegal migrants who entered India on or before 31st December 2014. The Act was passed to provide Citizenship to migrants of different religion such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The eligibility for granting Citizenship to immigrants for this act was if he/she has resided in India for 14 years. For the specified class of illegal migrants, the number of years of residency has been relaxed from 11 years to 5 years but it created a political havoc involving public discourse showing their agitation and agony towards the implementation of the law by organizing rally, campaign, strikes by public and opposition party.

" CAA IS A WEAPON AGAINST CONSTITUTION OR MESSIAH OF IMMIGRANTS? "

2. BACKGROUND

In 1995, The Citizenship Act was implemented by the Government of India to grant citizenship to people from undivided India after they have resided for seven year in India and for people from other countries who have resided for twelve years in India.The respective Act was amended in 1985 when Assam accord was signed by Rajiv Gandhi by which Citizenship was granted to Bangladeshi migrant who have settled in India before 1971 and the Bangaladeshi migrant who have entered India during or after India - Pakistan War will be denied Citizenship and expelled from the country .In 2003, the BJP government accorded the notion of illegal migrants who have entered India including children without valid travel proof or has resided in the country for a period more than allowed by the law will be expelled from the countries . The National Register of Citizens was mandate for the Act.[1]

3. CITIZENSHIP UNDER THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION

Citizenship is a relationship between the government and people who constitute a state. The state protects the citizen from expulsion . It provides certain rights such as freedom to vote, form unions and freedom of expression etc. The citizens also needs to oblige to certain duties towards the sate .

3.1 ARTICLE 5 TO ARTICLE 11 of the INDIAN CONSTITUTION deals with the eligibility and grant of citizenship

• The citizenship can be acquired or grant on the following basis:
• At the commencement of the Constitution
• By birth
• By descent
• By registration
• By naturalization
• By incorporation of territory
• People who were domiciled in India as on 26th November 1949 automatically became citizens of India by virtue of citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution.
• Persons who were born in India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 1st July 1987 are Indian citizens.
• A person born after 1st July 1987 is an Indian citizen if either of the parents was a citizen of India at the time of birth.
• Persons born after 3rd December 2004 are Indian citizens if both parents are Indian citizens or if one parent is an Indian citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of birth.
• Citizenship by birth is not applicable for children of foreign diplomatic personnel and those of enemy aliens.

3.2 ARTICLE 11 OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION provides the Parliament with the right to make any provision concerning the acquisition and termination of citizenship and any other matter relating to citizenship

3.3 TERMINATION OF CITIZENSHIP

• RENUINACTION : Any citizen of India who is also a national of another country renounces his Indian citizenship through a declaration in the prescribed manner, he ceases to be an Indian citizen. When a male citizenship is ceased then his childs citizenship is also ceased.However, such a child may within one year after attaining full age become an Indian citizen by making a declaration of his intention to resume Indian citizenship
• DEPRIVATION : It is applicable only in the case of citizens who have acquired the citizenship by registration, naturalization, or only by Article 5 Clause (c) (which is citizenship at commencement for a domicile in India and who has ordinarily been a resident of India for not less than 5 years immediately preceding the commencement of the Constitution).
• TERMINATION : Indian citizenship can be terminated if a citizen knowingly or voluntarily adopts the citizenship of any foreign country.[2]

4. CONTROVERSIES AND PROPOGANDA

The fact that about 70% of the 19 lakh people who are out of the NRC in Assam are women shows that the method of asking people to furnish documents to prove their citizenship is incorrect at a very basic level the NRC can only catch those who lack the required documents, not illegal immigrants. Even for rural-to-urban migration in India, the men move alone first and later try to bring women and children to the city, so it sounds impossible that there could be so many more female illegal immigrants than male ones. And now, the government is planning to implement this disastrous NRC all over India!

The NPR is the first step of the proposed NRC (or NRIC). The NPR seems similar to the Census, but its not. The National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) will be prepared.Those whose names appear in this list will be given a National Citizenship card.Highly bureaucratic and time-consuming process.Tremendous power in the hands of the sarkari babus, who might be corrupt.Any person can raise objections on your inclusion in the NRC. This objection could be because of petty personal enmity, professional rivalry, discrimination due to your mother-tongue, caste, religion, etc.Privacy of the census data is protected as per provisions of Census Act 1948. No such provision exists under NPR. The possible misuse of the data is a serious. The CAA mainly focus on giving Citizenship on basis of religion which was against the essence and spirit of Secularism. It is used as vote politics and will cause communal riot causing havoc in the national spheres.

5. LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL SCRUTINY

This act is the first instance of religion being used as a criterion for Indian citizenship. CAA violates Constitutional secular principles and is a violation of right to equality, equality of opportunity .The Indian Constitution equality before the law and non-discriminatory treatment by the Indian State. It is also in violation of Article 13,14,15,16 and21 of the Indian Constitution.

6. VICTIMS OF THE ACT

• The poor and uneducated of all communities, who lack documents.SC (approx.Assam NRC is a good example of what would happen if CAA-NRC-NPR will be implemented. A large number of citizens (not only Muslims) will be declared doubtful because of lack of documentation.SC (approx. 23 crore Indians), ST (approx. 12 crore Indians) and OBC (approx. 55 crore Indians) who are often poor and thus might not have the required documents.
• Nomads and Adivasis, who are often left out of the governments
• Orphans and abandoned children, who might not have the required documents for themselves and their parents. There are 3.1 crore such children in India, according to the UNICEF.
• Migrant labourers.
• Illiterate people. More than 27 crore Indians who cant read or write, its weird that a piece of paper can decide their destiny.
• Disabled people. Many of the disabled are abandoned, lack documents or have high probability of iris and thumbprint mismatch, say rights organisations. As per the 2011 census, 2.1 crore Indians are disabled, with 1.21 crore being illiterate
• People whose names are spelled differently in different documents, a mistake that is quite common in India, partly because of numerology.
• People whose documents have been lost during calamities like floods or simply misplaced over the years.

7. AFTERMATH OF CAA

• Similarly abuse of power can take place in which people can be targeted because of personal rivalries, either by state or political parties or by individuals who can submit complaints implicating specific individuals.When a person is declared illegal, then their citizenship will be revoked, and all rights will be rescinded. Their properties and possessions will be confiscated and their jobs taken away. They cannot avail any rights, claim protection from state or recourse to judiciary seeking rights/justice. They will be open to exploitation by anyone and in every way possible.
• The houses and properties of the Indian Muslims were vandalized by the police.
• A whole black market economy will emerge out of this NRC exercise as happened in Assam, in which the authorities in charge of NRC and CAA will be taking huge amount in bribes to include names NRC is a good example of what would happen if CAA-NRC-NPR will be implemented. A large number of citizens (not only Muslims) will be declared doubtful because of lack of documentation. As we saw in Assam, 60-70 percent of NRC list excludes were non-Muslims. This shows that this exercise will be problematic not only to Muslims, but also to everyone in general because failure to produce documentation will result in exclusion from NRC list.
• Another problematic aspect of CAA is that it only covers refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. When people will be declared doubtful, if they are not from these three countries, then they also will be declared illegal and their citizenship revoked.
• There will be a turmoil and bloodshed similar to partition. It will cause financial strain on resources as it will lead to accommodation and removal of people
• Social division and polarization among the people will lead to civil unrest
• International scrutinization due to the violation of Secularism principle stated in treaty and Convention signed by the country
• A hurricane of petition to change the Act will create a judicial pressure on the government
• Numerous protest and rallies to boycott the implementation of the Act which leads to the possibility on limiting the freedom of expression of the person.
• Uncertainty on the fairness and inclusivity of the Act to protect the right of the minorities communities

8. CRITICISM

• The criteria for granting Citizenship on ground of religion was against Secularism and it was implied on immigrants from few countries like Afghanistan,Pakistan and Bangladesh and not from Sri Lanka,Myanmar etc
• India has one of the largest population in the world and granting Citizenship will act as a barrier of growth due to less resource
• The citizenship is provided on the ground of documentation which makes it tough
• People who dont have enough documentation proof will be declared as immigrants even though they have resided in India
• It will create havoc and communal riot as citizenship is given to Non Muslim
• The Act is used as vote bank politics
• There is no organised process of applying for citizenship only recently a portal will be launched
• There are many rumours and fear among the people regarding CAA which the government is unable to remove which will create a civil war or loss of trust in the government
• Partition like situation can be raised due to the policies
• Many people have lost there lives and communal riot has been escalated in few states

9. CONCLUSION

The Citizenship Amendment Act is seen as an invisible weapon to rip the Indian out of his/her citizenship on the grounds of religion. India has always been an adamant supporter of Secularism and harmony. People have fear to lose their citizenship as they lack documents even after the Center has clearly directed that the Act is for granting and not snatching someones citizenship. The Act also cost drainage of financial resource to provide for citizenship to the immigrants. The Act is also used as vote politics strategy by the government as bear making of law and passing it without even retrospecting its long term effects is a careless move. There must be a thorough discussion,dialogue exchange, resources required, appropriate parameters and the number of immigrants who will be granted citizenship should be debated and discussed at a large level involving state and union government even public should be part of it to provide them assurance of security and confidence of not causing harm to them. The grant of citizenship should not be based on Religion or Country but should be based on just and humanitarian ground to avoid any opposition and turmoil in a peace loving country.

The land is mine and even if I am not from this land

10. CITATIONS

1. AYUSH VERMA,"Citizenship (Amendment)Act,2019: Everything Important you should know about" available at https://blog.ipleaders.in/citizenship-amendment-act-2019-everything-important-you-should-know-about/ (last visited on January 9,2024)

2. DRISHTI IAS, "Citizenship of India" available at https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/citizenship-of-india (last visited on January 9,2024)