Understanding the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019: A Comprehensive Overview

The citizenship amendment act (CAA) aimed to amend the citizenship act of 1955, it was passed in Indian parliament on December 11, 2019. CAA was originally presented in the parliament in the year 2016. However, it had to wait till the joint parliament committee submitted its report on 7th January, 2019. The bill was tabled and cleared in Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019, however it lapsed because of the dissolution of 16th Lok Sabha, which required reintroduction of the bill. Finally on December 09 of 2019 the Ministry of Home Affairs reintroduced this bill in the newly constituted Lok Sabha and it passed the bill on 10th December 2019. Thereafter it was introduced and passed in Rajya Sabha on 11th December.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 provides the provisions of considering immigrants of various religions for citizenship, who came to India before December 31st 2014. The immigrants from the countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan following any religions such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians will be considered under this act. In this article we will take a deeper look into the Citizenship Amendment Act and its key provisions.

What is Citizenship?

Citizenship is a relation between the individual and the sovereign state, which grants an individual certain rights like protection by the state, right to vote, and right to hold certain public offices, among others, in return for the fulfilment of certain duties/obligations owed by the individual to the state. Once conferred on an Individual that person will have the legal rights to live in the country and cannot be deported.

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What is the Citizenship Amendment Act?

Passed in December 2019, the citizenship amendment act was introduced with the purpose of providing citizenship to the immigrants who are facing religious persecution in Muslim majority countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and sought refuge in India. However, it considered only those immigrants who came to India before 31 December 2014. Since the CAA specifically considered neighboring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and in these countries Muslims are in majority, hence, it does not include Muslims immigrants from these countries. One of the aspects of this act which has drawn some criticism as religion is used as criterion under this act.

Key Provisions of Citizenship Amendment Act 2019:

Eligibility Criteria: It considered individual from certain religions to be considered for citizenship and below are the criteria it has

• The immigrant of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan
• Immigrant who migrated to India before December 31st 2014
• Immigrant of certain religions, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians
• Seeking refuge in India due the religious persecution

Exclusion of Muslims: The CAA 2019 doesn’t consider Muslims immigrants coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, even if they are facing religious persecution in their country. The exclusion of Muslims has become a debatable issue of this act. Critics of the Citizenship amendment act argue that it is discriminatory as it specifically excludes Muslims from its purview.

Criticisms and Controversies: Ever Since its announcement it has become a part of debate and discussion. It is receiving criticism for exclusion of Muslims the critics of this act argue that it violates the non discriminatory core value of the Indian constitution.  For a secular country like India it violates the principles of non-discriminatory and equality.

Legal Challenges: The Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court of India on multiple grounds, citing violations of fundamental rights mentioned in the Indian constitution like right to freedom of religion and right to equality.

Points Put Forward for Supporting Citizenship Amendment Act

Humanitarian Considerations: The act is humanitarian as it aims to provide relief to the individuals facing religious persecution in their home country and seeking refuge in India to protect themselves.

Historical Context: Providing refuge to religiously persecuted people has been a practice in India since ages. And the CAA aims to continue the same by providing protection through citizenship to the people who need it. 

Reduced Residence Requirement: The citizenship amendment act has reduced the requirement of residency from 11 years to 5 years. Which makes the citizenship provision faster for these communities. 

Not Against Muslims: The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 is not against Muslims. It will have no impact on the citizenship Muslims who are Indian citizens either by birth or by naturalization. Muslims and members of other religious communities can still apply for Indian citizenship through existing legal provisions such as the Citizenship Act of 1955.

Points Put Forward Against Citizenship Amendment Act

Religious Discrimination: It has been criticized for being discriminatory act as it excludes Muslims from the consideration of citizenship. This act does not include religiously persecuted Muslims for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, even if they meet the requirements and have migrated to India before 31st December, 2014.

Selective Approach: The critics of this act argue that since this act takes a selective approach while addressing the citizenship issue thus violates the fundamental right to equal protection.

Global Criticism: The CAA has been part of geopolitical debates, as it garnered attention from various countries. Some of them expressed their concern regarding using religion as the main criteria of citizenship.

The CAA has faced several hurdles, including widespread protest across the country and several political parties jumping in as well. The act was also challenged in the Supreme Court, even some of the international organizations and countries have expressed their concerns.

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