What is Citizenship Amendment Bill or CAB?
Why is CAB controversial?
The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is a bill introduced by the Central Government in the Parliament of India in 2019 to primarily amend the Citizenship Act of 1955.
Purpose of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) 2019
The main purpose of the bill is to make certain religious communities of illegal migrants or refugees eligible for Indian citizenship – in a fast-track manner.
The Bill, among other things, seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians who migrated to India till the end of 2014 from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, due to reasons like persecutions.
What makes the Citizenship Amendment Bill Controversial?
- The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, in effect, seeks to give Indian nationality only to the non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
- Six religious communities – Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians – are considered eligible for Indian citizenship if they entered India on or before 31 December 2014, but not Muslims.
- The countries from which minorities are allowed include Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, but not Myanmar or Sri Lanka.
- Citizenship is granted by relaxing the requirement of residence in India for citizenship by naturalisation from 11 years to 5 years for these migrants.
- North-east India has already suffered a lot due to the problem of illegal migrants. The natives of North-east India are against any move to allow citizenship to illegal migrants – irrespective of their religion.
The Stand of the Government regarding CAB
The Central government is of the opinion that the bill is not discriminatory against Muslims. As the Citizenship Amendment Bill has not amended the original provisions, any foreigner, including a Muslim, can still apply for Indian citizenship under the normal process of naturalisation. However, it may take 11 or more years to get Citizenship in this route.
The strong advocate of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) 2019, Amit Shah, Home Minister of India, connected the 2-nation theory which led to the division of India with the new bill. As per him, as the two nations – India and Pakistan – are created on the basis of religion, CAB turned a necessity now.
Home Minister also cited the Nehru-Liaquat pact. As per him, Nehru-Liaquat pact failed to achieve its objectives in protecting minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have declared Islam as their State Religion. However, there are religious persecutions of minorities in these countries. Home Minister pointed out the declining minority population in the three neighbouring countries.
The CAB legislation, as per the Union Government, will give bring a new light into the lives of the people who were facing religious persecution in neighbouring countries.
As per the government, the bill does not violate any provisions of the Constitution including Article 14.
Note: You can read more about the Government’s clarification on CAA here.
Three flaws in the logic of the Central Government
- Even though Jinnah proposed 2-nation theory in the 1940s, the result was never a Muslim Pakistan and a Hindu India. While one nation (Pakistan) was created on the basis of religion, the other nation was created on the basis of secular ideology (India). In secular India, citizenship was granted to members of all regions including Islam.
- Only Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of Pre-Partition India, Afganistan was not. Even if the government take moral responsibility to protect the minorities affected by the 2-nation theory, that logic is not applicable in the case of Afganistan.
- If the intention of the CAB is to protect all minorities facing persecution in the neighbouring countries- the bill turns a blind eye on the minorities in Myanmar (Rohingya Muslims) and Sri Lanka (Tamils).
Thus clearly, the bill is highly selective. CAB is intended to select some communities and omit others.
Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) vs National Register for Citizens (NRC)
The Centre has been trying to implement both the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). There are protests regarding the implementation of both.
Let us see what are the differences between CAB and NRC.
- While the CAB is a bill, NRC is a digital register.
- NRC is not based on religion, while CAB is.
- The base-year of NRC is 1971 (in the case of Assam), while the base-year of CAB is 2014.
NRC is a verified digital register having names and basic demographic information about all Indian citizens in a digital format.
The names of all persons born in India or having Indian parentage or having resided in India for at least 11 years, will be mentioned as Indian Citizens in the National Register for Citizens (NRC).
The NRC in Assam
The process of NRC started at first in the state of Assam. The National Register of Citizens or NRC in Assam targeted illegal immigrants. A person had to prove that either they or their ancestors were in Assam on or before March 24, 1971.
A total of 3.3 crore people who had applied for inclusion in the document. However, the final version of the NRC (as on August 31) contained the names of only 3.11 crore people. About 19 lakh people were not included in the NRC. The people who failed to prove citizenship were not only Muslims but also Hindus.
Not all omitted from NRC in Assam were illegal migrants from Bangladesh, but migrants from neighbouring states. Union Government plans to extend NRC to the rest of India soon – in a move to seek more clarity on the same.
However, the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 may help non-Muslims in Assam left out of the NRC to get the citizenship of India – without further hurdles. The bill is silent about Muslims.
Acts which the CAB amend:
- Citizenship Act of 1955.
- Passport Act of 1920.
- Foreigners Act of 1946.
Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and CAB
The Bill also proposes to incorporate a sub-section (d) to Section 7, providing for cancellation of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) registration where the OCI card-holder has violated any provision of the Citizenship Act or any other law in force.
Concerns of the North East Region of India
Northeast people are immensely worried about the possible demographic changes the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill could cause in the region. The Northeast region has long battled migration from Bangladesh.
The natives of North-east are fiercely opposed to any ‘outsider’ settling in. Protests have already broken out over the fears that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill could end up destroying the culture and ethnicity of the region.
Exceptions to the Bill
Status of the Citizenship Amendment Bill
The Union Cabinet cleared the Bill on 4 December 2019. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 10 December and Rajya Sabha on 11 December.
In Lok Sabha, the Bill was passed 311-80, with zero abstentions after the Opposition put up a spirited attack against it.
In Rajya Sabha, 125 votes were cast in favour and 105 against the bill.
The President of India signed the bill on December 12, and the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) became the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
However, the CAA is not effective yet. It is to be notified by the government on a date chosen by it.
Conclusion
The chief opposition to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is that it discriminates on the basis of religion by identifying only non-Muslims refugees as those who would be eligible for Indian citizenship.
While any foreigner can still apply for Indian citizenship, he/she has to follow the normal process of naturalisation – which takes 11 or more years.
The CAB is seen by many as a quick move to change the demographics and voters-profile in favour of the ruling party by selective admission of illegal migrants.
As per the critics, Citizenship (Amendment) Bill violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution – the fundamental right which guarantees equality to all persons. This is part of the basic structure of the Constitution and hence cannot be reshaped by any Parliament laws.
It is yet to be seen if the Supreme Court allows the selective fast-tracking for Indian Citizenship. The apex court has power even to declare the bill as unconstitutional.
The policy towards illegal migrants and refugees needs wider debates and deliberation. However, religion can never be the basis of Indian Citizenship.
Aspirants also read:
General Studies Paper 4 (GS4) Question Paper – UPSC Civil Services Main Exam (Written) 2019
Names of Successful Candidates - UPSC Civil Services Preliminary Exam 2019
General Studies Paper 2 (GS2) Question Paper – UPSC Civil Services Main Exam (Written) 2019
Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 - Government's Clarification on CAA
Very comprehensive article
Very useful content for all .thank you so much Sir.
I think it is not correct to mix opinions with objective analysis. This Article has never shown exactly what the government’s version is. The Author has every right to criticize the bill but doing that without showing what the other side’s arguments are is not expected and may amount to opinion rather than objective analysis.
Firstly, As far as Art. 14 is concerned, whether there is a reasonable classification or not has been not at all discussed.
Secondly, the concept of positive discrimination is not discussed at all here. This doctrine says that, two unequals can’t be treated equally. there was no attempt to throw light on this argument of the government (the author needn’t agree that positive discrimination applies here but could have discussed)
Thirdly, whether any country-specific citizenship schemes have been offered by the government in the past or not has not been said. For example in 1964, only Sri Lankan Tamils are given the facility to obtain citizenship it seems (Home Minister’s speech on 9th Dec, 2019).
Fourthly, Rohingya Muslims are occupants of Rakhine state of Myanmar which is geographically contiguous with Bangladesh. So, if they flee Myanmar they will have to reach Bangladesh first. So, Rohingyas are totally a different class of people. The Principle of Non-refoulement, if at all applicable, applies to Bangladesh and not India.
Fifthly, Afghanistan with which we don’t have any Nehru-Liaquat pact shares boundaries with India (Pak-Occupied-Kashmir) and that minorities of those states have been persecuted is a well known fact worldwide.
I kindly request that plz bring an analysis. An objective and impartial analysis will truly serve the purpose because there are already enough opinion publishers in all the forms of media on both the sides who have no regard for rational analysis of the issue. Plz list out both the Govt’s and Opposition’s arguments completely.
THANK YOU
@ Venky – We have included facts, opinions, and analysis – which we felt necessary in the exam perspective. For every issue-based article, we try to present both sides in a balanced way, do the analysis, and then take a stand. Further analysis or research is beyond the scope of this article. We would like each article to be as concise as possible. As usual, readers like you can add your viewpoints/analysis in the comment section below. You have already come up with some new thoughts – particularly regarding the refugee policy. We believe in diverse viewpoints and encourage all democratic debates. All the best!
Very helpful .. easy to understand .. all the details of bill are very clearly explained ..thank you so much !!
Thank You so much Sir!
Remember the principles our Constitution stands for – secularism and fraternity. Facts can be manipulated and cherry picked to suit personal agendas in our post truth world.
What message does such a discriminatory law send to our brothers and sisters from the other community who are already being hounded for their dietary practices and are asked to prove their loyalty to the country everyday. Had it been a government that didn’t openly support Hindutva and argue against the ideal of secularism as enshrined in the preamble there’d be room for benefit of the doubt. Ask yourself is your heart in the right place?
I think this is first de-jure step of ruling party to make India as a Hindu Rashtra . The founding fathers of our constitution dreamed of a secular nation. Our country is a secular country , it is not anti-religion rather it is a country who treats every religion equally. During our academic session as a law student we have to study Hindu Law , Muslim Law and Christian Law etc. I am saying this just to throw light on the secular structure of our academic syllabus. For UPSC exam we have to study about all the religion’s belief , art , culture etc. From our childhood in School we have learnt to respect all religion , then why the ruling party is making such a dirty conspiracy to convert India as a Hindu Rashtra. Today N.Modi who is former RSS karmi doing this to satisfy his desire to make India as a Hindu Rashtra. Just think , if tomorrow a Muslim community leader become PM , then he shall take initiatives to make India as an Islamic nation. These political parties are violating the basic structure doctrine of our constitution. In order to gain votes from dominant religious group they are exercising such a dirty politics , which in future may create riot in India . Just one month ago Ayodhya verdict went in favor of Hindus , and within 1 month this bill surely create dissatisfaction among Muslim communities in India.
I think you are wrong. You are biased against the PM
It is his second term and he was elected unanimously. BJP single handedly won 303 seats. That means muslims have also voted for him .
Secondly, even if he tries to make India a hindu rather, he can’t. Supreme court will interfere. Or educated people like you will throw him out of the power in 2024 or maybe in 2029, in the same way as we , the bhakts have thrown the Congress party twice. India is a democratic country and will always be, but country is above all even above constitution. When former PM can say that muslims have the first right on resources of India and we still think he was secular, so now why we are crying on the CAB.
Mr. Anurag are you still preparing for UPSC or practising your andhbhakti on this platform?
Country is above all but our country is nothing w/o constitution. Why this bill gives chances for all religion and not for muslims? Would you like to make this country like others or like 2nd pakistan?
“Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” is one of the main ideology of our communal harmony and bill like this brakes these kind of things. Instead of doing something for economy, this govt is playing citizenship card! Are you not buying onions for RS 200 per kilo?
Would Mr. Modi will look into it or any BJP leader? In times of Congress Govt, Swargiya Jaitly and Sushma ji given Dharna that basic things are getting costly. Are these not getting costly now?
AndhBhakts will never understand this.
Today they are playing on Religions, tomorrow they will play on regionalism!
It’s so disgusting that people of India are so senseless that they can not see the future, which is giving a clear indication of their ruined future.
Economy is getting down everyday, but these blinds are playing still on 2 Nation theory.
Shame!
Mr Anurag I am surprised that an aspirant declaring himself as bhakt. And this is clear you are not other than but , the bhakt of hon’ble PM Modi. Right??
I am not biased in any kind. I was in support of ruling party when it passed instant triple talaq abolition bill. I was in support of ruling party when J&K reorganization bill was passed in 5th august 2019. Even I was in support of ruling party when Motor vehicle amendment , UAPA amendment passed in our Parliament. But this time I am dissenting this CAB 2019 because this is unconstitutional and against the basic structure doctrines of our constitution. It violates article 14 , where it is clearly highlighted equality before law and equal protection of law as an important fundamental right to all persons* . Try to understand our nation is not a Hindu nation . It is a secular nation. Read the preamble of our Constitution. The word secular added in the year 1976 (42nd amendment). And this kind of bills are a great threat to the secular structure of our nation. Earlier during BJP rule , *Allahabad* renamed as *Prayagraj* . What was the problem with the nomenclature Allahabad ?? Whether Allah is not almighty?? I am a Hindu , but I am respecting Allah as well as Uncle Jesus on same par as Lord Shiva. This is our culture , our tradition . we should not dilute the ideals and goals enshrined in our Constitution. The founding father of constitution never assented to make India a Hindu country.. If this CAB is not a political agenda for vote bank, then why Tamils from Sri Lanka has been excluded. Because the Tamils and southern parts of India are not favourable to BJP ruled government. This is the reason why they did not try to give a chance to Tamils. If their motive is only for religious prosecuted people , then why they did not include *Ahmediyan* of Pakistan. They are also prosecuted in Pak for religious background. Why the ruling party did not included Christians from Bhutan as in Bhutan Christians suffered a lot due to religious prosecution and thats why they are privately offering prayer in home.
The ruling party not able to answer all these , because this is dirty politics to free India from our brother Muslims , and fulfil the dream of Vir Sabarkar , who was in favor of 2 nation theory and making India completely HINDU rashtra. We are opposing and dissenting CAB 2019
I’m glad we have more saner voices here so far. I only hope and request you all to abide by the Constitution once you enter service. Jai Hind.
My opinion is to exclude all illegal migrants irrespective of religion. As it will cause overpopulation. And population is the major cause of all evils.
And also secularism also leads to riots if not proper checked the cultural identity of nation.
Think why northeast is shouting,, only to protect their identity.
Mr Pallav I am agree with you in this regard. As per UN report nearly 50 lacs of immigrants entered India(up to 2019) and the number of refugees are 2 lacs. We are already suffering from population explosion. The carrying capacity of ecosystem has been reduced. Again we are suffering from high prices of vegetables , cereals etc. Onion price is Rs.120/kg .Our young stars are already suffering from unemployment problem .people from States like Bihar , UP , Odisha are suffering from intense poverty. Have you remembered how children from Muzzafarpur(Bihar) died due to unknown disease (AES) and do you know what was the reason?? The reason was the people were so poor that they were not able to provide 2 times meal to their children. The poor children ate litchi in empty stomach which causes brain damages(muzzafarpur is famous for litchi garden). That time I was in shock to watch these conditions of children. Even UN criticised India for this.
So we should not allow more population explosion in our country.
Rightly said. People who hold the policy of Amit Shah and N modi will deny the facts you mentioned.
I am confounded to see that oppostion of this bill in Lok and Rajya sabha resist in telling population factor points explicitly. Dont know why they can’t reveal the factors that india is already struggling with overpolulation.
Why Opposition emphasizes and limited only on religion i.e. Government should take muslims also
Please reply my comments
This article does not mention clearly. The merits and demerits. It only talks about what govt. think which is presenting it. I think you have to include some things which are suggested by the experts and the suggestion which are suggested in parliament.
Mr. Pallav , there is no rule , no morality in dirty politics. Politicians are export in satisfying their agenda by hook or by crook. It becomes easy when you have majority in Parliament. Even the day before yesterday while watching RS TV , suddenly someone was approaching to Honable Hone Minister to say something and that time the speaker signalled to stop live broadcasting of RS TV. When people from North eastern area are opposing this CAB , the government has ordered to cut internet connection from these area temporarily. I must say this CAB 2019 is only to satisfy personal political agenda. If we concern the words of Hon’ble HM , then we will get a clear picture of this agenda. Hon’ble HM said this bill is for those who are facing prosecution in neighborhood nation only on the reason of religion. If their motive is to give citizenship to only religiously prosecuted persons , then why they exclude *ahmediyans* in the proposed bill as we all know that Muslims in Pakistan does not recognized *Ahmediyans* as Muslim , and they are prosecuted there for religious ground. Secondly *Shia Muslims* are also facing religious prosecution in Pakistan.
Third thing is if their motive is to provide shelter/citizenship to only religiously prosecuted individuals then why they exclude Tamils from Sri Lanka. Tamils are also Hindus . Here in this context you can clearly see the main agenda behind this BILL. It is already known that they are willing to provide citizenship to only non-muslims then what was the agenda behind excluding Tamils. Because Tamils or southernmost part of India is not favorable to BJP led Government. Their their base is very weak. They feared that explosion of Tamils in India may pose a danger to the BJP led Government. So in this regard they don’t want to take any chance.. Tamils in Sri Lanka earlier posed a great threat to their Sri Lankan Government in past(LTTE led by Prabhakaran) . So , there is a chance that these Tamils from Sri Lanka could pose a threat in India by opposing ruling party. That’s the reason why when BJD(Biju Janta Dal, who supported the bill both in RS &LS) asked the BJP to add Tamils from Srilanka , they rejected the suggestion to add them.
And brother you asked about population explosion . Population explosion problems don’t not pose any danger to these ruling party politicians. They are thinking that if more Hindus come from neighborhood nations, then they may get plentiful of votes from these dominant religious group. As we all knows about Hindutva , RSS & BJP and their connections and their agenda.. I HAVE SEEN IN LS AND RS THE OPPOSITIONS DID NOT PROTEST STRONGLY IN OPPOSITION OF THE BILL. while people of the country are in roads to protest CAB , it does not affect any political party. If they went strongly in opposition then how it passed in RS?? Shiv sena supported in LS and opposed in RS , it means they are also playing dirty politics to gain their political agenda… Nobody is thinking about nation. All are busy in their personal gain and agenda. Secular structure of India is in a way to destruction . I must say 12th December is a sad for our constitution as this day the goals and ideals if constitution diluted . We again divided into Muslims and non- Muslims on the basis of religion. The democracy defeated by this bill.
Mr. Pallav population explosion is not an issue for any of the political party neither ruling nor opposition. You know why ? They are not sufferers of population explosion. They are not facing any problems. Every month the LPG price is hiking. They (politicians) are pleading to people to abandon subsidy so that poor people may get gas cylinder . But surprisingly none of them has abandoned their own subsidy. They are enjoying less price.
2)They are receiving telephone bills from government. We are using jionet at a price of Rs.444/- for 84 days. But they are receiving thousands of money for internet connection (BSNL) .
3)While they are in Parliament , they are getting hygienic , tasty food just @Rs.10/- per plate.
4)While they are outside their area , they do not have to book any lodge or hotel(which may cost Rs.5000/-per night. For them , Government Circuit houses are present. In government circuit house the price for per night is less than 100 Rs. (In Puri , this is 75/-)
5)They don’t have to spent transport fees as government is providing them.
6)They don’t have to pay entry fee for any temple , park etc .
Above all they are 24×7 guarded by Y bodyguards.
When they are getting all these facilities then how they will feel the plight of population explosion!!!
Population is still out of control in Bihar. One of the former ex-CM (L.P.YADAV) himself has 9 kids. When they are not convinced about population explosion , how they will react in this matter. So they resist in this matter.
By destabilizing your own country’s condition, the govt is planning to do so called charity…. Wow… Govt will beat his own citizens protesting against the bill, govt will create dissatisfaction among people belongs to one section in their own country, and they will call people from other countries to come and stay here…wow…India will over throw China as most populous country in 2027, PM talks about problem of over population, India’s rank in hunger index and peace index is already deteriorated and the govt is inviting more people to deteriorate it further. Claps for the govt.👏
The Article is good. But it seems that the writer was in a hurry to declare CAB as ultravires. Article 14 is half interpreted. The second part of Article 14 , allows positive discrimination under the doctrine of intelligible differentia and reasonable differentia, which has much bigger role to play in this issue.
Thus its a good political article but not suited for a Civil Service aspirant to follow,.
Thank you,.
So sorry to blame, but really a childish act. Haven’t expected such barbaric act at this era. How world will judge India now? It’s like all “my brothers get in and the rest, get out” . Expected at this age is humanity with logical means. Government should have declared either not or all. Anyway, what could now be done is embrace who are present and deney all aliens in future.
CAB is ok but it isn’t well in Indiana prosperity and peace. Go back time and situation not permitted arunachal indian
well the issue has been clearly stated with the simple understanding we thank for this for much necessary information for serious upsc aspirants,we request to have a way forward to each of the issue explained.
thank you
Very objective in nature. But it does not say why the minorities in Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet are not included. It does not find a place in the category of not included in the first picture.
Very useful and informative article. Thank you Sir
Appreciate your comprehensive and insightful treatment on the contentious CAB . Thanks
Hi guys please remove this pseudo secular mentality which congress and communist parties have put in our mind. The actual oxford dictionary meaning of secular is something which has nothing to do with religion. Which means that a person must get the required facilities from government irrespecitve of his or her religion. Now coming to CAA bill. This bill is giving citizenship to non-muslims from islamic countries like pakistan, bangladesh and afganistan. The only reason for doing that is to protect from being persecuted by those countries. And these non-muslims did not enter india illegally. They have come to india as refugees.and our BJP government is protecting them.what is wrong in that. Our country already has 15% of muslim population and they are getting required benefits from current government. The population of muslims in india is much higher when compared to population of muslims in these 3 islamic countries. If you were a citizen of any of these 3 countries and you or your family were tortured how would you feel. i am not against islam or muslims but try to see the facts. And now coming to NRC. It is only to identify illegal immigrants not to target any community. And let me remind you that NRC was conducted by Assam in BJP according to supreme court orders. Please also think about protecting our hindu brothers and sisters.
Hello Friends. I didn’t wanted to write anything about this issue
but I am fed up of all these fake messages and status uploaded
across social media on this issue. Daily I wake up to see at
least 10 people on my contact list come up with their own
analogies. I appreciate that people have recharged their numbers
with unlimited pack of Jio and have full right to express their
views but let me inform that posting fake messages and causing unnecessary fear is a punishable offence under Indian Penal Code
(IPC) and IT Act 2000 and you can be jailed up to 3 years and
fine or both.
I have always stood firm on one issue that is the media of our
country is corrupt to the core and are useless piece of shit.
They have come up with their own foolish interpretation of CAA.
To add to this mess, some Bollywood and other celebrities
and influencers most of whom are not even 10th pass and
have zero knowledge of the Indian constitution and polity
are engaged in fear-mongering across the nation.
These “experts” have used many fancy terms like “unconstitutional” , “undemocratic” , “non secular” etc.
First of all, let me accept the fact that it is not possible for
each and everyone to know about constitution and other
law of the land and it is completely fine if these media
persons and celebrities have no knowledge but we should
not open our mouth in any topic on which we have no
idea about. Hence let us first be honest with ourselves.
Now, I would like to briefly describe CAA to put all your
doubts to rest. The genesis of CAA is the partition on
the basis of two nation theory. This CAA provides citizenship
to “persecuted minorities” from three countries which
were victims of partition. Article 14 and 15 of our constitution
allows the government to make special provisions for anyone.
For example, Reservations. Therefore this act is completely
fine legally and constitutionally.
Some people have claimed that CAA is anti-muslim. Let
me inform that the title of this act is persecuted minorities
it means that this act is only for minorities where as these
three nations are official Islamic states (and not secular)
and you cannot include Muslims in this act though, the
government can introduce new act if it wants to welcome
persecuted majorities though I have never heard if such a term exists. Similarly you cannot include Hindus of Nepal
because they are majority in Nepal and also Nepal is not a
victim of partition.
Also most of the fake messages are regarding NRC. These
“experts” in the media houses have claimed that all the
Muslims of our country will be deported. Let me inform
this is all rubbish. This is to provide citizenship and not to
snatch away citizenship. India is a secular country and each
and every citizen weather she/he is Muslim, Hindu ,Jain ,
Buddhist etc. have full and equal rights on everything. Some
have claimed that if we have no documents of 1971 we
would be deported. Let me make it clear 1971 was deadline
only for Assam because during Bangladesh war of 1971
many refugees came to Assam and hence deadline of 1971
was fixed. If NRC of entire nation will be done the deadline
will not be 1971 and government will choose a genuine date
which would be comfortable to all and people will be able to
show the required documents.
Now comes the issue of Assam. Yes, the protests and concerns
of people of Assam is genuine and we all should support them.
Assam is already struggling with resources and they have
their own language and culture which would be disturbed
if we settle all these immigrants there. Hence, they are
demanding that the burden of these refugees should be
shared equally by all states. This is genuine but no media
house will show this because this is not a sensational news
like Hindu Muslim debate.
One of the most worrying trend of this whole happening was
that once again in this great land of Subhash Chandra Bose,
Mahatma Gandhi, Bhagat Singh, JL Nehru, some terror
sympathisers were made poster girls and poster boys by the
divisive forces operating within and outside the territory of
India and are pushing their agenda in the veil of secularism.
Now coming towards protests. Everyone has a right to protest
peacefully but violence is not tolerated under article 19. Most
of the students of these universities are genuine protestors
but the problem is that divisive forces and political parties
send their representatives in the garb of protesters and they
create violence for their vested interests and even peaceful
protestors have to suffer. Hence, the need of the hour is to
find out these Anti social elements and punish them severely rather than defaming entire set of students and reputed universities.
Hence, the conclusion is that legally CAA is valid though
you can always question its economic viability as our nation
is already having economic breakdown and it would be a
huge challenge to feed these “outsiders” with all the meagre
resources available to Indians.
Having said that I regard citizenship is a useless topic
and this is just to divert the attention from real and genuine
issues which is hunger, poverty,farmer suicide, violence
against women, unemployment and massive economic
breakdown. So instead of debating and protesting on this
useless topic, constructive debates should be done on these
genuine topic across the nation so that we can overcome all
this and make our nation stronger than ever and emerge as
an economic power in the upcoming decade of 2020’s.
— From an Engineer who has read CAA and hates fake messages.
Well said, Aman and I totally agree with you that the whole issue has been hijacked and pushed by politicians. The constitution has been amended so many times and there has been no protest like this. Article 14 is read and interpreted by people either based on their respective bias/perspective or by political leaders to justify their arguments for attaining their personal goals. The public follows these leaders blindly as they have no knowledge of Constitution nor are they interested to learn and find out the truth themselves. The CAA issue is presently pending in SC and it is best that we await its’s decision rather than jump at conclusions.
I also feel that some opinions in the Article are tilted against the CAA and can affect the UPSC aspirants, especially on Art 14 applicability if SC upholds the Govt Bill. My view is that in all such contentious cases, arguments from both sides should be presented and it should left to the reader to take a call based on his interpretation. It would also have given a reason for greater discussions and debate by comments.