The Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and its Implications

Author: M S RaghuTeja T, Andhra University College of Law, Visakhapatnam

Introduction:

The constitution of India offers single Citizenship to all its citizens leaving its residuary law-making powers in the hands of the Parliament of India. As the granting of citizenship has remained a matter of the discretionary authority of the parliament of India, it continues to initiate public debate whenever multiple amendments have been made to take up rigorous exercises of enumerating birth, descent, registration, and naturalisation through different mechanisations. The recent Citizenship Amendment Act has raked up huge distress in and around the country for its alleged human rights violations by restricting the entry of neighbourhood citizens having historical roots in India.

The idea of Citizenship Legislation:

During Colonial times, there was hardly a rule that recognised or regulated citizenship matters, until some people embarked on a journey to our neighbour countries for menial jobs. Indians emigrated to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Burma to work as labourers on plantations and paddy fields which considerably funded the imperial rule. Many apprehensions of occupational fears of outsiders, raised by then political leaders of Sri Lanka and Burma have raised an alarm of seizing valuable capital, opportunities that belong to their long-living indigenous people. To regulate the movement of labour, the British Indian Government introduced immigration agreements with many Asian and African countries to protect their interests in the subcontinent. Though the proposed agreements were never brought into force, they created an entity called ‘Indian minorities’ emanating from large-scale migration to our neighbourhood. After Independence, the partition of the country on religious lines has led to unprecedented migrations across the Eastern and western Frontiers of India. As a result, the need was felt for legislation governing ‘Citizenship’.Constitutional makers have also taken steps to insert citizenship provisions from Articles 5 to 11 catering to the present and future needs for the formulation of policy.

Shift in Citizenship provisions:

The recent Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA),2019 which was passed by the parliament of India on 11th Dec,2019 tries to accommodate the persecuted communities of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikhs, Jains, Parsi, Christians etc in an accelerated manner relaxing some conditions. Both statutory and constitutional provisions of citizenship recognise the residents of a country with definite intention of establishing their permanent home in India. The day-to-day activities of a country involve the participation of its residents in various ways and put determinative tests of acquiring citizenship and grounds on which it is lost.

The provisions of the CAA amending the Citizenship Act of 1955 are as follows:

1. The Citizenship Act of 1955 prohibits foreigners who entered India without a valid travel document or who entered with a valid document but stayed longer than allowed from obtaining Indian citizenship. The cut-off date was decided to be December 31, 2014. However, immigrants who identify as Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian and who arrived in India on or before December 31, 2014, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan, will not be considered “illegal migrants” under the CAA,2019 and are eligible to apply for and be granted Indian citizenship.
2. The aforementioned immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan are granted citizenship by the CAA against lawsuits pertaining to their immigration status.
3. The CAA lowers the qualifying period of residency in India before becoming eligible for Indian citizenship for migrants from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian communities in neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, from “not less than eleven years” to “not less than five years.”.
4. Overseas Citizens of India(OCI) citizens are set to lose their status for committing offences by violating local laws.

The Citizenship Amendment Act,2019 was amended by the parliament in 2019 to introduce section 2(1)(b) to define illegal migrants and provide certain exceptions under the Passport(Entry into India) Act,1920 or Foreigners Act,1946 to make them eligible for citizenship.

The Citizenship Amendment Rules,2024 notified on March 29, 2024, aims to facilitate migrants of Six non-muslim communities who don’t have any documents through the legislative route and update them with the citizenship portal(https://indiancitizenshiponline.nic.in/) with nine different types of valid documents.

The Tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura covered under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution which need an Inner Line Permit (ILP)under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations of 1873 from their respective State governments were exempted from the legislation’s ambit.

Issues behind the legislation:

Many opponents allege that the proposed Act was discriminatory and against Equality before the law(Art.14) and the secular ideology enshrined in the Constitution. Many non-resident tourists, and diplomats who visit India and would like to establish permanent residency will face difficulty when their documents like visa and passports have expired. The Provision of illegal migrants amended in the Citizenship Act, of 1955 is allegedly discriminatory on religious lines if they fail to take into account historical factors of partition and lead to religious differences within and among the Citizenship Applicants. There are no provisions of law for containing hate speech in social media against these excluded categories. All-India National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC), denied Muslim communities an opportunity to obtain Citizenship which is allegedly a discriminatory measure as claimed by them. Indigenous people of North-East feel immigrants and refugees from neighbouring countries pose threat to their culture,identity and language etc.

Reasons for CAA Protests: The minority sections feel they are being neglected and being subservient to other religious groups. With rising fears caused by their restricted entry,it may alter their demography. India’s hyphenated minorities mean that their citizenship is considered to be of a lesser order than that of Hindus, even as they are routinely expected to prove and perform their loyalty as Indian citizens.

Humanitarian Impact: India is not a signatory to the International Conventions on Refugees,1951. So there is no obligation to give asylum to many social groups which need shelter. This is visible in the case of the huge influx of migrants to socially sensitive bordering states with neighbouring countries. India’s lack of accommodating concern for marginalised communities has attracted International attention owing to severe distress, backwardness and neglect of these communities. Thus commitment to binding with fundamental principles of protection of the Human rights of all people aspiring to be Indian Citizens has remained a daunting task.

Impact on Assam Accord: The Assam Accord of 1985,declares anyone unable to prove ancestry past the March 24, 1971 deadline, to be an alien.CAA has extended the 1971 deadline to 2014 which led to a huge number of non-muslim foreign nationals from Bangladesh settling legally in the state of Assam. CAA will act as an incentive to enable a large section of Bangladeshi-Hindus who were left out of the National Registry of Citizens(NRC) to gain citizenship.

Impact on Indian Descent living abroad: The persecuted sections in the neighbouring countries feel ‘Ghar wapsi’ and allotted civil and Political rights within India which they were deprived previously. They can also be beneficiaries of the Government Schemes and will be protected under the security cover of the Indian State. It can also increase the respect for Indian Communities abroad and raises a alarm that India will come in rescue when the people of Indian descent are treated badly.

Measure of religion as matter of cultural Identity: Citizenship Amendment Act,2019 required the persecuted Hindu communities to produce proof of residence of their previous origin to prevent falsification of their credentials. The reason behind the targeted approach followed by the centre is neighbouring countries religion was predominantly Islamic. By allowing Hindu Minorities from neighbouring countries to take up Indian citizenship,there is an opinion that we uphold their religious rights. It also allows them to practise,profess their religion freely without undue influence,bias etc..This helps us to enhance the traditions,customs of our land.

Is the Classification based on Religion Reasonable?

The Constitution initially outlined who would be a citizen of India at its commencement but did not define citizenship beyond that point. Supporters of the CAA argue that it’s a reasonable classification based on the persecution faced by certain religious minorities in neighbouring countries, and therefore does not violate Article 14. Though India’s commitment to pluralism and inclusivity is questioned by explicitly linking citizenship with religion,it turned out to be necessary to fulfil electoral promise of current Political dispensation. The Indian government has staunchly defended the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in the face of widespread protests against it, pointing to national security and interests as its cornerstones. Authorities contend that in order to perform a humanitarian duty, the Act is an essential step in defending marginalised minorities from adjacent nations.

Conclusion:

The citizens of a country will be stakeholders in its development process. In a time when India is facing burgeoning population expansion, the qualifications to decide their status of domicile have wider ramifications. Apart from making religious considerations there should be a humane approach towards the excluded communities of CAA. The persons who were granted Citizenship under CAA,2019 should not be left in lurch and a systematic mechanism should be employed to increase their living standards. The Burden of proof for verifying the Nationality Test should lie with the state to be answerable for any irregularity. Any major changes in Citizenship Laws should uphold the legal, constitutional and democratic rights of Indian citizens.