THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2019.
Political parties make great promises and frame appealing manifestos during elections. But keeping up with those promises is the biggest of all tasks.
Citizenship Amendment Bill(CAB) is one such promise made by the BJP.
What is the CAB?
The CAB is an amendment of the the Ctizenship act, 1955. This bill states that if people who migrated from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before 31st december 2014 belong to any one of the 6 communities (Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsi and Christians), they are eligible for the Indian citizenship. They can obtain citizenship by naturalisation if they stay in India for 5 years. Earlier it was 11 years.
Why this bill at first place?
Before independence, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were together as one single country called the 'undivided India'. The division was made in 1947. More than 95% of people in Pakistan are Islamis. Their constitutions are based on religions. Thus the minorities(Hindus, Christians etc.) faced discrimination and fled to India to save themselves.
That's when the citizenship act was introduced. If those refugees who came to India continued to stay for 11 years, they would become a citizen by naturalisation.
But passing this bill is no smooth journey.
Whether the ruling party does its job diligently or not, the opposition parties are always sincere to their duties. There are several criticisms raised on this matter.
1) Northeastern states are against this as this bill mainly affects them. Generally there are very few employement opportunities in the Northeastern states. If this bill is passed, more and more people from Bangladesh would enter into India to have a better living. This would make it difficult for the Indians themselves. There is widespread protests in Assam, Guwathi and other parts.
2)Many parties want the government to include the Srilankans who had settled in India years ago, to be eligible for citizenship.
3)The opposition parties claim that this bill is against the muslims, it provides incentives based on religions and thus it violates the fundamental right to equality.
However, Amit Shah has been trying to justify his move. Some of his replies to the protests were that
1) Muslims who have migrated from the three countries are not included as they are not the minorities and are not likely to face any persecution in an Islamic country.
2) It does not violate article 14. There is a concept of reasonable classification in the constitution and this bill follows that.
Why not the Srilankans, Rohingyas and other minorities? Is there a political motive behind this? Will this bill really benefit the country or just add to the population?
There are several other questions. What is your opinion on this bill? If you were in place of Amit shah what would you do?
Share it in the comment section. :)
However, with protests, violence, curfew and strikes everywhere, the bill was passed in Rajya sabha with 125-99 votes on 11th december 2019.
Citizenship Amendment Bill(CAB) is one such promise made by the BJP.
What is the CAB?
The CAB is an amendment of the the Ctizenship act, 1955. This bill states that if people who migrated from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before 31st december 2014 belong to any one of the 6 communities (Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsi and Christians), they are eligible for the Indian citizenship. They can obtain citizenship by naturalisation if they stay in India for 5 years. Earlier it was 11 years.
Why this bill at first place?
Before independence, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were together as one single country called the 'undivided India'. The division was made in 1947. More than 95% of people in Pakistan are Islamis. Their constitutions are based on religions. Thus the minorities(Hindus, Christians etc.) faced discrimination and fled to India to save themselves.
That's when the citizenship act was introduced. If those refugees who came to India continued to stay for 11 years, they would become a citizen by naturalisation.
But passing this bill is no smooth journey.
Whether the ruling party does its job diligently or not, the opposition parties are always sincere to their duties. There are several criticisms raised on this matter.
1) Northeastern states are against this as this bill mainly affects them. Generally there are very few employement opportunities in the Northeastern states. If this bill is passed, more and more people from Bangladesh would enter into India to have a better living. This would make it difficult for the Indians themselves. There is widespread protests in Assam, Guwathi and other parts.
2)Many parties want the government to include the Srilankans who had settled in India years ago, to be eligible for citizenship.
3)The opposition parties claim that this bill is against the muslims, it provides incentives based on religions and thus it violates the fundamental right to equality.
However, Amit Shah has been trying to justify his move. Some of his replies to the protests were that
1) Muslims who have migrated from the three countries are not included as they are not the minorities and are not likely to face any persecution in an Islamic country.
2) It does not violate article 14. There is a concept of reasonable classification in the constitution and this bill follows that.
Why not the Srilankans, Rohingyas and other minorities? Is there a political motive behind this? Will this bill really benefit the country or just add to the population?
There are several other questions. What is your opinion on this bill? If you were in place of Amit shah what would you do?
Share it in the comment section. :)
However, with protests, violence, curfew and strikes everywhere, the bill was passed in Rajya sabha with 125-99 votes on 11th december 2019.
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