Essay on Citizenship Amendment Law | CAA and NRC | Essay

Introduction

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) amends the status of illegal immigrants in India. This can be particularly beneficial for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian migrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, who live within the country with none valid documents. All such immigrants, who have faced religious persecution in their native countries and later migrated to India by December 2014, are granted Indian citizenship.

Earlier, immigrants belonging to those three countries and 6 religions were mandated to stay in India for a minimum of 11 years before being approved for Indian citizenship. Now, the law has been amended so the amount of residence is simply 5 years.

Is the Citizenship Amendment Act applicable to all states?

The CAA doesn't apply to those areas which comprise the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, i.e., the tribal areas of Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, in states like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland, also excluding the Inner Permit Governance Act. is kept.

Why has the CAA been criticized by opposition parties?

India's major opposition parties highlighted that the law is discriminatory as Muslims don't seem to be included within the list of immigrant communities that will have the benefit of the Act.

The opposition indicated that Muslims constitute around 15% of the Indian population, and therefore the act excludes immigrants from that community. Therefore, it had been criticized for being uneven.

The Indian government clarified that Muslims weren't persecuted within the Islamic countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The govt said that the Act specifically provides relief to persecuted minorities; Therefore, Muslims weren't included within the list of beneficiaries.

After partition, people belonging to different religions are residents of those three countries and also terrorized thanks to religious enmity. His right to practice and propagate the faith of his choice has been doomed for years. Such oppressed communities have taken refuge in India for an awful while. the govt is seeking relief through the CAA.

The government may also examine applications from other communities and assess the validity of those requests on a case by case basis.

What kind of criticism did the Act get from the citizens of India?

Various political parties have opposed the act and stated that the proposal confers citizenship on the idea of faith. Indian citizens (especially students) have also resorted to protests across the country. Protests in Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Sikkim, Nagaland, Tripura and Manipur have attracted media attention.

The protesters of those northeastern states are of the opinion that these illegal immigrants would be a burden to the resources of those states and would also jeopardize employment opportunities for the present citizens. He has also stated that the Act isn't in conformity with the Assam Accord of 1985 which states the point in time of deportation of all migrants who have entered India illegally on 24 March 1971.

The Conclusion

The Ministry of Home Affairs has not yet notified the foundations which will make the Act operational. there have been several petitions against the Act which were heard within the Supreme Court in January 2020

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