CAA Full Form

On December 11, 2019, the Indian Parliament enacted the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. It changed the Citizenship Act of 1955 to create a road to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, or Christians who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. Muslims from eight nations, all of which are Muslim-majority nations, are not eligible under the statute. The legislation marked the first time in Indian law that religion was utilized as a factor for citizenship.

In past election manifestos, India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vowed to provide Indian citizenship to members of persecuted religious minorities who had moved from neighboring countries. Migrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, and faced "religious persecution or threat of religious persecution" in their home country were eligible for citizenship under the 2019 amendment. The legislation also lowered the residency requirement for these migrants' naturalization from twelve to six years. According to Intelligence Bureau figures, the law will benefit just over 30,000 people right now.

The amendment has been heavily criticized by many people as it directly discriminates on the basis of religion which is that it particularly excludes Muslims. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) directly called the act "fundamentally discriminatory" adding a point that suggested that whiles India’s main goal of protecting the persecuted groups is a welcoming idea, it should be accomplished through a non-discriminatory "robust national asylum system".

Critics worry that the bill, together with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), would leave many Muslim citizens stateless since they won't be able to fulfill the law's severe birth or identification verification standards. The omission of the persecuted religious minorities from other places such as Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar has also been questioned by commentators. Because Islam is the state religion of Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, the Indian government claims it is "unlikely" that Muslims will endure "religious persecution" there. Certain Muslim communities, such as the Hazaras, have endured persecution in various nations in the past.

The passage of this legislative act caused a large-scale protest all across India. Many Northeastern states and Assam witnessed violent demonstrations against the bill over the fear that granting Indian citizenship to the refugees and immigrants will cause a loss of the political, cultural, and land rights of many people who have already settled in India. 

Protesters in other regions of India claimed that the law discriminated against Muslims and asked that Muslim refugees and immigrants be awarded Indian citizenship as well. Several universities in India have conducted large rallies against the Act. Police allegedly brutalized students at Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia. Several protesters have died, police officers have been injured, public and private property has been damaged, hundreds of people have been detained, and local internet mobile phone service has been suspended in certain regions as a result of the demonstrations. Several states have said that they will not be implementing the Act. The states lag the legal power to stop the implementation of the CAA was the comment that was passed by the Union Home minister. 

What is Full Form of CAA?

The full form of CAA is  Citizenship Amendment Act. The CAA act was enacted by the ruling government of Indian on 12th December 2019 and was forcefully passed by the Lok Sabha on 9th December 2019 and was eventually signed by the President of India on 12h December 2018 and thus it became an act. 

The bill aims to broaden the definition of unlawful immigration. This legislation alters the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 to offer Indian citizenship to illegal migrants or refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan who belong to the Jain, Hindu, Jain, Parsi, Christian, or Buddhist groups. This law is for migrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014 and are now residing in the country without papers. As a result, the deadline under the Indian Citizenship Act is December 31, 2014.

Aside from that, this legislation is for minorities who are compelled to seek refuge in India owing to exploitation in their own countries based on their faith or religious persecution. After obtaining Indian citizenship, these migrants are free to live anywhere in the nation and enjoy all of the privileges that an Indian citizen has.

Muslims from these nations are not included in this law since they are not minorities in these nations. Furthermore, this law excludes Sri Lankan Tamils in India, Rohingyas from Myanmar, and Tibetan refugees.

Citizenship Amendment Bill receivers can live in any state in the country, and the burden of persecuted migrants will be carried by the entire country. Citizenship through naturalization is now available under the Indian Constitution for those who have resided in India for at least 12 months and 11 of the previous 14 years. It also allows persons born in India to become Indian citizens through their parents or grandparents.

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Key Features of the CAA

Here are a few of the key features of the CAA: 

1. According to the Citizenship Act of 1955, an OCI card can be issued to a person who meets one of the following criteria:

• He or she was born in India (former Indian citizen or descendants of any former Indian citizen).

• He or she is the spouse of an Indian national.

Such OCI cardholders will now be permitted to work, study, and travel in India under the CAA 2019.

2.  According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, the citizenship of an OCI cardholder can be revoked for the following reasons:

• Demonstrates displeasure with the Indian Constitution.

• Theft during the registration process

• During a conflict, assisting the enemy

• India's sovereignty is under threat.

• During the first five years of registration as an OCI, you might be imprisoned for two or more years.

According to the CAA 2019, a new grounds for citizenship revocation has been added: a breach of any legislation in effect in the nation.

3.  A person who obtains citizenship through CAA 2019 shall become an Indian citizen from the date of entrance, which might be on or before December 31, 2014.

4.  According to the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) of 1955, a person must reside in India for a minimum of 11 years before becoming an Indian citizen. This period was decreased to six years by the Citizenship Amendment Act. According to the CAA, this period will be decreased to 5 years in 2019.

5.  This legislation not only gives citizenship but also aims to put a stop to all situations of illegal migrants being prosecuted because of their unlawful migration or citizenship.

The Legislative History of the Citizenship Amendment Act

• The BJP government first introduced a bill that would help in amending the citizenship law in the year 2016. This bill would eventually make non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh eligible for Indian citizenship. 

• Despite the fact that the Lok Sabha,  of the Indian parliament, passed the law, it was stopped in the Rajya Sabha due to strong political opposition and demonstrations in northeast India.

• In its 2019 election campaign, the BJP reaffirmed its pledge to change the Citizenship Act. It asserted that religious minorities including Hindus and Sikhs are oppressed in Muslim-majority nations, and offered to expedite non-Muslim refugees' route to citizenship. The BJP administration developed a law after the elections that addressed the concerns of the northeastern states. The bill also excluded the tribal areas of Assam. The Indian government while introducing the amendment said that the bill only aims to grant quick access and citizenship to those who have fled religious persecution in the neighboring countries and have taken refuge in India. 

• The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was presented in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016. On August 12, 2016, it was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The Committee's report was presented to Parliament on January 7, 2019. The Bill was considered and approved by the Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019. It was awaiting the Rajya Sabha's deliberation and approval. This Bill has expired as a result of the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

• On 4 December 2019, the Union Cabinet approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, for introduction in the parliament, after the establishment of the 17th Lok Sabha. On 9 December 2019, Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah tabled the Bill in the 17th Lok Sabha, and it was approved on 10 December 2019 with 311 MPs voting in favor and 80 votes against it.

• On December 11, 2019, the Rajya Sabha passed the measure with 125 votes in favor and 105 votes against. Janata Dal (United), AIADMK, Biju Janata Dal, TDP, and YSR Congress Party were among those who voted in favor.

• The law became an act after gaining assent from the President of India on December 12, 2019. The act went into effect on January 10, 2020. The CAA went into effect on December 20, 2019, when Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya presented citizenship certificates to seven Pakistani refugees.

Why the CAA is Still Opposed?

• The CAA modifies the Indian citizenship statute to allow Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who arrived in India before 2014 as a result of religious persecution to stay. Muslims and other populations that fled the same or neighboring nations are not included in the text. The law also excludes refugees from Sri Lankan Tamils in India, Rohingyas from Myanmar, and Tibetan refugees. The projected National Register of Residents (NRC) will serve as an official record of all Indian citizens who are lawful citizens. Individuals would be required to submit a set of papers by a certain deadline in order to be included in it.

• The amendment has been heavily criticized as it is discriminating on the basis of religion, especially it excludes Muslims. Many protesters throughout the country wanted the amendment to be scrapped and also not to implement NRC nationwide.

• The bill has caused anxiety among Indian Muslims and poor Indians, who fear that they would be made stateless, putting them in custody. They are also afraid that the NRC's bureaucratic exercise, in which persons must establish their citizenship in order to be included in the registry, would harm all people. Protesters have raised their voices against authoritarianism and the police crackdown on student protests at campuses.

• Protesters in Assam and other northeastern states oppose granting Indian citizenship to any refugee or immigrant, regardless of religion, for fear of disrupting the region's demographic balance and causing them to lose their political rights, culture, and land. They are also afraid that it may encourage further migration from Bangladesh, perhaps violating the Assam Accord, a previous deal between the state and the federal government on migrants and refugees.

• The protest against the CAA bill started in Assam on 4 December 2019 right after the bill was introduced into the parliament. AS time passed the protests erupted in Northeast Indian and eventually they spread to the Major cities of India such as Delhi. 

• On the 15th of December, large protests took place outside New Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University. As the riots erupted, rioters set fire to both public and private property, and many train stations were trashed. More than 200 students were injured, and over 100 were imprisoned overnight at the police station when police forcibly invaded the Jamia campus and deployed batons and tear gas on the students. The police conduct was widely panned, and students around the country demonstrated in support.

• The protest which was peaceful at first then turned out violent due to police brutality and the protest resulted in thousands of arrests among those who were reported to be killed due to the police firing live ammunition on the protesters in Assam. On 19th December the police issued a complete ban on protests in several parts of India and as a result of defying the ban, thousands of the protesters were detained.

Reactions to the CAA

Human Rights Organizations

• Human Rights Watch (HRW): Meenakshi Ganguly who is the south Asia director for HRW said that the government had failed to totally grasp the extent of the public opposition over the erosion of the basic rights which are clearly evident in these protests. She demanded that the government launch an impartial inquiry into police charges of "excessive force, cruelty, and damage." Its "strongest response to the protests" would be to abolish the Act and "withdraw its proposal for citizenship verification that jeopardizes vulnerable populations.

• The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) has expressed concern that the CAA is "fundamentally discriminatory in nature," according to Stéphane Dujarric, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

• "The CAA is a discriminatory law that legitimizes discrimination on the basis of religion," said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty India. He also stated that individuals should be able to peacefully protest and have the right to peaceful assembly, which allows for freedom of speech and public discussion.

International Countries Reaction Towards CAA

There are many countries that had raised their concern and were against the passing of the CAA in India. Here are a few of the statements:

• United Nations: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres denounced "violence and alleged use of disproportionate force by security personnel" and urged India's government to uphold freedom of speech, opinion, and peaceful assembly.

• CAA represents a "dangerous change" in the way citizenship is defined in India, according to an EU resolution, and is expected to result in the "biggest statelessness catastrophe in the world."

• The Congressional Research Service, a research tank in the US Congress, has voiced worry that the CAA, together with the NRC, may have an impact on the status of the Indian Muslim minority.