How NRC is different from CAA

The definition of citizenship in India, as defined in the Constitution and law, is undergoing a profound and drastic metamorphosis. The National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act are the two instruments of this shift. If the former is paving the way for disfavored groups to become stateless, the latter is paving the way for preferred groups to become citizens. While the first is now limited to the state of Assam, despite the threat of its expansion across India, the second is planned to be pan-Indian in scope. 

Not only should the two be read together, but they should also be read in the context of the government's policies toward minorities - be it the forced amelioration of Muslim women through the criminalisation of triple talaq or the clampdown in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, (in place since early August 2020). They must also be understood in light of the recent increase in violence against minorities, particularly by vigilante lynch mobs who have benefited from the promise of legal impunity. Understanding the NRC and the CAA requires knowledge of the ecosystem for minorities formed by these twin phenomena, which begin in the state and society, respectively.

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Assam has served as a laboratory for a potentially dangerous experiment under the watchful eye of the Supreme Court and under its unrelenting pressure to complete the NRC within a set timeframe. Despite the fact that the results fell short of expectations, the discussion of sending those who were not on the Register to detention centres has fueled fears that thousands of people may be rendered stateless and without rights. Existing prison centres in Assam are already overcrowded, and new ones are being built on a massive scale.

In Assam alone, a massive prison centre with a capacity of 3,000 detainees is being built, with ten more planned to hold a thousand people each. A detention centre in Nelamangala, near Bangalore, is being hailed as the first of its kind in the country. Meanwhile, the Global Detention Project has identified twelve actual detention facilities in India, the majority of which have been in operation since 2005 or 2006. What is CAA, How CAA is different from NRC, And what is differentiate between CAA and NRC? All these questions are very important for general knowledge of the students as well as the normal public, so this article will cover this information.

What is CAA?

On December 11, 2019, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, was passed by the Parliament. The (CAA) Citizenship Amendment Act of the 2019 year is changed; hence the CAA of the 1955 year is to grant Indian citizenship to Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan before December 2014 because of "religious persecution or fear of religious persecution." The Act, however, does not apply to Muslims. Migrants who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, and experienced "religious persecution or threat of religious persecution" in their home country were eligible for citizenship under the new law. In six years, these migrants will be granted Indian citizenship on a fast track. The legislation also lowered the residence requirement for these migrants' naturalisation from eleven to five years.

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What is NRC?

It depends on whether you live in Assam, which has already accomplished the NRC process, or if you live in another state. While Assam is the only state with an NRC, which was first created in 1951 and was last updated in 2019, the proposed statewide operation would be the first of its kind in India. There is currently no legal precedent for a national NRC. When Home Minister Amit Shah told Parliament on December 9 that a statewide NRC is in the works, he made a distinction between it and the new citizenship law, saying the NRC will not have a religious filter. It's unclear whether the government will pass a new law mandating a national NRC. “It is crucial to realise that, at the national level, no announcement has been made to launch NRC,” the government's Press Information Bureau clarifies in a list of FAQs. As Shah has stated numerous times, the purpose of the NRC effort is to discover illegal immigrants among Indian nationals. After the protests erupted, the administration attempted to downplay their NRC narrative. Kishan Reddy, Minister of State for Home Affairs, said the administration hasn't decided when the exercise will start or what the modalities will be. “The selection hasn't been finished yet, unfortunately. It has not been approved by the government or the legal department.

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How CAA is Different from NRC

Many people believe that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) may deny citizenship to certain existing Indian citizens or would discriminate against Indian Muslims, especially now that the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 has become law.

CAA is driven by Religion, NRC not:

The Citizenship Amendment Act is centred on religion, with a focus on excluding Muslims from people seeking citizenship in India from India's three Muslim-majority neighbours: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The National Register of Citizens, on the other hand, is not dependent on religious affiliation. Its goal is to find every illegal immigrant, regardless of caste, creed, or religion, and detain and deport them.

NRC, so far, is Limited to only Assam, CAA Nationwide:

In spite of Union Home Minister Amit Shah's repetitive announcement, the fact remains that the NRC exercise, as of today, remains a state-specific exercise. The NRC is identified and detained illegal immigrants from Assam, on Supreme Court's order, to keep its ethnic uniqueness unaltered. It does not apply anyplace apart from the state.

While the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a nationwide Act and will be implemented all around India, though many chief ministers have voiced their opinion to block the law in their states, constitutional experts believe the Centre is likely to have the last word on its performance.

1.Not Against Indian Muslims:

There is a widespread perception that the CAA will restrict their rights to  Indian Muslims. The truth is that no one can make the Act work, no matter how hard they try. This perception is based on a connection established between CAA and the proposed nationwide NRC.

While the CAA makes it easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India's three Muslim-majority neighbours, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, to become citizens, it cannot strip Indian Muslims of their citizenship. Even a projected pan-India NRC will only be able to detect and detain illegal immigrants of any faith. Furthermore, the national NRC is currently in the proposal phase.

2.United in Protest, not in Purpose:

There are two types of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act now taking place across India. The protests in the northeast are against the Act's implementation in their region. Most of them are concerned that if the plan is executed, a flood of immigrants will undermine their demographic and multilingualism.

People in other parts of India, such as Kerala, West Bengal, and Delhi, are opposing the exclusion of Muslims, claiming that it violates the Constitution's ethos. However, unlike in the northeast, this protest is principally motivated by the worry that the CAA will be used against Indian Muslims, which derives from the Act's flawed relationship to the NRC.

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Differentiate Between CAA and NRC: At a Glance

The National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship Amendment Act are the two instruments of this shift. They should be read in the context of the government's policies toward minorities. India's government is considering a national National Register of Citizens (NRC). There is currently no legal precedent for a national NRC. Many people believe that the Citizenship Amendment Act may deny citizenship to certain existing Indian citizens or discriminate against Indian Muslims, especially now that the law has become law.