Jai Hind!!!

It is perhaps a first in independent India’s political history. The protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019 has spread to almost every corner of the country, yet the reasons for the protest vary with the geography. Some are protesting because the CAA allegedly violates the secular identity of the country while others fear that it will endanger their linguistic and cultural identity. Yet others believe that while the CAA itself is innocuous, combined with the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), an exercise that has run into controversy in Assam, it will become a tool to exclude the Muslim population of the country. That the Union government has been hit hard by this allegation is evident from the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has publicly contradicted home minister Amit Shah’s assertion that a nationwide NRC will be prepared by 2024.

So why has the country against the NRC, which has made even the Modi government do a volte face? How is it connected to the CAA? If implemented, what will be their implications for the aam aadmi, irrespective of religion or geography?
There are many questions like this revolving around in the minds of thousands of Indian citizens.

What is the CAA ?

According to the CAA, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh and Parsi migrants who have entered India illegally-that is, without a visa-on or before December 31, 2014 from the Muslim-majority countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and have stayed in the country for five years, are eligible to apply for Indian citizenship.Why is the provision extended only to people of six religions, and not Muslims, and why does it apply only to people coming from these three countries?The Union government claims that people of these six faiths have faced persecution in these three Islamic countries, Muslims haven’t. It is, therefore, India’s moral obligation to provide them shelter.

So, is the provision open only to those who have been persecuted in the three countries?

No, the CAA itself does not mention the word ‘persecution’ anywhere, contrary to the BJP’s assertion that the act covers only persecuted people. And since persecution is not the criterion, it does discriminate against illegal Muslim immigrants from these three countries.

Now, let’s know, What is NRC?

National Register of Citizens, 1951 is a register prepared after the conduct of the Census of 1951 in respect of each village, showing the houses or holdings in a serial order and indicating against each house or holding the number and names of persons staying therein. The NRC was published only once in 1951.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register of all Indian citizens whose creation is mandated by The Citizenship Act 1955 as amended in 2003. It has been implemented for the state of Assam between 2013–2014. The government plans to implement it for the rest of India in 2021. According to the Citizenship Rules, 2003, the centre can issue an order to prepare the NPR and create the NRC based on the data gathered in the National Population Register (NPR). The 2003 further states that the local officials would then decide if the person’s name will be added to the NRC or not, thereby deciding his citizenship status. No new rules or laws are needed to conduct this exercise in the whole of India.

Assam, being a border state with unique problems of illegal immigration, an NRC for the state was created in 1951 based on the 1951 census data. But it was not maintained afterwards. In 1983, the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act was passed by the Parliament creating a separate tribunal process for identifying illegal migrants in Assam. The Supreme Court of India struck it down as unconstitutional in 2005, after which the Government of India agreed to update the Assam NRC.

Following unsatisfactory progress on the update process over a decade, the Supreme Court started directing and monitoring the process in 2013. The final updated NRC for Assam, published 31 August 2019, contained 31 million names out of 33 million population, leaving out 1.9 million applicants.The 1.9 million residents who were not on the list, and were in danger of losing their citizenship.Many of those affected were Bengali Hindus, who constitute a major voter base for the BJP. After the completion of the Assam NRC exercise, BJP did not find the results, meeting its expectations. BJP believed that several legitimate citizens were excluded while illegal migrants were included. The register was created because “illegal migration from Bangladesh has long been a concern” in Assam. The Amendment of the 1955 Citizenship Act, in part, helps protect non-Muslims who are not in the register and face arrest or deportation

The ruling government of Bhartiya Janta Party has promised to implement the NRC for all of India in its election manifesto and during its speeches while campaigning for the 2019 General Election. On 19 November 2019, Home minister Amit Shah, declared in the Rajya Sabha of the Indian parliament that the NRC will be implemented throughout the country.

The Indian Government passed this bill recently in the month of December 2020. According to the Bill, all the persecuted minorities, (except Muslims) in the neighboring Islamic countries can now take Indian Citizenship conveniently.

Some Muslims in the country started opposing this Bill and protested it even using violence. The entire country saw on various news channels how the violent protests were organized in Delhi, Bengal, UP, Karnataka, etc. The investigations into the violence brought the truth to light. Some political parties, and people who are personally against the Bill instigated those violent protests by misinforming Muslims.

The Government has made it clear that no Indian Muslim will be affected by it in any manner. The Bill has been made to stop illegal immigration of non-Indians into Indian states such as Bengal, Assam, Rajasthan, etc. The Bill is absolutely right. Will any of us allow any person to start living in our home? No, certainly not! Similarly, India is our home, how can illegal migrants be allowed to stay here? Anyone who is willing to come and settle in India should come legally, through proper channels.

This Bill is being opposed primarily by the illegal immigrants themselves. In Assam, there is a huge number of illegal immigrants who have been living there illegally for many years. Some political persons or parties that want to take advantage of the situation are protesting it.

These people and parties don’t know that the entire nation wants it and they are being observed by the nation. This Bill has been passed in the Parliament through democratic means and ways. Still, some people and parties are opposing it.

This bill clearly suggest that, if you are an Indian, you don’t need to be worried about the bill. At last, all I can say is,

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