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Just before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Modi government has issued the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). With this, CAA has now been implemented in the country. After the implementation of CAA, the way has been cleared for non-Muslim minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to get Indian citizenship. In the year 2020, there were protests against CAA across the country. There were many people in these demonstrations who had little or wrong knowledge of the law. So let us understand what will change after the implementation of CAA.
Technically, the Citizenship Amendment Act i.e. CAA has amended the Citizenship Act of 1955. This will mean that those people from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014 due to some kind of torture or the other, will get citizenship. This will benefit the minority communities of these Muslim countries which include Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians.
Journey from bill to law
CAA has been mentioned in the agenda of the BJP party for a long time. It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the year 2016 in the first office of the Modi government. After passing it from here, it was sent to Rajya Sabha, but it could not be passed there with majority. After getting stuck, it was sent to the parliamentary committee.
When Lok Sabha elections were held in 2019, Modi government was formed after winning majority again. As soon as the government was formed, it was again passed in the Lok Sabha. Two days later, on December 9, 2019, it was also approved in the Rajya Sabha. After being passed in both the houses, CAA got the approval of the President on January 10, 2020. However, there was a lot of delay in its implementation. The main reason for this was the protests taking place across the country.
What will be the impact of CAA on Indian citizens?
The government has said in its statement that citizenship granted through CAA will be on a one-time basis only. That is, non-Muslim minorities who came to India illegally from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after December 31, 2014, will not be given citizenship. After the implementation of this law, there will be no impact on the citizenship of any citizen of India – irrespective of religion.
Why was there a need for CAA?
India’s former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said that the CAA was needed because Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Christian minorities who came to India and settled in the country over decades could not acquire Indian citizenship under the pre-amended citizenship law. Could do. Due to this he was deprived of many benefits of Indian citizenship. After the amendment they will not have to live an uncertain life.
Why are only non-Muslim minorities getting citizenship?
There were many reasons for the arrival of religious minorities in India – persecution, discrimination, physical insecurity, threat of forced conversion, etc. Official figures testify to the large-scale migration of minorities from Muslim-majority neighboring countries. In 1947 minorities in Pakistan, mostly Hindus and Sikhs, constituted about 23% of the population; Today they are around 5%. Hindus are left only at 1.65%. Similarly, when Bangladesh was formed in 1971, Hindus were 19% of the population. In 2016 they were only 8%. Whereas the number of minorities in India has doubled. In 1947, the number of Muslims in India was 9.2 crore. Today their estimated number is around 20 crores.
Apart from the declining population of minorities, Muslims get preference in the highest positions in all Muslim majority neighboring countries. Whereas the Indian Constitution protects the rights of all minorities and gives special rights to Muslims as well as other minorities in the management of their religious and educational institutions.
‘New ray of hope’
While presenting the bill in Rajya Sabha in 2019, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had described CAA as ‘a new ray of hope’. He said, ‘The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 will give a new ray of hope to the people of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have come to India after facing persecution on the basis of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Have arrived.’ Home Minister Amit Shah emphasized that CAA is not against any minority in India and the rights of every Indian citizen will be protected equally.
