India's New Citizenship Law

by Aambar Agarwal

Since December, India has been sizzling over their government’s newest proposal: the Citizenship Amendment Act. Here’s what you should know.

Key Players

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): leading right-wing party in India; currently holds a majority in the Indian government.

Indian National Congress (INC): leading left-wing party in India.

Narendra Modi: prime minister of India since 2014; part of the BJP.

Amit Shah: president of the BJP and minister of home affairs.

The Act

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a piece of legislation meant to fast-track citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian undocumented immigrants living in India for at least six years (rather than 11) from three countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. The act was introduced by Amit Shah, leader of the BJP, and passed Parliament. Soon, the Indian Supreme Court will listen to petitions against the act while the government decides on a date to put the act into effect.

These three Muslim-majority countries were chosen due to their continued persecution against non-Muslims (e.g., persecution against Hindus in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan). However, there has been opposition to the CAA due to the apparent targeting of Muslims.

The Problem

It is currently unclear why Shah and the BJP chose to help emigrants from only these three countries and not other neighboring countries, such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and China. One possible explanation is that non-Muslim persecution is more widespread and ongoing in the chosen three countries, thus making them more important to focus on.

Furthermore, various Muslim minorities are persecuted in the three countries and often flee to India, yet they are not given protection under the act. An explanation for the lack of protection could lie in the Chief Minister of Gujarat’s words: "Muslims have 150 countries where they can live, but for Hindus there is only one country, and that is (India)." Thus, the BJP might also reason that these persecuted Muslims hypothetically have many other neighboring countries to flee to, while Hindus and other non-Muslims do not.

Due to this apparent targeting of Muslim minorities, many Indian citizens feel like their Constitution is under attack. After all, India was founded as a secular democracy, where Muslims and non-Muslims alike were to coexist. The citizens do not want religion to be the focus of political decisions.

The Backlash

Protests have erupted throughout India in opposition to the CAA, arguing that the act is an unfair singling-out of Muslims (especially when coupled with the future National Register for Citizens), a breach of the Constitution, and simply an unnecessary measure (since there are more pressing problems to address, such as the current economic slump). The government’s attempts to control the protests have included cutting off the internet and deploying troops to certain areas; some citizens have even died due to this unrest.

However, Modi, Shah, and the rest of the BJP stand strong behind the CAA, along with their supporters, asserting that helping these persecuted minorities is India’s moral responsibility, while the INC and others continue to oppose the act. In fact, according to Modi, these opposing parties may have incited this great backlash by misleading the public on the act’s intentions.

So?

It’s clear that the government could have stated their purpose with less inflammatory language and included persecuted Muslim minorities in the act, as well as Tamils from Sri Lanka and Tibetans from China.

Yet it’s also clear that the CAA will be beneficial to many of the undocumented immigrants in India. In my opinion, the government is upholding their secular democracy by allowing these persecuted immigrants to finally call India their home.

No matter the outcome, Modi’s government has learned one important lesson: don’t get too cocky. Sure, they were elected thanks to their empowerment of the Hindu majority. However, even hinting at excluding the sizeable Muslim minority now will incite backlash, regardless of the BJP’s innocent intentions, for better or for worse.

More Readings:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50720273

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/18/india/modi-india-protest-citizenship-law-intl/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/opinion/india-constitution-protests.html?searchResultPosition=2

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/04/world/asia/india-protests-modi-citizenship.html