ASSIGNMENT OF CONSTITUTION LAW 1

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT 2019

SUBMITTED TO – MS SWATI KAUSHAL ( ASST, PROF. ALS NOIDA )

SUBMITTED BY – TANMAY SINGH BHANDARI 9253

TABLE OF CONTENT

 WHAT IS CITIZENSHIO AMENDMENT ACT 2019

 WHO IS BENIFITED BY THIS LAW
 WHY THE PROTESTS
 MYTHS VS FACTS ABOUT CAA
 PERSONAL JUDGEMENT ON CAA
TABLE OF CASES

 Article 14, of the Constitution

 Article 15, of the Constitution

 Article 21, of the Constitution

 Article 25, of the Constitution

 Article 26, of the Constitution

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

 CAA – citizenship amendment act

 NRC - national register of citizens

WHAT IS CITIZENSHIO AMENDMENT ACT 2019

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 was passed by the parliament of India on 11
December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing a path to Indian
citizenship for illegal migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious
minorities, who had fled persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before
December 2014.Muslims from those countries were not given such eligibility. The act was the
first time religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law.
The Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which leads the Indian government, had
promised in previous election manifestos to offer Indian citizenship to members of persecuted
religious minorities who had migrated from neighboring countries. Under the 2019 amendment,
migrants who had entered India by 31 December 2014, and had suffered "religious persecution
or fear of religious persecution" in their country of origin were made eligible for citizenship. The
amendment also relaxed the residence requirement for naturalization of these migrants from
twelve years to six. According to Intelligence Bureau records, there will be just over 30,000
immediate beneficiaries of the bill.
The amendment has been widely criticized as discriminating on the basis of religion, particularly
for excluding Muslims. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR) called it "fundamentally discriminatory", adding that while India's "goal of protecting
persecuted groups is welcome", this should be accomplished through a non-discriminatory
"robust national asylum system". Critics express concerns that the bill would be used, along with
the National Register of Citizens (NRC), to render many Muslim citizens stateless, as they may
be unable to meet stringent birth or identity proof requirements. Commentators also question the
exclusion of persecuted religious minorities from other regions such as Tibet, Sri Lanka and
Myanmar. The Indian government says that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have Islam as
their state religion and therefore Muslims are "unlikely to face religious persecution" there.
However, certain Muslim groups, such as Hazaras and Ahmadis, have historically faced
persecution in these countries
Who will benefit from this law?

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act grants citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhist,
Jains and Parsi - from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who had arrived in India before
December 31, 2014. The legislation applies to those who were “forced or compelled to seek
shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion”. It aims to protect such people from
proceedings of illegal migration from the neighboring countries.

The requirement to stay in India for those belonging to any of these 6 religions for at least 11
years before applying for Indian citizenship has been reduced to five years.

Indian citizenship under present law is given either to those

 Who are born in India

 Or if they’ve resided in India for more than a span of 11 years which puts them eligible
for the naturalization category
WHY THE PROTESTS?

There are two distinct rallying points of protests against the Act. In the northeast, the protest is
against the Act's implementation in their areas. Most of them fear that if implemented, the Act
will cause a rush of immigrants that may alter their demographic and linguistic and cultural
uniqueness.
In the rest of India, like in Kerala, West Bengal and in Delhi, people are protesting against the
exclusion of Muslims, alleging it to be against the ethos of the Constitution.

The exclusions
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act does not apply to tribal areas of Tripura, Mizoram, Assam
and Meghalaya because of being included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Also areas
that fall under the Inner Limit notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, will
also be outside the Act's purview. This keeps almost entire Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram,
Manipur and Nagaland out of the ambit of the Act

NRC link to the controversial Act

The NRC, which identified illegal immigrants from Assam, had been a longstanding demand in
Assam. But ever since its implementation, there has been a growing demand for its nationwide
implementation.
After the updated final NRC in Assam was released on August 31 this year, it excluded the
names of over 19 lakh applicants, including Hindus. Now, the CAA will ensure they are not
harmed.
NRC, which may be extended to the rest of the country, is not based on religion, unlike CAA.
Opposition's argument against the Act

The Opposition has claimed that the Act was against the basic principles of the Constitution as it
"discriminates" on the basis of religion and would alienate Muslims, the largest minority
community in the country. The opposition also objected to keeping countries like Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Myanmar out of the list.
The bill was violative of the provisions of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25 and 26 of the Constitution, it
was alleged.

Government's stand on CAA

The Centre has rejected the suggestions that the bill is anti-Muslim. Home minister Amit Shah
has said the measure has the endorsement of 130 crore citizens of the country as it was the part
of the BJP manifesto in 2014 as well as 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Act does not discriminate against anyone and does not snatch anyone's rights, Shah said.
The home minister said under the Act, citizenship will be granted to refugees coming from the
three countries after facing religious persecution there even without documents, including ration
cards.
This bill is not even .001 per cent against Muslims. It is against infiltrators; the home minister
has reiterated.
MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT CAA

Due to high illiteracy and a huge amount of population who have absolutely nothing to do with
the time in their hand , opposition parties have taken this as an advantage and are manipulating
the naïve population of this country by creating absurd myths , the same myths will be countered
with facts now

MYTH -
CAA is targeted to take away citizenship from Indian Muslims

FACT -
CAA does not affect any existing Indian citizenship of any religion . Infact this act is to give
citizenship to persecuted minorities settled in India till 2014 and not taking citizenship from
anyone

MYTH –
CAA is against Indian Muslims

FACT –
CAA only applies only to minorities from 3 countries which are Afghanistan Bangladesh and
Pakistan and it does not concern any Indian of any religion even including Indian Muslims , no
question or finger is being raised on Indian Muslims in any sort
MYTH –
documents to prove citizenship need to be collected right now or else people will be deported

FACT –
no national wide NRC has been announced and if and when it is announced then the rules and
guidelines would be framed as such that no Indian citizen of any religion will be impacted by it

MYTH –
CAA is going to be followed by NRC and all migrants except Muslims will be sent to detention
camps

FACT –
the CAA will have absolutely nothing to do with NRC and the legal provision of NRC has been
part of the citizenship act since December 2004
WHY I AS AN INDIVIDUAL THINK THAT CAA IS IMPROTANT

I will start of by saying that I am in no shape or form a pro Modi or a bhakti however I still
believe that CAA was very much needed in our country as if you see the stats then you will
realize that there are 50 plus countries that exist which have Muslim majority whereas for
Hindus and Sikhs there is only one country where more than 95% of their entire population
exists which is Afterall our nation India.

I do not need to prove how mistreated the minorities are in the 3 nations mentioned in CAA bill ,
we are all well aware of the forced caste changes , force marriages and exclusion of minorities in
these 3 countries. A research done by UK stated that more than 2000 Hindu women are abducted
and forced to marry and have their castes changed every year and if we look at the population
charts then we see that after the partition there were 30% Hindus and Sikhs living in Pakistan
however now if we see in 2020 there is not even 3% of Hindu and Sikh population left in these 3
countries which raises the most important question of all. Where did they go?

Now if we keep our 11 year minimum naturalization rule which treated all religions equally , if
we remove CAA out of the picture then all the Hindus , Sikhs , Christians , Jains , parses and
Buddhists who are suffering and are being illtreated in their country , all of them get deported
with the illegal immigrants who looked for a better life and non of them gets citizenship. With
the help of CAA these 6 persecuted minorities get protection which to me is great news.

every citizen of India no matter what caste , creed , religion or background deserves to be treated
equally but I will not and cannot stand to see my brothers and sisters suffer and I fully support
CAA as it provides the necessity relaxation these minorities need
BIBLOGRAPHY

 WWW.WIKIPEDIA.COM
 WWW.TIMESOFINDIA.COM
 WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.COM
 WWW.TWITTER.COM