Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019

• The Bill redefines the category of illegal migrants by making the amendments to not consider Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists & Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan & Bangladesh as illegal immigrants.
• It amends the Citizenship Act of 1995, allowing illegal Non-Muslim migrants including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists & Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan & Pakistan the eligibility for Indian Citizenship.
• The Bill also relaxes the Citizenship by Naturalisation by reducing the residential stay period from 12 years to 6 years, for the people belonging to the same six religions and three countries.

Highlights of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019

• The Bill provides citizenship to any individual who has been a residence of India for six years but does not possess proper documents to validate the authenticity of his/her citizenship.
• For the Overseas Citizens of India, the Bill provides that the registration of such cardholders may be cancelled in case of violation of any law.

Key Issues of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016

• The Bill questions the Secular Aspect of the Republic of India as secularism accentuates on religion not being the aspect to decide an individual’s citizenship.
• This Bill violates Assam Accord, 1985, which renounces citizenship to illegal Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, who entered the state of Assam after March 1971.
• Since the bill issues citizenship to illegal migrants on the grounds of religion, it straight-up violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution that says the right to equality must be practised throughout the country.
• The Bill permits to cancel citizenship for Overseas Indian Citizens in case they violate any law, which includes even a minor offence such as wrong parking.

Protests Against Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019

• Illegal migration has been a sensitive issue in the northeast for a long time.
• The Bill is in violation of the Assam Accord, 1985.
• The unrest is due to the strong-willed citizens of Assam, Tribals and other Ethnic Communities that emphasize on saving their culture by keeping out the outsiders.

Citizenship Act, 1955

• The original Citizenship Act of 1995 was to regulate who all may be granted Indian Citizenship and under what circumstances or on what grounds.
• The Indian Citizenship would be granted to an Indian Citizen if they are born in India or have an Indian Lineage or have resided in the country for a significant time period etc.
• This Act denied citizenship to illegal migrants; illegal migrant being any foreigner who enters the country without valid documents like passport and visa, or who enters with legal documents but stay beyond the permitted tenure.