CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT: THE NATIONWIDE UNREST

Within few days, the protest against The Citizenship Amendment Act CAA (previously a Bill) which initially started in Assam, spread almost all over India and created furore across the country.

From students to common citizens, from intellectuals to artists, politicians to activists were hitting the streets protesting the newly introduced Act. The Act seeks to grant Citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who had entered India before 31st December, 2014. The protest spread to West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and even to Delhi within few days. Though the protest in Assam remained peaceful except the initial 1-2 days, the pan-India protest became violent in many areas, particular in Uttar Pradesh. Unfortunately, the state’s response to the protest was mostly strong police measure, which included lathi charge and police firing on unarmed civilians. Twenty-five people have reportedly lost their lives in the protests. Most of the deaths have been reported in Uttar Pradesh after police allegedly fired on protestors. Normal life was disrupted, curfew was imposed and internet service was shut down in many places including the capital city Delhi. However, the causes of protest differ state-to-state.

Many a place, many a protest

A day after the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was passed, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh took to Twitter and said that “the strength of the country lies in its diversity” and that CAB “violates the basic principle of the Constitution”. Hence, the Congress-led government in Punjab will not implement the Bill. The chief minister also issued a statement in which he said that the Bill was a direct assault on India’s secular character and the Parliament had “no authority” to pass a law that “defiled” the Constitution and violated its basic principles.