Citizenship Bill Is Deeply Disconcerting

If made into law, it could take years before it becomes clear how radically it has affected the secular fabric of the country

- Paran Balakrishnan

One bad idea can often lead to many others. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) left us with 1.9 million people classified as ‘illegal immigrants’ — though they still have a right of appeal. Over 50 per cent of these ‘illegal immigrants’ are Hindus and, in the BJP’s scheme of things, need to be saved from statelessness. Hence, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) has become an urgent necessity for the government. Once it’s raced through Parliament, the Hindus who’ve landed in the NRC net can, after due process, be granted Indian citizenship. On Monday, CAB sailed through the Lok Sabha 311-80 but only after fiery exchanges. It will be a tighter battle in the Rajya Sabha, but it seems likely the BJP will push it through.

But CAB is creating tangled knots that won’t be easily untied. Let’s leave aside for the moment the clearly discriminatory nature of the act and arguments it runs contrary to Articles 14 and 19 of the Indian Constitution. Instead, let’s take a look at that beautiful, conflict-ridden country, Afghanistan.

Why are we offering sanctuary and citizenship to people of Indian origin — as long as they aren’t Muslim — from Afghanistan? Home Minister Amit Shah says the CAB is part of the “unfinished business of Partition”. But Afghanistan was never part of the British Empire, though the colonial power did launch several ill-fated expeditions to subdue the Afghans. We don’t even have a land border with that “graveyard of empires” though it could be argued Gilgit-Baltistan, which should have come to us, touches the sliver of land that’s Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor. In actual fact, Pakistan grabbed the scenic stretch of territory that forms GilgitBaltistan soon after Partition.