WHO WINS, WHO LOSES

THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT NOTIFICATION, COMING JUST BEFORE THE GENERAL ELECTION, EVOKES A MIXED REACTION. THE BIG CONCERN THAT IT DISCRIMINATES AGAINST MUSLIM REFUGEES PERSISTS

- Kaushik Deka

fOUR YEARS AFTER THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2019, OR CAA, WAS PASSED, the Union ministry of home affairs (MHA), on March 11, notified the rules to implement the law. The rules prescribe how those eligible can apply for Indian citizenship under the CAA. Coming just days ahead of the announcement for the general election, the BJP-led Centre's move has once again triggered a political slugfest and a range of reactions across the country. While the Sindhi refugees from Pakistan in Madhya Pradesh and Matuas from Bangladesh in West Bengal celebrated joyously, protests erupted in several parts of Assam.

Be that as it may, in its essence, the CAA makes it easier for Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi immigrants/ asylum-seekers from three Muslim-majority neighbouring countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan-to get Indian citizenship. All they have to do is prove they entered India legally or illegally before December 31, 2014, and have stayed here for at least five years. The ruling BJP has sought to project the CAA as a fulfilment of its constitutional commitment to the "persecuted minorities" from these countries. "Since Independence, it was a promise of our Constitution that citizenship will be granted to those persecuted religious minorities in Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.... These immigrants felt insulted in their own country when they were not granted citizenship," says an indignant Amit Shah, the Union home minister.

The Opposition, while questioning the timing, says the BJP has raked up the issue to polarise the vote in the general election. The government plays innocent, blaming the delay in notifying the legislation on the Covid pandemic.