Chicago – March 12, 2024
The Indian government announced on Monday the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by parliament in 2019 but was not enforced until now. It has led to the country-wide protest by Muslims.
This judgement on the CAA comes just weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third term in office through national elections. Before the CAA, any foreign national seeking Indian citizenship by naturalisation had to spend 11 years in India to be eligible.
The CAA expedites Indian citizenship applications for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who fled religious persecution in Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan by December 31, 2014. After five years, they will be eligible for citizenship. Applicants of these faiths are eligible, even if they are currently living in India without a valid visa or other requisite documentation.
Before the CAA, India’s citizenship law did not include religion when determining eligibility for an Indian passport. Now CAA introduces a religious test for citizenship in independent India’s history.
Muslim victims of religious persecution in Pakistan (such as the Ahmadiyya), Afghanistan (the Hazara), or other nearby countries (such as Myanmar’s Rohingya) will continue to have to wait 11 years before becoming eligible for Indian citizenship. And, unlike Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians, they must provide appropriate papers to explain their existence in India.
Many legal experts contend that this breaches Article 14 of the Indian Constitution: “The State shall not deny any person equality before the law or equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”
In 2019, Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement calling the bill discriminatory against Muslims.
However, other communities—including many who have long sought shelter in India—have also been denied the law’s benefits.
