Who will benefit due to the CAA?

Chapter 6:

Who will benefit due to the CAA?

The CAA covers illegal immigrants belonging to six communities, who are Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians and Buddhists from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and who have entered into India on or before 31st December 2014. Persons belonging to these communities who have entered into India illegally (i.e. without passport/other documents or have been staying beyond the permitted period) would be entitled to get Indian Citizenship. In 2015, changes were also done in the Foreigners Act and Passports Act to allow non-muslims refugees from these countries to stay back in India even if they entered without valid documents. The government has favoured these communities on the basis that these are persecuted minorities in the three Countries.

Arguments supporting the Act

The Government has clarified that Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are Islamic Republics and hence, the Muslims living in those countries cannot be said to be persecuted. It has further assured that application from any other community will be decided on a case to case basis.

Home Minister Amit Shah has referred to Nehru-Liaquat Pact that was signed between India and Pakistan in Delhi in 1950. The Pact provided for better treatment of minorities in both countries. Home Minister said that the Pact failed to achieve its objective in protecting minorities in Pakistan, and this flaw is being remedied by the Indian Government through the amendment.

The NDA Government has argued in the Statement of Objects and Reasons that: l

Millions of citizens of undivided India, after the partition between India and Pakistan on religious lines in 1947 were staying in Pakistan and Bangladesh (previously East Pakistan) from 1947. The Constitution of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh provide for a specific State religion i.e Islam. As a result of which many persons belonging to Hindu, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities have faced persecution on grounds of their religions in those countries. Some people from these communities in these countries have also fears about facing such persecution in their day-to-day life, where the right to practice, profess and propagate their religion has been obstructed. Many persons out of such fear have fled to India to seek shelter and continued to stay in India even after travel documents have expired or they have incomplete or no documents.

For reduction of period from 11 years to 5 years for the persecuted minorities in the three countries, the Government argued that imposing condition of 11 years residence to get citizenship by Naturalisation “denies them many opportunities and advantages that may accrue only to the citizens of India even though they are likely to stay in India permanently.”

The major issue with the amendment is that it provides citizenship only to non-muslim immigrants who have live for five years from the the three countries. However, any foreigner can still apply for citizenship but can only be registered after they have lived in India for 11 years i.e by the normal process of naturalisation. 

Presently, the petition challenging the amendment has been pending in the Supreme Court which will decide its constitutional validity.

(Concluded)