Recently, Lok Sabha passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019. It is yet to be introduced in Rajya Sabha. The Bill has led to protests across the Northeast, particularly Assam.

Salient Features of the Bill:

• It amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 by selectively relaxing the eligibility rules for immigrants in getting Indian citizenship.
  
  

• Minorities covered: The Bill seeks to facilitate acquisition of citizenship by 6 identified minority (non-Muslim) communities (namely Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis) from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who came to India before 31st Dec., 2014.
  
  

• Minimum residency period for citizenship: Under the existing Act, an immigrant must have lived in India for “not less than eleven years”. The Bill relaxes this to “not less than six years” for above-mentioned immigrants.
  
  

Arguments against:

• The Bill has led to protests across the Northeast, particularly Assam, from citizens, influential groups such as the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), civil society organisations, leading intellectuals, opposition parties and even BJP leaders and their allies.
  
  
• Illegal migration: Communities in Assam fear that it would pave the way for granting citizenship mostly to illegal Hindu migrants from Bangladesh, who came after March 1971.
  
  
• Shift in Demography: Demography will change across North-eastern states as witnessed in Assam and Tripura over decades of migration.
  
  
• Impact on Culture: Due to demography shift, Assamese could become the second language. There is also fear of loss of political rights and culture of the indigenous people by making the indigenous population to become a minority in their own state.
  
  
• Assam accord, 1985: The bill is in violation of the 1985 Assam Accord which has set March 25, 1971 as the cut-off for citizenship, irrespective of religion. But according to protesters the Bill proposes to protect illegal Bangladeshis who have come after 1971.
  
  
• National Register of Citizens (NRC): It negates the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) which has also set March 25, 1971 as the cut-off for citizenship.
  
  
• Religious discrimination: The Bill proposes to grant citizenship on the basis of religion by discriminating against non-Muslims. The protesters have called it unconstitutional as Article 14 clearly lays down that no one can be discriminated against on grounds of religion.
  
  
• In this background opposition parties have demanded that it should be sent to a select committee.
  
  

Arguments by Union Government in Favour:

• Union Home Minister said the six communities faced “discrimination and religious persecution” and they “have no place to go, except India.”
  
  
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi described it as an “atonement” for mistakes committed during Partition.
  
  
• The Bill is not just for Assam and the Northeast, but will apply to all States and Union Territories of the country. The regularised immigrants would not be settled in Assam alone but be distributed among various states.
  
  
• There is no specific report on whether the refugee migrant population from Bangladesh is causing unexpected demographic changes of certain North-Eastern States.
  
  
• It wouldn’t affect the demography in large numbers. According to Home Ministry, it would only benefit around 30,000 persons belonging to such minority communities from these countries who are staying in India on Long Term Visa.”
  
  

Concluding Remark:

• Such confrontation would undermine a hard-won peace in Assam and in neighbouring states that has come after many years of bloodshed and negotiations.
  
  
• The rise of fresh anger against the Centre could damage not just one party, but also enable the rise of those very forces that had lost credibility and been long dormant.
  
  
• Thus, pragmatism should prevail. Government of India should read the warning signs and put passage of Citizenship Amendment Bill on hold and offer talks. Since dialogue is the key, those agitating also would need to come to the negotiating table.
  
  

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/assam-protests-citizenship-amendment-bill-nrc-northeast-bandh-5543785/