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Important Questions About CAA-NRC That We Can’t Ignore

DHRUV SHAHRAWAT

What Do The Citizenship Amendment Bill (Now Act) And NRC 2019 Actually Say?

CAA is a legislation passed by the Parliament of India, via the Home Ministry, under Mr Amit Shah.

CAB stands for the ‘Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB),’ which has passed both the houses and is now the ‘Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)’. It is a legislation passed by the Parliament of India, via the Home Ministry, under Mr Amit Shah (the Indian Home Minister) and Mr Narendra Modi (India’s Prime Minister).

NRC: National Register Of Citizens:

NRC stands for the ‘National Register of Citizens’. It is a registry maintained by the government, containing names and relevant information of the citizens. Initially, it was conducted in Assam. But now, it will be carried out in all states of India with the possibility of specific changes.

CAA:

  • The Act amends the provisions for availing Indian citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, and Parsis belonging to Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
  • In its essence, the Act changes the naturalisation process of acquiring citizenship by relaxing the limit for people who had entered India, before 31st December 2014. Under the act, these people could become Indian citizens with a residency requirement of six years, instead of the previously mentioned 11 years.

What Does NRC Presently Say?

It was the exercise to update the record of Indian citizens living in Assam with all their required details, and it was to be updated as per the Citizenship Amendment Act of 1955.

What Does The “Updated” NRC Say?

  •  NRC will be conducted all over India.
  • It will effectively identify illegal immigrants.
  • The illegal immigrants will be detained or deported back to their country except for the people who follow Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrian religions. In other words, all illegal immigrants will be accepted except Muslims.

Are CAB And NRC Linked?

The Indian Home Minister, Mr Amit Shah, stated in one of his interviews with Aaj Tak, in the show, ‘Agenda Aaj Tak 2019’, that there was no link between CAB and NRC. But this linkage is still unclear, as both the things are coming out together and will affect each other.

What Will Happen Now?

  • Pakistani/Afghan/Bangladeshi Muslims who came to India before 31st December 2014, illegally, would not get citizenship and would be detained or deported.
  • Pakistani/Afghan/Bangladesh nationals who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains, or Parsis who came to India before 31st December 2014, illegally, would get citizenship.
  • Indian citizenship would become more comfortable to claim.
  • In my opinion, there will be a division among people of other religions and people following Islam, for the time.

What Is The Government’s Logic?

The government claims it wants to help religious minorities suffering in their respective countries.
The government claims it wants to help religious minorities suffering in their respective countries. And under this logic, it would like to simplify the citizenship criteria for these communities.

Debatable Topics

    1. India, along with the Indian Constitution, was made secular, then why does the topic base itself on religion?
    2. The government claims it wants to protect religious minorities in neighbouring countries, then why are Ahmadiyas (which are considered non-Muslim by some nations) excluded? They face more injustice than other minorities.
    3. Can India afford an all-India NRC? How will the Indians prove themselves as being Indian?
    4. Why is religion the only basis selected for protecting the people? There are other significant reasons too, which might make people migrate, for example, financial reasons?
    5. What is the proof that the illegal immigrants who migrated, did so just because of religious fear?
    6. What is the proof that the illegal migrants are of the specified religions? Note: Religion is defined only in a Pakistani passport.
    7. Is it okay for the illegal migrants to convert their religion before migrating to India and ask for Indian citizenship? If not, how will the government distinguish?
    8. Where will Muslims be detained or deported? Is following a particular religion a crime?
    9. If India aims to protect the minorities, then why are only three or four countries chosen? Minorities are suffering in other countries too.
    10. Why was the Internet banned in several parts of India? Why was the ‘Right To Speech’ violated?
    11. Why do Indians require to specify their religion everywhere to get their passports after October 2018?
    12. Why are Burmese Muslims (especially Rohingya Muslims) facing injustice in their country not included? They are also persecuted minorities.
    13. Why is there no action against illegal immigrants? Is it okay to illegally migrate to other countries for various reasons?
    14. Why are illegal migrants only before 31st December 2014 to be protected by the government? Why not the people who came after? Are those migrants safe in their countries?
Also read: 6 Religions, 3 Countries And A Date: Reading Between The Lines Of A ‘Harmless’ CAA

 The Country’s Reaction

Protest against CAA.
In various parts of the country like Delhi, Assam, West Bengal, and so on, Indians (of different religions) are protesting against this discriminatory act. There are curfews, fights, misunderstandings, protests, killings, and destruction; safety is a concer at this moment.

Note:

It is to be noted that the blog posts written by me don’t intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments or points of view. It is excruciating to know about religious minorities suffering in different countries. I have sympathy for them, and I support them. I don’t intend to go against or for any individual, group, practice, or religion.

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