“The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything.”

Albert Einstein

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 that seeks to give Indian nationality to communal minority refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan facing religious persecution there, was introduced and passed in both the houses and signed by President on 10th Dec 2019. The proposed legislation amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make minority refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for citizenship.

Highlights of the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019.

• The bill amends the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Citizenship in India, in case they migrate to India fearing persecution in their countries.
• Under the Citizenship Act 1955, some of the requirements for citizenship by naturalisation are,
  • Applicant must have resided in India for 12 months immediately before the application for citizenship.
  • Applicant must have also resided for 11 of the previous 14 years preceding the said period of 12 months.

However, under the amendment bill, this requirement has been relaxed to 6 years instead of earlier 11 years.

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UN Convention of 1951 which defines a refugee as:

“Someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion”

This definition has been incorporated into the laws of many countries, including the 1980 Refugee Act in the United States. This act amended the Immigration and Nationality Law in the US and established a clear distinction between “immigrants” and “refugees.”

This is not discrimination against anybody. Civilized countries all over the world have policies that prevent people from being deported to places where they would be persecuted for their identity.

India is merely doing the same here. We are establishing a legal distinction between immigrants and refugees.

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Outcry from Assam!!

A negative campaign looks to have misguided people in north-eastern states, especially Assam where people protested the passing of Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in the Lok Sabha.

The bone of contention is the cut-off date. According to Assam Accord 1985, migrants who came to India before March 24, 1971, were the only to be given citizenship. However, under the new law, this cut-off date has been pushed to December 31, 2014. Thus, the locals apprehend that this will increase influx of a greater number of people in the state of Assam which will negatively impact their businesses and livelihoods. However, here are some facts that should be considered before drawing such conclusions.

• There has been less clarity on the fact that the new law will continue to filter out the large proportion of migrants from getting the citizenship (including the illegal migrants from Bangladesh which have a greater impact on the demography of north-eastern states). Only persecuted minorities from Bangladesh will be exempted.
• Also, the said bill will have an effect all across the country and it’s not only specific to North-East or one particular state of Assam. The persecuted people who migrated from Pakistan to Rajasthan or other bordering states on western frontier will also get relief.

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Atrocities on minorities in neighbourhood.

Pakistan

At the time of partition in 1947, almost 23% of Pakistan’s population was [composed] of non-Muslim citizens. Today, the proportion of non-Muslims has declined to approximately 3%. The distinctions among Muslim denominations have also become far more accentuated over the years. Muslim groups such as the Shias who account for approximately 20-25% of Pakistan’s Muslim population, Ahmadis who have been declared non-Muslim by the writ of the state, and non-Muslim minorities such as Christians, Hindus and Sikhs have been the targets of suicide bomb attacks on their neighborhoods, had community members converted to Islam against their will, and had their houses of worship attacked and bombed even while they were inhabited by worshipers.

Bangladesh

The Hindu population of Bangladesh suffered considerable as a consequence of political events since 1947. They were particularly targeted during the Bangladesh Liberation War as many Pakistanis blamed them for the secession, resulting in targeted executions, rape and other human rights abuses against Hindu communities. According to the official 1951 census for East Bengal (East Pakistan) Hindus consisted of 22 per cent of the total population of the province, a number that had been depleted to 15 per cent to 1991 and in the 2011 census were numbered at just 8.5 per cent. Nevertheless, they remain the largest religious minority group in Bangladesh.

Afghanistan

In the 70s, there were around 700,000 Hindus and Sikhs, and now they are estimated to be less than 7,000.Although there is no census data available in the country to estimate exact numbers due to years of war and conflict, the community members themselves speculate that there are perhaps no more than a few thousand Hindus and Sikhs left today.

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Conclusion

The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 passed in Lok Sabha upholds Indian ethos of giving refuge to people persecuted in their original countries. Since ages, communities like Parsis or Jews sought refuge in India when they were religiously persecuted in their countries. They are today, in fact, part of the nation-building process. On the similar lines, the government is steering the current bill which provides refuge to persecuted minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.