Citizenship Bill in Parliament: All you need to know about the contentious legislation

Does it discriminate based on religion?

AASU protesters AFP Activists of the AASU stage a rally in Guwahati against the Citizenship Bill | AFP

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB, which aims to provide citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, will be tabled in the Parliament on Monday. The Union Cabinet, this week, had given its clearance to the draft law. The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who come to India after facing religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan even if they don't possess proper documents. This was an election promise of the BJP in the 2014 and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. According to an earlier version of the bill, those who came to India on or before December 31, 2014, will benefit from the proposed legislation.

After massive unrest against the bill, especially in the northeastern regions, there were reports that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime areas and those regions which are governed under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution—which will include several regions in the northeast—have been excluded from the purview of the bill. In terms of Section 2 of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulations, 1873, the ILP is prevalent in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. Citizens of other states require ILP for visiting these three states. Under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, autonomous councils and districts were created in tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. 

Why is it so contentious?

There is a widespread fear, especially in the northeastern states, that such a bill could endanger the identity and livelihood of the the indigenous people. The Indigenous Nationalist Party of Tripura (INPT) on Thursday blocked the NH-8 and railway tracks from dawn to dusk to press for the scrapping of the bill.  The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) and others took out rallies across Assam against the legislation. "If the 1.9 crore Hindus of Bangladesh come to Assam within a few years and attain Indian citizenship under CAB, the existence of the Assamese language will be threatened and the jobs and land will be taken away by them depriving the indigenous people," Assam's Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi said. 

Over the past weeks, the home ministry had held marathon talks with leaders of socio-cultural bodies, students' organisations and political parties from the northeastern states on the bills. Those invited for discussions included North East Students' Organisation, All Bodo Students' Union and students bodies from Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Leaders of several political parties—both regional and state chiefs of national political parties—and heads of socio-cultural organisations were also invited for the discussions. The home ministry convened the meetings in the wake of strong protests registered by many organisations against the bill in the northeast. 

On November 28, twelve non-BJP MPs from the region urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to exclude the northeastern states from the purview of the bill, saying if it comes into effect, the tribal population of the region will be vulnerable to displacement.

Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) had spoken strongly against the bill, saying it would "give more opportunity to illegal immigrants to grab the socio-economic benefits of tribals and tribal political rights, dominate tribal culture, customs and religious beliefs," reported The Sentinel.

Is the bill discriminatory?

The bill seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955, in order to grant Indian nationality to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who come to India after facing religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan even if they don't possess proper documents. However, questions were raised why the bill did not include provisions for persecuted minorities like Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar—with whom India shares a border. And, what of persecuted Muslim sects like Ahmadis and groups like Balochis—a community for whom Modi had spoken out in 2016—and Pakhtuns who might be Muslims in faith. There are also questions why there were no provisions even for Tamil Hindus from Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka. 

Will it pass the Parliament?

Its passage in the Lok Sabha—as it happened once in 2018— is all but certain due to the massive majority the BJP and its allies have, and the Union government is confident of its passage in the Rajya Sabha as well, with the support of several non-aligned regional parties which have often joined the treasury benches in the past. The BJP is facing serious pushback even from allies like JD(U), who steadfastly oppose the bill, but the saffron party could push it through if they enlist the support of fence-sitters like BJD, TRS and YSR Congress, as it has done on multiple occasions before.

The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the bill in its previous tenure, and got the Lok Sabha's approval. But, it did not introduce it in the Rajya Sabha, apparently due to vehement protests in the northeast. The bill lapsed following the dissolution of the last Lok Sabha. Several opposition parties in Rajya Sabha, led by the Congress, held a meeting on Thursday to firm up their strategy on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. The meeting of senior Rajya Sabha members of Opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, CPI and CPI(M) was held in Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad's chamber.

How have different political parties responded to it?

BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi wrote in THE WEEK: "Three neighbours of India [Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan] have had a long history of religious persecution in which the six mentioned communities have suffered the most. The migrant refugees from Bangladesh have mostly settled in Assam, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Tripura. Similarly, refugees from Afghanistan and Pakistan have mostly settled in Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and Delhi. A humanitarian refugee policy to deal with such specific forms of migration was the need of the hour. Such a need had always been under discussion since the days of B.R. Ambedkar and Jawaharlal Nehru."

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the party will oppose the bill. "Congress party is against any form of discrimination against anybody in this country. So anybody who discriminates against anybody who is Indian, we are against them. That is our line. We believe that India belongs to everybody—all communities, all religions, all cultures."

TMC secretary general leader and state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee said the party will oppose NRC and CAB tooth and nail. "Our party supremo has said the party will never allow the NRC in West Bengal. The CAB is against the basic principles of our Constitution. How can someone be given citizenship on the basis of religion?" Chatterjee said.

The CPI(M) opposed the CAB, saying it was "unacceptable and unconstitutional" as citizenship could not be determined by or linked to religion. "It is simple. Citizenship cannot be determined by or linked to religion. This is what makes the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) unacceptable and unconstitutional. The CAB is aimed at destroying the basis of India. India's citizens are its citizens, irrespective of what faith they follow or don't, what they eat, what work they do, their caste, creed, place of residence, gender or colour of skin. No to Citizenship Amendment Bill," general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.

-Inputs from PTI