Explained: What is the Citizenship Amendment Bill that govt plans to resurrect?

In other words, the Bill intends to make it easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India's three
Muslim-majority neighbours to become citizens of India.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill, Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019, Citizenship Amendment Bill,
Parliament session, Parliament Winter Session, Express Explained, Indian Express

The fundamental criticism of the Bill has been that it specifically targets Muslims.

The government intends to introduce The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament’s Winter
Session that commences on Monday and is scheduled to continue until December 13. What is this
Bill, and why is it contentious?

What is The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill?

The Bill seeks to amend The Citizenship Act, 1955 to make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and
Christian illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship of India.
In other words, the Bill intends to make it easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India’s three
Muslim-majority neighbours to become citizens of India.Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the
requirements for citizenship by naturalisation is that the applicant must have resided in India during
the last 12 months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years.The amendment relaxes the second
requirement from 11 years to 6 years as a specific condition for applicants belonging to these six
religions, and the aforementioned three countries.

Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, a person who is born in India, or has Indian parentage, or has
resided in India over a specified period of time, is eligible for Indian citizenship.

Illegal migrants cannot become Indian citizens. Under the Act, an illegal migrant is a foreigner who:
(i) enters the country without valid travel documents like a passport and visa, or (ii) enters with valid
documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.

Illegal migrants may be put in jail or deported under The Foreigners Act, 1946 and The Passport
(Entry into India) Act, 1920.

However, in 2015 and 2016, the government exempted specified groups of illegal migrants from
provisions of the 1946 and 1920 Acts. They were Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians
from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who reached India on or before December 31, 2014.

This meant that these particular categories of illegal migrants would not be deported or jailed for
being in India without valid documents.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in Parliament to amend The Citizenship Act,
1955, so that these people could be made eligible for citizenship of India.

What happened with the Bill?

The Bill was tabled in Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016, and was referred to a Joint Parliamentary
Committee (JPC) on August 12, 2016. The Committee submitted its report on January 7, 2019 and,
the following day (January 8, 2019), the Bill was passed in Lok Sabha.

With the 16th Lok Sabha nearing the end of its term, the government was racing against time to
introduce it in Rajya Sabha. However, massive protests against the Bill in the Northeast acted to
restrain the government, and Rajya Sabha adjourned sine die on February 13, 2019, without the Bill
being tabled.

According to Parliamentary procedures, all Bills that have been passed by Lok Sabha but not by Rajya
Sabha lapse when the term of Lok Sabha ends. The relevant provision in the Legislative Procedure in
the Rajya Sabha says: “A Bill pending in Rajya Sabha which has not been passed by Lok Sabha does
not lapse on the dissolution of Lok Sabha but a Bill which is passed by Lok Sabha and is pending in
Rajya Sabha lapses on the dissolution of Lok Sabha.” (Procedure regarding Bills originating in Lok
Sabha and transmitted to Rajya Sabha: Provision regarding lapsing of Bills.

The Citizenship Amedment Bill too, therefore, lapsed.

The Bill is now likely to be introduced afresh in the Winter Session. It will have to be passed by both
Houses in order to become a law.

What is the controversy around the Bill?

The fundamental criticism of the Bill has been that it specifically targets Muslims. Critics argue that it
is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to equality.

The government, however, maintains that the Bill aims to grant citizenship to minorities who have
faced religious persecution in Muslim-majority foreign countries. BJP leaders, including Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, have spoken of this Bill as righting the wrongs of history by granting refuge
to the sons and daughters of “Ma Bharti”, who were left stranded by Partition.

In the Northeastern states, the prospect of citizenship for massive numbers of illegal Bangladeshi
migrants has triggered deep anxieties, including fears of demographic change, loss of livelihood
opportunities, and erosion of the indigenous culture.

Almost the entire Northeast was wracked by massive protests for more than a month leading up to
the anticipated introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha earlier this year.

The BJP has, however, always underlined its determination to bring in the Bill.

Home Minister Amit Shah has linked the passage of the Bill with a nationwide National Register of
Citizens (NRC), suggesting that even if the Assam NRC erred in leaving out some non-Muslims, the
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would fix the error.