Assam Bandh against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016

Citizenship Bill

migration, migrants, immigration, travellers

Migration

Stranded passengers wait at an inter-state bus terminal in Guwahati on Tuesday during a strike called by All Assam Students’ Union and the North East Students’ Organisation in protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 	 Photo: PTI

bus terminal, Guwahati bus service, bus passengers

Narendra Modi, Sarbananda Sonowal

Parliament

People check their names on the draft list at the National Register of Citizens centre at a village in Nagaon district

nrc, assam, illegal immigrants

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		The Rajya Sabha on December 11, 2019 passed the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act with as many as 125 MPs voting in favour of it and 99 against it. On December 9, 2019, the CAB Bill was tabled and passed in the Lok Sabha&#39;s Winter Session. President Ram Nath Kovind signed it on December 12.</div>
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		<strong>What is Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019</strong></div>
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		The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 seeks to fast-track citizenship for persecuted minority groups in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The six minority groups that have been specifically identified are Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis. The Bill aims to change the definition of illegal migrants. However, the Act doesn&rsquo;t have a provision for Muslim sects like Shias and Ahmedis who also face persecution in Pakistan.</div>
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		The beneficiaries of Citizenship Amendment Bill can reside in any state of the country and the burden of those persecuted migrants will be shared by the whole country.</div>
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		Presently, the Constitution of India provides for citizenship by naturalisation &ndash; for people who have lived in India for the past 12 months and for 11 of the past 14 years. It also provides for people whose parents or grandparents were born in India to become Indian citizens.</div>
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		<strong>Who are illegal immigrants from India perspective?</strong></div>
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		As per the Citizenship Act, 1955, an illegal immigrant is one who enters India with fake or forged documents and/or does not have a valid passport. A person who stays beyond the visa permit is also referred to as an illegal immigrant.</div>
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		<strong>When did the issue of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill come up?</strong></div>
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		Prior to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was seeking to topple the Congress-led UPA government, promised to grant citizenship to Hindus persecuted in the neighbouring countries. In the party&#39;s election manifesto, the BJP promised to give shelter to the Hindus and welcome the refugees.</div>
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		<strong>Which parties are against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and why?</strong></div>
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		BJP&#39;s coalition partner Assam Gana Parishad has threatened to cut ties with the party if the Bill is passed. NGOs like Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti and students&#39; organisation All Assam Students&rsquo; Union also have come forward in opposing the Bill. All Opposition parties, including the Congress and All India United Democratic Front, have opposed the idea of granting citizenship to an individual on the basis of religion. It is also argued that the Bill if made into an Act, will nullify the updated National Registration of Citizenship (NRC).</div>
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		Parties and activists opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 are of the view that it works against the cultural and linguistic identity of the indigenous people. Mizoram and other northeastern states, which have a diverse indigenous community, have urged the government not to table the new citizenship bill, saying it will open a &quot;floodgate&rdquo; of illegal immigrants in the state.</div>
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		In January 2019, days after Union home minister Amit Shah announced that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill would be brought in parliament again, protests were held in Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya. The Nagaland and North East Forum of Indigenous People (NEFIP) claimed that it would seek the United Nations&rsquo; intervention if the Centre implements the Bill.</div>
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		<strong>Northeast protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019</strong></div>
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		The Bill has divided India into protests and jubilations. While Hindu refugee communities across India are celebrating the government&#39;s move, a majority of Northeast remains on edge. Guwahati was the epicentre of anti-CAB protests. People in the north-eastern states fear that the Bill would change the demography of the states if it is passed as people of different cultures and languages will get citizenship of the country. Currently, the northeast is witnessing protests against Bangladeshi immigrants.</div>
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		<strong>Exemptions under Citizenship Bill 2019</strong></div>
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		The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill exempts certain areas in the North-East from this provision. It would not apply to tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. This effectively means that Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram along with almost whole of Meghalaya and parts of Assam and Tripura would stay out of the purview of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill.</div>
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		<strong>Amendments for OCI cardholders</strong></div>
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		According to the Citizenship Bill, a foreigner may register as an Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) if they are of Indian origin or their spouse is of Indian origin. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill entitles the OCI cardholders to benefits such as the right to travel to India, and to work and study in the country.</div>
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		<strong>What is the current status of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019?</strong></div>
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		The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill was referred to a joint select committee in 2016, after being discussed extensively in the Lok Sabha. Members of the parliamentary committee visited several parts of the northeastern states and discussed the Bill with various organisation. On January 8, 2019 the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha. However, before it could be tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the Bill lapsed on June 3, 2019, as the tenure of the Lok Sabha ended.&nbsp;</div>
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		The Rajya Sabha on December 11, 2019 passed the Bill. However, the Opposition, which terms it &#39;unconstitutional&#39;, is likely to knock the Supreme Court of India&#39;s door to protest against the Bill. Meanwhile, protests in the north east, particularly in Assam continue.&nbsp;</div>
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<strong>Full text of the <u><a href="https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/general-file-upload/2020-01/CAA.pdf" target="_blank">Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019</a></u></strong><br />
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<em>[Gazette notification dated December 12, 2019]</em><br />
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An Act further to amend the <a href="https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/general-file-upload/2020-01/citizenship act, 1955.pdf" target="_blank"><u><strong>Citizenship Act, 1955</strong></u>.</a><br />
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BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:<br />
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1. (1) This Act may be called the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.<br />
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(2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.<br />
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2. In the Citizenship Act, 1955 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in section 2, in sub-section (1), in clause (b), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:<br />
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	&quot;Provided that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered into India on or before the 31st day of December, 2014 and who has been exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2) of section 3 of the <a href="https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/general-file-upload/2020-01/Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.pdf" target="_blank"><u><strong>Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920</strong></u></a> or from the application of the provisions of the <a href="https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/general-file-upload/2020-01/foreigners_act_1946.pdf" target="_blank"><u><strong>Foreigners Act, 1946</strong></u></a> or any rule or order made thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this Act;&quot;.</div>
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3. After section 6A of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:<br />
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	&#39;6B. (1) The Central Government or an authority specified by it in this behalf may, subject to such conditions, restrictions and manner as may be prescribed, on an application made in this behalf, grant a certificate of registration or certificate of naturalisation to a person referred to in the proviso to clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 2.<br />
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	(2) Subject to fulfilment of the conditions specified in section 5 or the qualifications for naturalisation under the provisions of the Third Schedule, a person granted the certificate of registration or certificate of naturalisation under sub-section (1) shall be deemed to be a citizen of India from the date of his entry into India.<br />
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	(3) On and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, any proceeding pending against a person under this section in respect of illegal migration or citizenship shall stand abated on conferment of citizenship to him:<br />
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	Provided that such person shall not be disqualified for making application for citizenship under this section on the ground that the proceeding is pending against him and the Central Government or authority specified by it in this behalf shall not reject his application on that ground if he is otherwise found qualified for grant of citizenship under this section:<br />
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	Provided further that the person who makes the application for citizenship under this section shall not be deprived of his rights and privileges to which he was entitled on the date of receipt of his application on the ground of making such application.<br />
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	(4) Nothing in this section shall apply to tribal area of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram or Tripura as included in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and the area covered under &quot;The Inner Line&quot; notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.&#39;.</div>
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4. In section 7D of the principal Act,&mdash;<br />
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(i) after clause (d), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:<br />
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	&quot;(da) the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder has violated any of the provisions of this Act or provisions of any other law for time being in force as may be specified by the Central Government in the notification published in the Official Gazette; or&quot;;</div>
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(ii) after clause (f), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:<br />
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	&quot;Provided that no order under this section shall be passed unless the Overseas Citizen of India Cardholder has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard.&quot;.</div>
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5. In section 18 of the principal Act, in sub-section (2), after clause (ee), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:<br />
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	&quot;(eei) the conditions, restrictions and manner for granting certificate of registration or certificate of naturalisation under sub-section (1) of section 6B;&quot;.</div>
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6. In the Third Schedule to the principal Act, in clause (d), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:<br />
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	&#39;Provided that for the person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, the aggregate period of residence or service of Government in India as required under this clause shall be read as &quot;not less than five years&quot; in place of &quot;not less than eleven years&quot;.&#39;.</div>
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What is Citizenship Amendment Act

A businessman-turned-politician, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah was made the Union home minister in the second term of the Narendra Modi-led central government. Also referred to as the &#39;Chanakya&#39; of modern Indian politics, Shah, a close aide of Modi, is credited with leading the BJP to victory in several elections as the party&#39;s president.<br />
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Shah put his political acumen to use on a pan-Indian basis even before donning the mantle of the BJP president. Since Modi took charge as the prime minister of India during his first term, no politician in the country has been considered taller than Shah after the PM himself. Since 1989, Amit Shah has fought 29 elections, including various local body polls, and not lost any to this day. Shah was elected as an MLA from Gujarat&rsquo;s Sarkhej in four consecutive elections &mdash; 1997 (by-election), 1998, 2002 and 2007.<br />
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In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shah contested from Gandhinagar, a seat previously held by BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani, and&nbsp;won it comprehensively. He defeated his nearest rival Dr C J Chavda of the Indian National Congress by a margin of 557014. Shah received 69.67% of the votes cast in this constituency.<br />
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Shah has been associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh since childhood. He first met Narendra Modi in 1982 through Ahmedabad RSS circles. During Narendra Modi&#39;s 12-year tenure as the Gujarat CM, Shah emerged as one of the most powerful leaders in the state. After winning the 2002 elections, he became the youngest minister in the Modi-led Gujarat government, and was given multiple portfolios. At one time, he held 12 portfolios &mdash; home, law and justice, prison, border security, civil defence, excise, transport, prohibition, home guards, gram rakshak dal, police housing, and legislative and parliamentary affairs.<br />
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Known as a master strategist, Shah, along with Modi, assured BJP victories in several state elections after the BJP&rsquo;s landslide Lok Sabha elections win in 2014. And, they topped up their success with a thumping victory in Lok Sabha elections 2019, in which the BJP saw its biggest individual seat tally ever, of 303.<br />
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Under Shah&#39;s leadership, the BJP achieved success in Legislative Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Jharkhand and Assam in 2016, but lost the elections in Delhi, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. He led the party towards a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and marked the party&#39;s strong debut in Manipur, but the Akali-BJP alliance lost power in Punjab.

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Amit Shah

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	The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register containing names of all genuine Indian citizens. At present, only Assam has such a register.&nbsp;</div>
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	The exercise may be extended to other states as well. Nagaland is already creating a similar database known as the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants. The Centre is planning to create a National Population Register (NPR), which will contain demographic and biometric details of citizens.</div>
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	<strong>What is NRC in Assam?</strong></div>
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	The NRC in Assam is basically a list of Indian citizens living in the state. The citizens&rsquo; register sets out to identify foreign nationals in the state that borders Bangladesh.</div>
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	The process to update the register began following a Supreme Court order in 2013, with the state&rsquo;s nearly 33 million people having to prove that they were Indian nationals prior to March 24, 1971.<br />
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	The updated final NRC was released on August 31, with over 1.9 million applicants failing to make it to the list.<br />
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	<strong>How does one prove citizenship?</strong></div>
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	In Assam, one of the basic criteria was that the names of applicant&#39;s family members should either be in the first NRC prepared in 1951 or in the electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971.&nbsp;</div>
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	Other than that, applicants also had the option to present documents such as refugee registration certificate, birth certificate, LIC policy, land and tenancy records, citizenship certificate,&nbsp; passport,&nbsp; government issued licence or certificate, bank/post office accounts, permanent residential certificate, government employment certificate, educational certificate and court records.</div>
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	<strong>What happens with the excluded individuals</strong></div>
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	&quot;Non-inclusion of a person&#39;s name in the NRC does not by itself amount to him/her being declared a foreigner,&quot; govt has said. Such individuals will have the option to present their case before foreigners&#39; tribunals.&nbsp;</div>
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	If one loses the case in the tribunal, the person can move the high court and, then, the Supreme Court.&nbsp;</div>
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	In the case of Assam, the state government has clarified it will not detain any individual until he/she is declared a foreigner by the foreigners&#39; tribunal.<br />
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		<strong>What can people do if they cannot find legacy data</strong></div>
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		The government has set up NRC Seva Kendras in every district of Assam, which assist people in searching for Legacy Data, issuing of Legacy Data Code, and in receipt of NRC Application forms.</div>
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	<strong>The 1951 NRC in Assam</strong></div>
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	NRC for Indian citizens in Assam was first created in 1951. Manipur and Tripura were also granted permission to create their own NRCs, but it never materialised. The reason behind the move was to identify Indian citizens in Assam amid &quot;unabated&quot; migration from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).&nbsp;</div>
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	The list comprised of those who lived in India on January 26, 1950, or were born in India or had parents who were born in India or had been living in India for at least five years before the January 26, 1950 cut-off.&nbsp;</div>

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register containing names of all genuine Indian citizens. Learn what is NRC in Assam and other related news here at Business Standard.

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<div>
	Constitution Day, also known as <strong>Samvidhan Divas</strong> or <strong>National Law Day</strong>, is celebrated in India on November 26 every year.</div>
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	<strong>Why is the Constitution Day celebrated?</strong></div>
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	On November 26, 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India. It came into force on January 26, 1950. Constitution Day aims to bring awareness about the importance of the Constitution and Dr B R Ambedkar.</div>
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	<strong>Who started the Constitution Day?</strong></div>
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	Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked November 26 as the Constitution Day of India in 2015.</div>
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	<strong>What is the Constitution of India?</strong></div>
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	The Constitution is a set of written principles and precedents of the Government of India. It frames fundamental political principles, procedures, rights, directive principles, restrictions and duties of the government and the citizens of the country. The Constitution of India declares the country a sovereign, secular, socialist and democratic republic. It assures its citizens equality, liberty and justice.</div>
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	<strong>Who wrote the Constitution of India?</strong></div>
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	B R Ambedkar, chairman of the drafting committee, is considered to be the chief architect of the Constitution of India. He is also called the Father of the Indian Constitution. The Constitution of India was drafted by the members of the Constituent Assembly.</div>
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	<strong>What is the preamble to the Constitution of India?</strong></div>
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	Preamble is a brief statement which records the aims and aspirations of the people of India. The preamble to the Constitution of India reads:</div>
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	&ldquo;We, the people of India, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic, republic, and to secure to all its citizens:</div>
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	Justice, social, economic and political; liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of status and of opportunity, and to promote among them all &mdash; fraternity assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;</div>
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	In our Constituent Assembly this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do hereby adopt, enact and give to ourselves this constitution.&rdquo;</div>
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	<strong>How did Constitution of India come into being?</strong></div>
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	From 1947 to 1950, India continued to use the legislation implemented when it was a dominion of Britain. In the meantime, the Constituent Assembly drafted the Constitution of India, which would replace the Government of India Act, 1935, as the country&#39;s fundamental governing document. The Constitution was drawn from a number of sources, while India&#39;s needs and conditions were given paramount importance. B R Ambedkar studied the Constitutions of over 60 countries before drafting the Constitution of India.</div>
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	<strong>A brief timeline:&nbsp;</strong></div>
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	On December 6, 1949 the Constitution Assembly was formed and its first meeting was held on December 9. Rajendra Prasad was appointed its President and H C Mukherjee its vice-chairman. On August 29, 1947, the drafting committee appointed Ambedkar as its chairman and six other members &mdash; Munshi N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, Khaitan, Mitter, Muhammed Sadulla, Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer. The members of the Constituent Assembly signed two hand-written copies of the document (one each in Hindi and English) on January 24, 1950. On November 26, 1949, the Constitution of India was adopted by the Assembly. On January 26, 1950, the Constitution was enforced.</div>
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	It took almost three years to write the constitution.&nbsp;</div>

Know when is Constitution Day of India, Samvidhan Divas, National Law Day, who wrote Constitution of India, what is Constitution of India, timeline on the Constitution of India at Business Standard.

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