Citizenship Act: What will attract Bangladesh and Pakistan Hindus to India?

Millions of Hindus in these countries might find India attractive, but prospects of discrimination could complicate matters

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by the Indian Parliament recently, has opened a window for over 16 million Hindus from Bangladesh and Pakistan — 13 million of them from the former alone — to move to India with their families and obtain citizenship here.

While the CAA stipulates a cutoff date of December 31, 2014, to be eligible for citizenship, certain political leaders have said that those non-Muslims who migrated to India after the cut-off date could also be eligible for citizenship. That is because the Act does not require any documentary evidence from migrants to prove their date of