CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act)

Citizenship Amendment Act

Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 

The CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) protests, the Citizenship Amendment Bill and NPR (National Register of Citizens) protests, are a series of on going protests in India, against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which was enacted into law on 12 December 2019, and against proposals to enact a nation wide National Register of Citizens (NRC). The protests began in Assam, Delhi, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharastra and Tripura on 4 December 2019. In a few days, the protests spread across India, though the concerns of the protesters vary.

The Amendment benefits Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi refugees from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who sought refuge in India before 2015; the Amendment leaves out Muslims and others from these countries, as well as refugee Sri Lankan Tamils in India, Rohingyas from Myanmar, and Buddhist refugees from Tibet. The proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be an official record of all legal citizens of India where individuals would have to provide a prescribed set of documents issued before a specified cutoff date for inclusion in the register. The exercise of the NRC have already been carried out in the state of Assam. Those who fail to qualify for the NRC will be able to avail the benefits of the CAA if they claim to be religious minorities fleeing persecution from the listed countries.

Protesters throughout India, see the new law as discriminating against Muslims and as unconstitutional; they are demanding the amendment to be scrapped and the nationwide NRC to be not implemented. They are concerned Muslim citizens of India will be rendered stateless and put into detention camps, by the proposed nationwide NRC in combination with the CAA. They are also concerned that all citizens will be affected by the bureaucratic exercise of the NRC where they will have to prove their citizenship for inclusion in the registry. The protesters have raised voices against authoritarianism, the police crackdown in other universities and suppression of protests.

Protesters in Assam and other northeastern states do not want Indian citizenship to be granted to any refugee or immigrant, regardless of their religion, as they fear it would alter the region's demographic balance, resulting in a loss of their political rights, culture, and land. They are concerned that it will motivate further migration from Bangladesh as well as violate the Assam Accord, which was a prior agreement reached with the central government on migrants and refugees.

The protests started in Assam on 4 December 2019, after the bill was introduced in parliament. Later on, protests erupted in Northeast India, and subsequently spread to the major cities of India. On 15 December, major protests took place near Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University. As the protests spread, private and public property was burnt and destroyed by mobs, and some railway stations were vandalized. Police forcibly entered the campus of Jamia, used batons and tear gas on the students, and more than 200 students were injured and around 100 were detained overnight in the police station. The police action was widely criticized and resulted in students across the country protesting in solidarity.

The protests have resulted in thousands of arrests and 27 deaths as of 27 December 2019. Two 17-year old minors were among those reported to have been killed due to police firing live ammunition on protesters in Assam. On 19 December, the police issued a complete ban on protests in several parts of India. As a result of defying the ban, thousands of protesters were detained. So far, at least eight states have announced that they will not implement the Act or the National Register of Citizens (NRC). While one state and two union territories have refused to implement the CAA, three other states have only declined the implementation of the NRC. However the Union Home Ministry said that states lack the legal power to stop the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act.