Simone Lawson
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been a highly contested topic in India since its passing in 2019. The CAA grants citizenship to undocumented immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian faiths, who entered India before December 2014. While the Indian government claims it will protect religious minorities from these countries, critics argue that it violates the secular spirit of the Indian Constitution by making religion a criterion for citizenship. The CAA has sparked widespread protests across India, with critics arguing that it discriminates against Muslims and violates constitutional values of equality and non-discrimination.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Violation of equality | The CAA violates the Indian constitutional value of equality by legitimizing discrimination on the basis of religion. |
| Violation of religious non-discrimination | The CAA goes against the Indian constitution's principle of religious non-discrimination. |
| Incompatible with international human rights obligations | Amnesty International states that the CAA is incompatible with India's international human rights obligations. |
| Clampdown on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly | The Indian authorities have been criticized for clamping down on protests through arbitrary detention, heightened surveillance, and forcibly removing protestors. |
| Violation of Article 14 | The CAA has been criticized for violating Article 14 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees the right to equality and requires non-arbitrary classification. |
| Exclusion of certain religious groups | The CAA has been criticized for excluding Muslim migrants from its provisions, rendering them stateless. |
| Communal tensions and polarization | The CAA has been opposed as it is believed to create communal tensions and polarize Indian society. |
| Constitutional validity questioned | The constitutional validity of the CAA has been questioned and is currently being examined by the Supreme Court of India. |
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What You'll Learn
The CAA violates the right to equality and non-discrimination
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been widely criticised for violating the right to equality and non-discrimination, which are fundamental principles of the Indian Constitution. Amnesty International has stated that the CAA is a "bigoted law" that legitimises discrimination on the basis of religion, particularly targeting the Muslim minority community in India.
The CAA, passed in 2019, provides a path to Indian citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians. This exclusion of Muslims from the CAA's scope has been characterised as a violation of equality and non-discrimination rights, as it creates a system that can be weaponised against Muslims.
In response to the CAA, protests erupted across India, with people from all backgrounds expressing their opposition. The Indian National Congress, along with other opposition parties, demanded the withdrawal of the CAA, highlighting its discriminatory nature. The Chief Ministers of several Indian states, including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, and Rajasthan, refused to implement the CAA, stating that it would create communal tensions and polarise the country.
The Indian Constitution, implemented in 1950, guaranteed citizenship to all residents regardless of religion. The CAA's introduction of religious criteria for citizenship is seen as a departure from this foundational principle, undermining the values of equality and non-discrimination that are essential to India's democratic fabric.
Amnesty International and other human rights organisations have condemned the Indian authorities' response to the anti-CAA protests. They have documented the use of arbitrary detention, heightened surveillance, and excessive force against peaceful protesters, highlighting the suppression of the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The United Nations has also criticised the CAA, underscoring the international concern over its discriminatory nature.
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It legitimises discrimination based on religion
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 has been criticised for legitimising discrimination based on religion. Amnesty International has stated that the CAA is a “bigoted law that legitimises discrimination on the basis of religion” and is a “blow to the Indian constitutional values of equality and religious non-discrimination”.
The CAA, along with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Foreigners Tribunals, has been criticised for creating a system that can be used to target the Muslim minority community in India. If individuals are left out of the NRC, they can be deprived of their citizenship and sent to detention centres. In such cases, only the religious groups mentioned in the CAA would be able to retain their citizenship, while others, including Muslims, would be rendered stateless. This has been described as a “weaponised” system against Muslims.
The implementation of the CAA has faced opposition from various quarters, including political parties, student groups, and civil society organisations. Protests against the CAA have taken place across India, with people expressing concerns about the discriminatory nature of the Act and its potential impact on the Muslim community. The Indian National Congress, Chief Ministers of several Indian states, and the Indian Union Muslim League have all opposed the CAA, with some petitioning the Supreme Court of India to strike down the Act as unconstitutional.
The criticism of the CAA is not limited to domestic opposition but has also been raised by international human rights organisations and the United Nations. The operationalisation of the CAA has been viewed as a failure of Indian authorities to listen to the multitude of voices critical of the Act and a disregard for India's international human rights obligations.
The CAA's potential impact on religious discrimination is a significant concern, with Amnesty International stating that it “clearly violates the Constitution of India”. The Indian Constitution, implemented in 1950, guaranteed citizenship to all residents regardless of their religion. The CAA, by providing a pathway to citizenship for specific religious groups while excluding others, contradicts this foundational principle of equality and non-discrimination enshrined in the Constitution.
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It is inconsistent with India's international human rights obligations
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been criticised for being inconsistent with India's international human rights obligations. Amnesty International has stated that the CAA is a "blow to the Indian constitutional values of equality and religious non-discrimination" and that it is "inconsistent and incompatible with India's international human rights obligations".
The CAA, combined with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Foreigners Tribunals, has been criticised for creating a system that can be weaponised against Muslims. The CAA only allows religious groups mentioned in the Act to retain their citizenship, while others, including Muslims, are at risk of being rendered stateless. This has been described as a "discriminatory application of the Citizenship Amendment Act".
The Indian authorities have been accused of responding to protests against the CAA by arbitrarily detaining peaceful protesters, heightened surveillance, forcibly removing protestors, and disallowing protests by students near university campuses. Amnesty International has urged the authorities to respect, protect, and promote the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
The ICJ and other NGOs have also highlighted the discriminatory nature of the CAA, stating that it "arbitrarily excludes certain groups at risk of persecution, such as Muslims, from accessing an expedited path to citizenship, based on their religious affiliation". The CAA has been described as inconsistent with the rule of law principles and international law, including the right to equality before the law and the right to non-discrimination, protected under human rights treaties to which India is a party.
The CAA has faced opposition from various Indian states, political parties, and civil society groups, with protests erupting in several metropolitan cities and states across India. The Indian National Congress and other opposition parties have demanded the withdrawal of the CAA and a halt to the National Population Register (NPR) update, claiming that it is a "disguised NRC".
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The CAA targets Muslims
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been criticised for targeting Muslims and legitimising discrimination on the basis of religion. Amnesty International has called the act a "blow to the Indian constitutional values of equality and religious non-discrimination".
The CAA provides a fast track to Indian citizenship for illegal migrants who are Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, or Christian from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan and entered India before 2014, following religious persecution. Notably, Muslims are excluded from this list of refugees, and critics argue that the Indian government is acting against the secular credentials of the country. The Act has been criticised as discriminating on the basis of religion, particularly for excluding Muslims.
The Indian Constitution, implemented in 1950, guaranteed citizenship to all of the country's residents and made no distinction based on religion. In 1955, the Indian government passed the Citizenship Act, which accorded citizenship to all people born in India, subject to some limitations. This Act also provided two routes to citizenship for foreigners: registration after seven years of residency in India for those from "undivided India" and naturalisation after twelve years of residency for those from other countries.
The CAA, in combination with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), is perceived to target Muslims in India. The NRC is an official record of all legal citizens of India, and individuals must provide specific documents to be included on it. If left out of the NRC, people can be deprived of their citizenship and sent to detention centres. In this scenario, only the religious groups mentioned in the CAA would be able to retain their citizenship, while Muslims would be rendered stateless.
There have been widespread protests against the CAA and NRC across India, with critics arguing that the Act goes against the spirit of Article 14 of the Constitution, which mandates equal treatment under the law regardless of religion, caste, or sex. The Indian National Congress and various opposition parties have demanded the withdrawal of the CAA and a halt to the NRC process. The Chief Ministers of several Indian states have also refused to implement the CAA, citing concerns about its unconstitutionality and divisive nature.
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It violates Article 14 of the Indian Constitution
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been criticised for violating the Indian Constitution's Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law and equal protection under the law within Indian territory. The CAA, in conjunction with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Foreigners Tribunals, has been perceived as discriminating against the Muslim minority community in India.
Article 14 of the Indian Constitution states that the state shall not deny any person equality before the law and shall provide equal protection of the laws within the country. While it does not mandate absolute mathematical equality, it promotes equal treatment and reasonable classification for lawmaking purposes. The CAA, which offers a path to Indian citizenship for refugees from specific religious minorities in neighbouring countries, has been criticised for deviating from this principle of equality.
The CAA, in conjunction with the NRC and Foreigners Tribunals, has raised concerns about the potential weaponisation of the system against Muslims. If individuals are left out of the NRC, they risk losing their citizenship and facing detention. In such cases, only the religious groups mentioned in the CAA would be able to retain their citizenship through the discriminatory application of the Act. This has been viewed as a form of discrimination based on religion, which goes against the spirit of Article 14 and the Indian Constitution's commitment to equality and non-discrimination.
Supporters of the CAA argue that it does not violate Article 14. They claim that the Act creates a reasonable classification of individuals based on their religious minority status in specific countries. According to Article 14, classification must be founded on intelligible differentia and have a rational relation to the object sought by the Act. Proponents of the CAA assert that it meets these conditions and, therefore, does not breach the equality guarantee in Article 14.
The debate surrounding the CAA and its potential violation of Article 14 has led to widespread protests across India, with people expressing their concerns about the Act's impact on the country's constitutional values and commitment to equality. The Indian National Congress and other opposition parties have actively opposed the CAA, highlighting its potential to create communal tensions and polarise the nation. The Supreme Court of India has also received petitions challenging the legality of the CAA, with critics arguing that it undermines the fundamental right to equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.
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Frequently asked questions
Amnesty International has stated that the CAA is a blow to the Indian constitutional values of equality and non-religious discrimination. Critics argue that it violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal treatment and the right to equality. The CAA has been criticised for legitimising discrimination based on religion and for targeting Muslims.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed in 2019 to provide Indian citizenship to undocumented immigrants who entered India before 31 December 2014. The Act applies to migrants of six religions: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.
The CAA has sparked protests across India, with people arguing that it is unconstitutional and discriminatory. There have been violent clashes between protesters and police, resulting in injuries and deaths. The Indian National Congress and other opposition parties have demanded the withdrawal of the CAA. Several states have also refused to implement the CAA, despite the Union Home Ministry stating that states lack the legal power to do so.
