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The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has “requested” another six-month extension to frame the rules under the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) – making this the seventh similar extension, The Hindu has reported.
The CAA was passed by both Houses of parliament at the end 0f 2019, amidst widespread nationwide protests. For the first time, this law made citizenship directly correlated to a person’s religion. Under the CAA, non-Muslim minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014 are eligible for fast-track Indian citizenship.
However, while without the rules being framed, the Act cannot be implemented, Citizens for Justice and Peace had probed and analysed the MHA annual report (2021-2022) that revealed that it has “delegated powers under the CAA to grant citizenship under the controversial 2019 amendment.
In November 2022, Union home minister Amit Shah had said that the rules were being “formulated” and there had been a delay because of the pandemic. That was in Parliament, documents in the MHA Annual Report showed otherwise. Before that, in August, he had said that the law would be implemented once the COVID-19 vaccination drive had been completed.
The CAA 2019 was passed in haste through the Lok Sabha on December 10, 2019 and in the Rajya Sabha two days later after it was introduced in the upper house by Shah. The gazetted notification declaring the amendment to be a law was issued on December 12, 2019. The move drew heavy criticism from politicians and citizens alike for ostensibly singling out Muslims and excluding them from its purview. Protests spontaneously broke out in Delhi and the first violent repressive action by the state was the police action inside the Jamia Milia University in the nation’s capital on December 15. A series of protests followed thereafter, leading to more and more repression. The Delhi police falls under the MHA.
The Act aims to provide citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians purportedly fleeing persecution from India’s Muslim-majority neighbours; namely, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The notable absence of Muslims from the provisions of the legislation, irrespective of whether or not they are being persecuted in their countries, as well as the unconstitutional nature of the legislation when coupled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) had drawn widespread protests from thousands of citizens across the country. Despite the protests and violence that ensued, the government notified the law in January 2020. Yet, the rules of the law are still to be framed, despite three years having passed.
Contrary to the HM’s recent claims, the CJP reports reveals how the Ministry of Home Affairs in its 2021-22 Annual Report has revealed that it has delegated powers under Citizenship Act to grant citizenship under the controversial 2019 amendment. Delegated powers have been “given” to Collectors of 13 more districts and Home Secretaries of 2 more states. With this, Collectors of 29 districts and Home Secretaries of 9 States have been authorized to grant citizenship in respect of foreigners belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, and Christian or Parsi community from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The report states, “The delegation will speed up the process of granting Indian citizenship to aforesaid category of migrants as the decision would be taken at local level.”
The report states that from April 1, 2021 to December 31 2021, a total of 1414 citizenship certificates have been granted by all authorities including this Ministry. Out of this, 1120 were granted by registration under section 5 and 294 were granted by naturalisation under section 6 of the Citizenship Act. These notifications clearly invoke the 2019 amendments.
They clearly direct that “the Central Government hereby directs that powers exercisable by it, for registration as a citizen of India under section 5, or for grant of certificate of naturalisation under section 6, of the Citizenship Act, 1955, in respect of any person belonging to minority community in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians (hereinafter referred to as “the applicant”), residing in the districts mentioned.
Despite these claims in the annual report, the Union government’s failure to frame the rules has come under scrutiny in light of certain developments in the intervening years; for instance, the fact that reportedly around 800 Pakistanis Hindus were forced to return to their home country the year before, in 2021, because they were unable to get citizenship.
Facing religious persecution in Pakistan, these Hindu migrants sought Indian citizenship through a fast-tracked route through an online citizenship portal. However, the notifications for this fast-tracked citizenship were made under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and not the CAA because the rules had not been framed.
Further, following the attack on a Gurudwara that also led to a Sikh Pakistani being killed in Kabul, Afhganistan last year, it also became apparent that that around a hundred Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan had been awaiting approval for electronic visas to India despite applying for them before the Taliban took over the country.
Following the incident, and the deceased’s widow speaking to the media about his inability to obtain the visa, the Indian government granted what was termed as ‘priority to the hundred-odd Hindus and Sikhs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s letter to Afgan Sikhs following the incident made no reference to the CAA; an Act which, ostensibly, sought to avoid just such a situation by bringing back persecuted non-Muslims to India.
At the time of the widespread nationwide protests against the discriminatory provisions of the CAA 2019, amendments, civil rights groups and jurists had pointed out how the religious demarcation (read exclusion) of one section of India’s minorities (Muslims) from fast-tracked citizenship by naturalisation was hit by Articles 14, 15.16 and 21 of the Indian Constitution. Excluding Ahmadiyas or non-believers who also suffer persecution in Pakistan, or minorities like Tamil Hindus from Sri Lanka or Rohingyas from Myaanmaar further cemented discriminatory basis within Indian citizenship law.
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