5 Things You Should Know About Citizenship (Amendment) Bill
The Citizenship Amendment Act witnessed the first protest in Assam when It passed in the lower house on 2 December 2019. It shook up entire India when it got final approval from parliament. BW Businessworld compiled a list that described the basic definition of it.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 will amend the Citizenship Act of 1995, which grant Indian Citizenship to the persecuted minorities such as non-Muslim Hindus Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists and Christian fleeing from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
What are the Desired Outcomes?
With this Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, the government intends to change the definition of illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who are Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist, Jain or Christian, Muslims are not listed in this bill till date.
Who does the bill cover?
Mainly the bill covers six minorities namely Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Earlier, in Citizenship Act 1995, any migrant who entered the country without any legal/valid documents cannot get the citizenship in India. However, now the government made some changes to the foreigner’s acts to allow non-Muslim refugees to stay back in India without any valid documents.
Basis of the Bill?
The bill was firstly introduced in the Lok Sabha on 19th July 2016 as Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. On 12 August 2016, It was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee. The committee submitted its report on 7 January 2019. It was passed in Lok Sabha on 8th January 2019 but it lapses with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
The bill was re-introduced in the Parliament as Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019.
On 9 December 2019, Amit shah introduced Bill in Lok Sabha and it was passed on 10th December 2019. At least 125 lawmakers voted in favour of the bill and 99 against it.
Most Distressed State by this Bill?
This bill will mainly affect the North- Eastern States. This Act will apply to the Tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. Areas which are cover under “Inner Line Permit” under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.
Impact on Indian Population?
The Home Minister Amit Shah said that the bill will give new dawn to lakhs and crores of people. But no accurate figures come out from the side of the government of India.
According to the records furnished by the Intelligence Bureau before the Joint Parliamentary Committee, there are 31,313 persons belonging to these minority committee living in India on Long Term Visa.
After a long hardship, the bill is finally got the assent of the President Ram Nath Kovind and became Citizenship Act 2019.
