What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, approved by President Ramnath Kovind
What is the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, approved by President Ramnath Kovind
The new law will change the Citizenship Act 1955. Under this, people of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christianity who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will not be considered as illegal intruders but will be given Indian citizenship due to harassment on the basis of religion till 31 December 2014.
President Ram Nath Kovind recently approved the Citizenship Amendment Bill-2019. With the signing of President Kovind, the Citizenship Amendment Bill - 2019 has become law. With this, it became law and paved the way for granting Indian citizenship to minority refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.
The Parliament has approved the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) on 11 December 2019. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed in the Rajya Sabha amidst a ruckus across the country. The House has rejected the opposition's proposal and amendments to send the bill to the Select Committee. The Rajya Sabha had 125 votes in favor of the bill and 99 votes in opposition.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the bill in Rajya Sabha. After nearly six hours of debate on this, Home Minister Amit Shah gave the answers related to the Bill in the House. This bill has already been passed in the Lok Sabha. Protests are taking place in many states of Northeast including Assam against this bill.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill is not going to harm Muslims. He said that if the country had not been divided and had not happened on the basis of religion, there would be no need to bring this bill today.
Key facts related to Citizenship ( Amendment ) Bill
• Under the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of people who believe in Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Parsi, Jain, and Buddhism who fled there due to religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh due to this bill taking the form of law. Citizenship will be given.
• To take Indian citizenship, it is compulsory to stay in India for 11 years. The new bill provides that if the minorities of neighboring countries have lived in India for more than five years, they can be given citizenship.
Under this amendment, such illegal migrants who have entered India by the decisive date of 31 December 2014 will be able to apply to the government for Indian citizenship.
• It has also been arranged under the new bill that any legal action already was taken on them regarding their displacement or illegal residence in the country will not affect their eligibility for permanent citizenship.
What is a citizenship (amendment) bill?
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has been introduced to change the provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955. In this, the rules of citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christian religions from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan have been simplified. The main purpose of this bill amendment is to exempt illegal migrants in select categories. This will change the rules related to the grant of citizenship.
Why the controversy over the bill?
Opposition parties are opposing the bill the most. The opposition party says that it has mainly targeted the Muslim community. He also says that it is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which talks about the right to equality.