What is Citizenship Amendment Act?

Why is a change in the law, which the government claims is sympathetic and inclusionary, being called unconstitutional and anti-Muslim, and triggering such powerful reactions?

Why is Assam in particular seeing such strong protests?

In Assam, what is primarily driving the protests is not who are excluded from the ambit of the new law, but how many are included. The protesters are worried about the prospect of the arrival of more migrants, irrespective of religion, in a state whose demography and politics have been defined by migration. The Assam Movement (1979-85) was built around migration from Bangladesh, which many Assamese fear will lead to their culture and language being ovetaken, besides putting pressure on land resources and job opportunities.

er the earlier law, how could these categories of people apply for Indian citizenship?

Under Article 6 the Constitution, a migrant from Pakistan (part of which is now Bangladesh) is to be granted citizenship if she entered India before July 19, 1948. In Assam, which has seen large-scale migration from East Pakistan (later Bangladesh), a migrant will get citizenship if she entered the state before the 1971 date mentioned in the Assam Accord.

As far as illegal immigrants are concerned, India does not have a national policy on granting asylum or refugee status. The Home Ministry, however, has a standard operating procedure for dealing with foreign nationals who claim to be refugees. The government has dealt with refugees on a case-by-case basis by either granting them work permits or long-term visas. Significantly, there was no provision in the Citizenship Act to grant citizenship particularly to minorities or refugees till the latest amendment.

What are the citizenship laws for others?

Under The Citizenship Act, 1955, there are four ways to obtain citizenship.

Citizenship by birth: In 1955, the law provided that anyone born in India on or after January 1, 1950 would be deemed a citizen by birth. This was later amended to limit citizenship by birth to those born between January 1, 1950 and January 1, 1987.

It was amended again by the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003; those born after December 3, 2004 will be deemed a citizen of India by birth if one parent is an Indian and the other is not an illegal immigrant. So, if one parent is an illegal immigrant, the child born after 2004 will have to acquire Indian citizenship through other means, not simply by birth. The law describes an illegal migrant as a foreigner who: (i) enters the country without valid travel documents, like a passport and visa, or (ii) enters with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.

Citizenship by descent: A person born outside India and who has at least one Indian parent will be granted citizenship provided that the birth is registered within 1 year with the Indian consulate in the jurisdiction.

Citizenship by registration: This is for persons related to an Indian citizen through marriage or ancestry.

Citizenship by naturalisation: Section 6 of the Citizenship Act states a certificate of naturalisation can be granted to a person who is not an illegal immigrant and has resided in India continuously for 12 months before making an application. Additionally, in the 14 years before the 12-month period, the person must have lived in india for at least 11 years (relaxed to five years for the categories covered under the new amendment).