RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LAW, PUNJAB

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL,2016:AN ANALYSIS

Submitted in Complete Fulfillment of B.A.LLB (Hons.)

Tenth Semester, B.A. LLB (Hons.)
FINAL DRAFT
SUBMITTED ON: 15TH APRIL, 2019

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. LAKHWINDER SINGH KARAN SINGH
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF LAW 14039, 10TH SEMESTER
RGNUL, PUNJAB INTERNATIONAL LAW GROUP

1
 RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
OF LAW, PUNJAB
Established under the Punjab Act No. 12 of 2006

Dr Lakhwinder Singh Date:

Professor of Law Place: Patiala

Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law,

Punjab.

SUPERVISOR’S CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Project entitled: “The Citizenship Amendment Bill,2016:An Analysis”
submitted to Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Punjab, in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for B.A.LLB. Five Year Integrated Course, tenth semester, is an original and bonafide research work
carried out by Karan Singh under my supervision and guidance. It is further certified that no part of this
study has been submitted to any University for the award of any Degree or Diploma whatsoever.

______________________

Dr. Lakhwinder Singh

2
 RAJIV GANDHI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
OF LAW, PUNJAB
Established under the Punjab Act No. 12 of 2006

CANDIDATE’S CERTIFICATE

I, Karan Singh, hereby solemnly declare that the Project Report Entitled: “The Citizenship
Amendment Bill, 2016: An Analysis” submitted to Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law,
Punjab, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the B.A.LLB Five Year Course, ninth
semester, is an original and bonafide research work of mine. I hope that this work will be helpful
in enhancing the knowledge of readers and framing of the policies in the future course. All the
information declared hereby is true to best of my knowledge.

_______________________
Karan Singh
Roll No.: 14039
B.A.LLB., Tenth Semester
Criminal Law Group

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First of all, I want to thank God Almighty for life and all that’s in it. The first lamp is the Guru,
and the lamp that is lighted from it is the disciple. The Guru is the means of realization. There is
no knowledge without a guru. Therefore, after God I express my sincere and deepest gratitude to
my Guru, my teacher and supervisor, Dr. Lakhwinder Singh, Associate Professor of Law, who
ploughed through several preliminary versions of my text, making critical suggestions, reviewing
and posing challenging questions.

I also thank my mother and my brother for their constant support and faith in me. Also the long
discussions I had with my maternal uncle on social issues and theoretical concepts as we walked
the length of the evening, every day opened up in my mind new insights into life. His efforts to
manage so many different areas of life calmly and intelligently have always motivated me as a
person.

Finally, and importantly, I also offer my regards to the library staff at RGNUL and all of those,
not mentioned by name, who supported me in any respect during the completion of the paper.
Thank you all very much.

Karan Singh

Roll no.14039

10th Semester

International Law Group

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INDEX OF AUTHORITIES

STATUTES

The Citizenship of India Act, 1955

The Assam Accord, 1985

The Constitution of India, 1950

NEWSPAPER

The Economic Times

The Hindu

The Indian Express

CASES

Indira Sawhney and Others v UOI, AIR 1993 SC 477.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. CHAPTER 1
a. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
b. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2. CHAPTER 2
a. INTRODUCTION
b. MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP
c. INTERNATIONAL ASPECT OF CITIZENSHIP
3. CHAPTER 3
a. CITIZENSHIP IN INDIA
b. MODES OF ACQUIRING CITIZENSHIP IN INDIA
4. CHAPTER 4
a. CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL
b. REASONS FOR THE PROPOSAL OF THE CITIZENSHIP
AMENDMENT BILL, 2016
c. AMENDMENTS TO PREVIOUS LAW
d. OPPOSITION BY PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS
5. CHAPTER 5
a. CONCLUSION

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CHAPTER 1

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

The main of this project is to study and analyze the impact and effects of the proposed
citizenship (Amendment) Bill,2016. The project aims at doing so by discussing the causes of the
proposal of the bill, the repercussions it will have. The project also deals with the loopholes in
the proposed legislation and advantages which it promises to give. The project is concluded by
providing a final opinion of the author as to the overall pros and cons of the Bill.

The author aims at achieving the above objectives by following a comprehensive study of the
meaning of Citizenship, how it is recognized in different countries, what are its essentials.

Along with this a detailed study of the proposed legislation has also been made, how it will
effect the existing provisions as to Citizenship, what are the root causes behind the introduction
of the Bill, what are the reasons of opposing the bill and where the lacunas lie in the Amendment
Bill are.

Finally a Conclusion has been drawn by the author to sum up the overall impact of the
Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 on the society and whether it should be made an Act or not
and if yes then what are the changes that need to be made to it, if any are required.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Case law Method

The project makes use of this methodology to comprehend the legal notions that govern
International law on Citizenship. A study of the facts of the Assam Accord has also been made to
further throw light on the proposed legislation.

The Analytical Method

The chief instrument of research is that of analytical study. The Analytical methodology has
been put to use to understand the question of research pertaining to whether the question of law
and international human rights have been satisfactorily answered by the author.

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CHAPTER 2

INTRODUCTION

Citizenship is one of the most essential components of a persons identity. It is a necessary for the
person to exercise his rights and liberties to the fullest. In a globalized and fast paced society
citizenship is what gives recognition to a person. It is essential for the identity of a person. A
person without citizenship is recognized as a stateless person thus he does not have an identity of
his own. He is not the citizen of any country and is thus considered an alien in every country.

With regard to the Indian context the Indian Constitution guarantees right to life and liberty
under article 21. Citizenship forms a part of this right. Also the Constitution bestows certain
rights only on its citizens. This includes even certain Fundamental Rights like:

1. Article 15-Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or

place of birth
2. Article 16-Right to Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
3. Article 19-Six basic freedoms (Article 19).
4. Article 29-Protection of minorities(their culture, language etc.)
5. Article 30- Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions

MEANING OF CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship is a status granted to a person recognizing the nation to which he belongs. It can
simply be defined as the status of being a citizen1. According to the Cambridge Dictionary
citizenship is state of being a member of a particular country and having rights because of it. It
has also been defined as

INTERNATIONAL ASPECT OF CITIZENSHIP

Citizenship is status bestowed upon a person who has been recognized as a legal member of a
sovereign state or belonging to a nation under law or custom.

1
Merriam Webster Dictionary

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An individual may have more than one citizenships. An individual who does not have citizenship
of any of the states is classified as being stateless. Every nation has its own policies, regulations and
criterias with regard to citizenship. An individual can be recognized or granted citizenship on the basis of
number of criteria. Generally citizenship on the basis of circumstances of birth is automatic, but in other
cases an application may be required.

 Citizenship by birth (jus sanguinis). If one or both of an individual's parents are citizens
of a particular country at the time of birth, then the individual may have an inherent right
to be a citizen of that country as well. Previously this might only have applied through
the paternal line, but sex equality became common since the late twentieth century.
Citizenship is granted based on ancestry or ethnicity and is related to the concept of
a nation state common in Europe. Where jus sanguinis holds, a person born outside a
country, one or both of whose parents are citizens of the country, is also a citizen. States
normally limit the right to citizenship by descent to a certain number of generations born
outside the state, although some do not. This form of citizenship is common in civil
law countries.

 Born within a country (jus soli). Some people are automatically citizens of the state in
which they are born. This form of citizenship originated in England where those who
were born within the realm were subjects of the monarch (a concept pre-dating
citizenship) and is common in common law countries.

o In many cases, both jus soli and jus sanguinis hold citizenship either by place or
parentage (or both).

 Citizenship by marriage (jus matrimonii). Many countries fast-track naturalization based

on the marriage of a person to a citizen. Countries which are destinations for such
immigration often have regulations to try to detect sham marriages, where a citizen
marries a non-citizen typically for payment, without them having the intention of living
together.

 Naturalization. States normally grant citizenship to people who have entered the country
legally and been granted permit to stay, or been granted political asylum, and also lived
there for a specified period. In some countries, naturalization is subject to conditions

9
 which may include passing a test demonstrating reasonable knowledge of the language or
way of life of the host country, good conduct (no serious criminal record) and moral
character (such as drunkenness, or gambling), vowing allegiance to their new state or its
ruler and renouncing their prior citizenship. Some states allow dual citizenship and do not
require naturalized citizens to formally renounce any other citizenship.

 Citizenship by investment or Economic Citizenship. Wealthy people invest money in

property or businesses, buy government bonds or simply donate cash directly, in
exchange for citizenship and a passport. Whilst legitimate and usually limited in quota,
the schemes are controversial. Costs for citizenship by investment range from as little as
$100,000 (£74,900) to as much as €2.5m (£2.19m).

 Excluded categories. In the past there have been exclusions on entitlement to citizenship
on grounds such as skin color, ethnicity, sex, and free status (not being a slave). Most of
these exclusions no longer apply in most places. Modern examples include some Arab
countries which rarely grant citizenship to non-Muslims, e.g. Qatar is known for granting
citizenship to foreign athletes, but they all have to profess the Islamic faith in order to
receive citizenship. The United States grants citizenship to those born as a result of
reproductive technologies, and internationally adopted children born after February 27,
1983. Some exclusions still persist for internationally adopted children born before
February 27, 1983 even though their parents meet citizenship criteria.

Modern citizenship is much more passive; action is delegated to others; citizenship is often a
constraint on acting, not an impetus to act.Nevertheless, citizens are usually aware of their
obligations to authorities, and are aware that these bonds often limit what they can do

Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and duties. In this
sense, citizenship was described as "a bundle of rights -- primarily, political participation in the
life of the community, the right to vote, and the right to receive certain protection from the
community, as well as obligations." Citizenship is seen by most scholars as culture-specific, in
the sense that the meaning of the term varies considerably from culture to culture, and over
time.In China, for example, there is a cultural politics of citizenship which could be called
"peopleship".

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Modern citizenship has often been looked at as two competing underlying ideas:

 The liberal-individualist or sometimes liberal conception of citizenship suggests that

citizens should have entitlements necessary for human dignity. It assumes people act for
the purpose of enlightened self-interest. According to this viewpoint, citizens are
sovereign, morally autonomous beings with duties to pay taxes, obey the law, engage in
business transactions, and defend the nation if it comes under attack, but are essentially
passive politically, and their primary focus is on economic betterment. This idea began
to appear around the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and became stronger over
time, according to one view. According to this formulation, the state exists for the benefit
of citizens and has an obligation to respect and protect the rights of citizens, including
civil rights and political rights. It was later that so-called social rights became part of the
obligation for the state.

 The civic-republican or sometimes classical or civic humanist conception of citizenship

emphasizes man's political nature, and sees citizenship as an active process, not a passive
state or legal marker.It is relatively more concerned that government will interfere with
popular places to practice citizenship in the public sphere. Citizenship means being active
in government affairs.According to one view, most people today live as citizens
according to the liberal-individualist conception but wished they lived more according to
the civic-republican ideal. An ideal citizen is one who exhibits "good civic
behavior".Free citizens and a republic government are "mutually interrelated."Citizenship
suggested a commitment to "duty and civic virtue"

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CHAPTER 3

CITIZENSHIP IN INDIA

In India citizenship is conferred upon an individual under part 2 of the Constitution. Articles 5 to
11 of that part govern the rights with regard to citizenship.

Article 5 of the Constitution deals with Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution. It
states that : Every person who has a domicile in India and,

1. Was either born in the territory in India, or

2. Either of whose parents was born in the territory of India, or
3. Who has already been a resident in the territory of India for not less than 5 years
immediately preceding such commencement,

Shall be a citizen.2 Thus the Constitution recognizes jus sanguinis which means citizenship
acquired by the right of blood.

With regard to Citizenship several legislations have been passed even before India got its
independence. This was done by passing of the Government of India Act in 1858 which
classified citizens as British subjects and British protected person. Then in 1949 came the British
Nationality Act which recognized the concept of ‘British subjects with Indian citizenship’ with
respect to Indians in Indian provinces. In 1955 then finally came the Citizenship Act of India
which granted citizenship irrespective of the fact whether a person was born in any of the former
princely states or not.

Several amendments have been made to the Citizenship Act of India. Amendments have been
made through the Citizenship Amendment Acts of 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005 and 2015.

MODES OF ACQUIRING CITIZENSHIP

The Citizenship Act of India recognizes the following methods to acquire citizenship. They are
as follows:

1. Citizenship by the commencement of the Constitution

2
Article 5,Constitution of India

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 2. Citizenship by birth
3. Citizenship through registration
4. Citizenship through Descent
5. Citizenship by naturalization

1.Citizenship by Commencement of the Constitution- This grants automatic citizenship to people

domicilied within the territory of India as on 26th November,1949.3 The act also makes special
provisions for people migrating from the territory of Pakistan before independence.4

2. Citizenship by birth- Any person born in India before the 1986 Act and but on or after 26th
January 1950 shall be a citizen of India by birth. After the 1986 Act if any person has either of
the parent a citizen of India then he shall also be a citizen of India. After 2004 the rules for
citizenship acquired by birth have been made even more strict. Now if the person is born after 3rd
December 2004 then both his parents should be citizens of India at the time of his birth or either
parent should be a citizen of India and the other should not be an illegal migrant.5

3. Citizenship through registration- A person may apply for citizenship under Citizenship of
India Act if he or she falls under any of the below listed categories:

 a person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before
making application under Section 5(1)(a) (throughout the period of twelve months
immediately before making application and for six years in the aggregate in the eight
years preceding the 12 months).

 a person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in any country or place outside
undivided India;

 a person who is married to a citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in India for seven
years before making an application for registration;

 minor children of persons who are citizens of India;

3
Section 5, Citizenship Act of India, 1955
4
Section 6, Citizenship Act of India, 1955, Section 7,Citizenship of India Act, 1955.
5
Section 3, Citizenship Act of India,1955.

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  a person of full age and capacity whose parents are registered as citizens of India.

 a person of full age and capacity who, or either of his parents, was earlier citizen of
independent India, and has been residing in India for one year immediately before
making an application for registration;

 a person of full age and capacity who has been registered as an overseas citizen of India
for five years, and who has been residing in India for one year before making an
application for registration.6

4. Citizenship through descent- People born outside India during the time frame of 26th January,
1950 to 10th December, 1992 having descended from a father who at the time of their birth was a
citizen of India shall be citizens of India. Those who are born after this time are considered
citizens of India if either of their parent at the time of birth was an Indian citizen.7

5. Citizenship by naturalization- A foreigner can acquire citizenship of India by residing for 12

years in the country.8 Along with this the prerequisites listed under section 6(1) of the
Citizenship of India Act, 1955 also must be met.

6
Section 5, Citizenship Act of India,1955.
7
Section 4, Citizenship of India Act,1955.
8
Section 6, Citizenship of India Act,1955.

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CHAPTER 4

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL,2016

The citizenship Amendment bill of 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 15th July,2016. It
aims to bring about certain changes in the Citizenship of India Act of 1955. The bill in August of
2016 was referred to a joint select Committee to further discuss the bill. The amendment bill
aims at allowing people from 6 religions and 3 countries to become eligible for applying for
citizen nship of India.

Illegal Migrants- The Citizenship of India Act doesn’t grant citizenship to illegal migrants.
Illegal migrants have been described under the Act as follows:

A foreigner who has entered into India― (i) without a valid passport or other travel documents
and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf; or
(ii) with a valid passport or other travel documents and such other document or authority as may
be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf but remains therein beyond the permitted period
of time.9

REASONS FOR THE PROPOSAL OF THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT

BILL, 2016

The bill plays an essential part of the vote bank politics of India. The bill was for the first time
brought to the limelight during the 2014 Lok Sabha General elections. The bill found space in
the manifesto the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party promised in its manifesto that if it came to
power it shall grant citizenship to all the Hindus who have been wronged in the neighbouring
countries of India. After the Bharatiya Janata Party came to power it made efforts to woo the
public by creating a wave of nationalism and love for hindu loyalty. It did so by playing several
religious and regional cards . One of such card it played was the introduction of the Citizenship
of India(Amendment) Bill in 2016 in the Lok Sabha.

With regard to the passing of the Bill several political motives have come into play. The purpose
of the ruling party as far as could be reasonably understood seems that it aims at appealing to the

9
Section 2(b), Citizenship of India Act,1955.

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Hindu/Nationalist sentiment under the garb of protection of those who have been suffering
through persecution and other evils in our neighbouring countries.

AMENDMENTS TO PREVIOUS LAW

The proposed amendment effects several provisions of the existing Legislation. They are as
follows:

The Citizenship of India Act,1955 prohibits illegal migrants as defined under Section 2(b) to
acquire citizenship but the proposed bill provides at exempting certain people belonging to
certain religious groups and certain countries to be classified as illegal migrants. This includes
people belonging to the following faiths: Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists and Christians
belonging to any of the following countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Section 7 A ,7 B ,7 C, 7 D of The Citizenship of India Act,1955 provide for Overseas

Citizenship. The act states that a foreigner may apply for Overseas Citizenship of India if any of
the two grounds are met, namely, if he or she is of an Indian origin or if such person has a spouse
of Indian origin.The bill provides apart from these two grounds another ground which provides
for prohibition of grant of Overseas Citizenship of India. It states that any person who has
violated the law shall not be allowed to register as Overseas Citizen of India. Originally the Act
provided that the registration for Overseas Citizenship under Section 2(b) of the Citizenship of
India Act,1955 shall not be approved if any of the following condition exists:

(i) if the Overseas Citizenship of India had been registered through fraud, or
(ii) if within five years of registration, the Overseas citizen of India was sentenced to
imprisonment for two years or above.

The Citizenship of India Act, 2016 also provides for acquiring of citizenship of India through
the process of naturalization. The act provides to be residing for a period of 12 years for a
foreigner to acquire citizenship in India through Naturalization.10 The same according to the
proposed amendment has been reduced to 6 years for people belonging to the faiths of Sikhism,
Hinduism, Jainsim, Buddhism and Christianity from any of the three countries, namely,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

10
Section 6, Citizenship of India Act, 1955

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OPPOSITION BY PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS

The Bill is being opposed by several organizations and individuals on several grounds.

(i) Discrimination on the grounds of religion

(ii) Discrimination on the Grounds of Place of Birth
(iii) Violation of Article 14 of the Constitution
(iv) Changing the demographics of Assam and Violation of the Assam Accord

The amended bill provides for exemption of people of six religions that is Sikhism, Hinduism,
Jainism, Buddhism, Parsis and Christianity from being classified as has been provided under
Section 2(b) of the Citizenship of India Act.

The bill also makes the same discrimination in the case of reducing time to be spent in India to
acquire citizenship of India through naturalization.

The Bill thus includes only a few given faiths prevalent in the country to avail the privileges
provided by the Amendment Bill. This is a clear case of religious discrimination. A point to be
noted here is that a major religious group that is the Muslims have been left out by the
legislators. Muslims outside India form a great part of the number of people who strive to
acquire Citizenship in India but still their interests have been totally ignored.

In a country so religiously pluralistic it is not advisable for the government to make such
legislations. In order to please the majority of the section of the society on the basis of religion it
will end up violating the Basic Fundamental Right of certain minorities.

The Constitution instead provides the following as one of the Directive Principle of State Policy:

“The State shall strive to promote the welfare of the people by securing and protecting as
effectively as it may a social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform
all the institutions of the national life.”11

Thus there is a clear violation of the provisions of the Constitution. The bill aims to function in a
manner which is totally opposite to what has been laid down in the Constitution.

11
Article 38, Constitution of India.

17
The bill doesn’t stop here with all the discrimination. It extends this discrimination on a two fold
basis , one on the basis of religion, the other on the basis of region. The bill provides that the
privileges which it aims to put in the Citizenship of India Act, 1955 shall be provided to only
those people belonging to the six religions mentioned earlier. In addition to this the Act provides
that people of these six religions must be from only 3 countries, that is Pakistan, Afghanistan and
Bangladesh only then will they be able to enjoy the privileges which have been proposed.

The Bill thus carries out two way discrimination on the part of the Government. People from
other countries applying for Citizenship in India have been unjustly discriminated against.

Such blatant discrimination cannot be a simple error on the part of the legislation. It is presumed
that whatever becomes an Act and whatever provision is laid down in the Statutes passed by the
Parliament is a reflection of the intention of Legislation. Keeping this in mind if we analyze the
proposals of the legislation in this bill puts serious doubts about the intentions of the Legislature.

The Amendment Bill thus violates Article 14 of the Constitution. Article 14 of the Constitution
reads as follows:

“The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the
laws within the territory of India.”12

Article 14 forms part of basic structure of the Constitution. It is a Fundamental Right which is
not limited to only citizens. The aim of the provision is to eliminate discrimination and provide a
conducive environment for the development of the society.13 Article 14 although permits that
reasonable classification may be made in order to uplift backward sections of the society.It
provides equality among equals. But such classification must not be arbitrary, vague or
unreasonable in nature.

In the case of Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 a classification has been made on the basis of
religion as well as place of birth. Both these forms are violative of Article 14 of the Constitution,
neither is this classification is justified by a reasonable cause. Also the statement of objects and

12
Article 14, Consitution of India
13
Indira Sawhney and Others v UOI, AIR 1993 SC 477.

18
reasons of the Bill doesn’t explain anything about the rationale behind differentiation between
illegal migrants on the basis of religion and country

In addition to the this the Constitution also provides the following:

“Nothing in this Article or in clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any
special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of
citizens or for the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes.”14

“Subject to public order, morality and health, every religious denomination or any section
thereof shall have the right

 To establish and maintain institutions for religious and Charitable purposes;

 To manage its own affairs in matters of religion

 To own and acquire movable and immovable property; and

 To administer such property in accordance with law”15

Thus the Constitution provides in abundance for the protection of minorities. But the current
proposed legislation has renounced the principle of natural justice and arbitrary clauses in order
to please a certain section of society at the cost of a particular religious minority.

The bill has been strongly opposed by several sections of the society on the above mentioned
grounds. It has been severely criticized in the state of Assam. This is because of several reasons.
These reasons are as follows:

1.Violation of the Assam Accord

2.Legitimacy to illegal migrants

3.Negation of the NRC

4.Change in demography of Assam

14
Article 15(4), Constitution of India
15
Article 26,Constitution of India

19
National Register of Citizens- NRC is a register consisting of names of people who are genuine
citizens of India and are residing in Assam. It is a roster of all those people who have settled in
the state of Assam uptil 24th March of 1971

After a few year a sudden surge of Muslim population was observed which was due to illegal
migrants from Bangladesh. This led to state wide protests. It led to the creation of the Assam
Accord.

For several years after the progress of the NRC was put on hold, finally the apex court took up
the issue and directed authorities to update the National Register of Citizens. The update to the
NRC began in 2013 under the monitoring of the Supreme Court. The complete draft of the NRC
was released in the year 2018 and was received with great backlash by the people of Assam as it
excluded the names of several lakh people from the list of genuine citizens of India.

Violation of the Assam Accord- Between the representatives of the Government of India headed
by Rajiv Gandhi and the leaders of the Assam movement of the 1980’s signed a Memorandum of
Settlement on the Independence day of the year 1985 in New Delhi and the Assam Accord came
into existence.

The Assam Accord was brought about as a result of a six year long struggle led by the All Assam
Students’ Union starting in 1979 demanding identification and deportation of illegal migrants
after a sudden surge in the number of Muslims in electoral rolls was identified as a result of
illegal migration.

The Assam Accord with it brought about an end to the Assam agitation against illegal migrants
and paved way for new political leaders to rise and create their own political party which
eventually lead to formation of Government in the state soon after.

The Assam Accord provides that the people who have made the state home after the date of 24th
March, 1971 set by the NRC shall be stripped of their citizenship rights.

The Assam Accord was created keeping the following aims at the fore:

20
Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate shall be
provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of
the Assamese people.16

The result of the Citizenship Amendment Bill will be that it will defeat the purpose of the NRC.
The Assam Accord states that illegal migrants from Bangladesh be removed from the State but
the Amendment Bill provides at doing just the opposite thing. The Amendment Bill provides
legitimacy to the Illegal migrants from Bangladesh. A huge surge in the number of Hindu
migrants is expected to take place in Assam if the Bill is passed thus being in direct
contravention to the Assam Accord in general and Clause 6 in particular.

With the great influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam it gives legality to
citizenship of people coming from Bangladesh into India who were earlier considered illegal
migrants. Giving legality on the basis of religion and country itself seems like an absurd criteria
to grant citizenship. This should be a concern of not only Assam but also the whole nation.
Although it might benefit certain illegal migrants who were being persecuted in their home
countries and allow them to enter India. This will mostly be to people entering from the western
borders of the nation. But the bone of contention here is the grounds which have been laid down
by the Government to classify someone as an illegal migrant. Why has it been made on the basis
of religion and why have Muslims who form a great chunk of illegal migrants in the country
have been intentionally left out of the list of beneficiary religions. More so the move of the
Government becomes even more suspicious when its highlighted that the NRC excluded almost
40 lakh people from its final draft. In addition to this statements by senior leaders of the ruling
party like Kailash Vijayvargiya saying that “We have categorised illegal migrants. One is the
persecuted Hindus. The other group is of Bangladeshi Muslims who infiltrated to get financial
benefits from the country. So, the Hindus and other non-Muslim migrants do not need to worry.
Even if they fail to submit the required documents, the government will protect them.”

“Moreover, they will be awarded citizenship after we bring the citizenship amendment bill in
Parliament,” he said. “But, Bangladeshi Muslims sneaked in to earn money. They are not
persecuted. So why should they be part of our electorate?”

16
Clause 6, Assam Accords

21
This statement here reveals the powers at play to bring in the Citizenship Amendment Bill,2016.
The Government aims to achieve way more here than just mere granting of citizenship to people
being persecuted in neighboring countries.

Assam is a state which has about 20 lakh illegal Hindu migrants. If the bill is given assent almost
1.70 crore Banglasdeshi Hindus will migrate to the state. If these people are given legitimate and
legal citizenship it will change the demography of Assam all together. This shall violate Clause 6
of the Assam Accord which aims at protecting the social fabric of the state by maintaining its
religious, cultural and linguistic identity.

The people opposing the bill stress that Assam cannot accommodate any more migrants. Also
they feel that it is against the Assam Accord which provided for exclusion of illegal migrants
into Assam irrespective of which religious belief they belonged to.

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CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

With regard to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016 many factors have been playing their part.
If what is being done here and what are the real aims and objectives of the Government to even
propose such a legislation one has to read be between the lines. The Government which is
inspired by the RSS’s ideology of a Hindu Rashtra or a Hindu nation has brought about this
legislation.

This piece of legislation very cleverly shuns out the Muslims of the country and puts them in a
nonexistent state as if there are no rights available to them. On the other hand it has given an
alarmingly liberal and lenient treatment to people coming from Hindu religious background. In
order to cover up such blatant exclusion of Muslims from the basic sphere of rights it has also
included other religious groups in the legislation like the Buddhists, Jains, Christains, Sikhs etc.

The Bill is a striking violation of Article 14 of the Constitution which is considered as being a
part of the basic structure of the Constitution. Departing from the basic structure of the
Constitution is something which should not be taken lightly by any Indian. In order to nderstand
the root cause one has to read between the lines and understand what powers are play. The rights
of one particular class of people shall not be granted or denied on the basis of their religious
background.

At the very onset of our Consitution in the Preamble India is listed as Secular state. It means that
the state shall not promote or harass any particular religion, but here the policies of the present
Government have come at loggerheads with the Preamble itself.

Also the Government has diverged from the path laid down Chapter IV of the Constitution which
states that the State must function in a manner to empower and uplift its citizens of the nation.

Therefore due to the following reasons the author believes that the Bill should not be passed by
the parliament in order to maintain social order and tranquility in the nation.

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