CAA: One Year Later
What is CAA 2019?
- Who belong from Pakistan, Bangladesh & Afghanistan,
- Constitute as minorities based on Religion, specifically identified as Hindus, Christians, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists & Sikhs,
- And have entered the territory of India before or on 31st December 2014.
Arguments that Follow:-
- Against:
- The Act violates The Fundamental Right of Equality mentioned in Article 14 of The Indian Constitution,
- Leaving Muslims out of the Act was an arbitrary discriminatory decision rather than a logically backed up idea because Shias and other Muslim minorities are also persecuted by the majority Sunni population,
- It provides Citizenship to illegal immigrants therefore undermining the legitimate demography & threatening the cultural identities of The North-East.
- For:
- Supporters of The Act argue that it is necessary and the Government's duty to protect the persecuted minorities as it is their Human Right.
- Excluding Muslims out of The Act is logical as Muslims can't be persecuted in declared Islamic countries. (Not to mention the complete ignorance of Sectarian Persecution as The Act focuses on Persecution based on Religion not its Sects.)
- CAA doesn't violate Article 14 as the said Article applies only to those who are already Indian Citizens.
Points to be Noted:-
- Immigrants entering Indian Territory after 31 Dec. 2014 are excluded from CAA. Meaning that, immigrants already staying in India before that date will obtain citizenship.
- CAA doesn't apply to areas of North-East that are mentioned in The Sixth Schedule & Inner Line Permit, i.e. all the 7 States.
- CAA is often linked with NRC (National Register of Citizens) which has no basis since CAA provides Citizenship to immigrants and not the legitimate citizens. Moreover, there has been no discussion regarding NRC as of such.
- CAA focuses on Religious persecution & not Sectarian.
Clash of Opinions:-
- According to Article 14, it is the State's (Government) duty to not deny Equality to anyone "Within The Territory of India". Including Corporate Entities & Foreigners regardless of their date when they entered the Indian territory. Hence, this point is void.
- Since Human Rights are universal & don't vary or distinguish on basis of Religion or Sects for that matter, excluding Muslims out of the Act on grounds of technicalities or Sectarian Conflicts doesn't hold water. The duty of a state is to provide, respect & protect All Human Rights of All, neither Little or Some.
- India doesn't have enough resources for it's legitimate citizens, how does the State plan to provide of these immigrants with the same? Considering India Today's report, 55 Lakh might not form 0.5% of population of the country but it's still a burdening number taking in note India's current population.
- If the objective of this Act is Fast-track naturalization rather than providing citizenship over the platter to new immigrants, then why were Muslims left out of the same courtesy?
- On what basis were these countries chosen? Hindus & Christians are persecuted in Sri Lanka & Burma as well. Not to mention Afghanistan isn't even a bordering neighbor of India, TECHNICALLY.
- Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists & Hindus themselves are seen as a part of a bigger Hindu fold. Article 25 and Supreme Court's 2005 verdict clearly state this. Then why weren't they mentioned as "Hindus" rather than being mentioned as individual communities?
Further Developments:-
India's 2020 was kicked off by a volley of protests & riots throughout the nation as soon as the Act was passed in The Parliament. Nobody knew that the protests that would start as a form of peaceful dissent would turn to Full & Direct communal violence, consuming whole families, Orphaned children, Widowed wives, daughters Raped, savings, shops, homes built from Blood, Sweat & Tears burnt to ashes. 
Delhi saw the Worst of it all. With 53 dead, 200+ injured, 2000+ arrested & crores of money just gone in a snap, to say The City of Rallies lived up to it's name would be an Understatement. The Opposition was no different than the State, taking up opportunities inciting citizens to further protest, "Peacefully". Delhi Police was accused of Abuse of Power, even arresting peaceful demonstrators without any reasonable explanation. With sheer panic delving deeper into the hearts of The Delhiites by each day, Maa Bharati teared up, her heart cracked open. Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, North-Eastern States, India bled for days. This wasn't some Foreign Invasion, but a civil war, where children of India fought among themselves to blood & death, deceived by those who promised to uphold the values which laid the very Foundation of this nation, the Government, Opposition, High Rank Officials, all the same.
Supreme Court was reluctant to show up. Review petitions to this day are still pending to be looked up in The Supreme Court.
However, it's intriguing to note that The SC enters "Uncharted territory on Farms" but didn't & hasn't acted on CAA.
Post Covid-19 Era:-
Novel Coronavirus delayed the implementation of CAA, but as today marks the initiation of vaccination phases, citizens are retracted back in shell of Fear & Dissent. The Government is dead straight about its objective to implement the law.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/rules-for-caa-to-be-framed-soon-after-covid-vaccination-begins-amit-shah/articleshow/79828419.cms
However, some assumed that the process would start as soon as 2021 kicked off. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/caa-back-in-focus-citizenship-to-migrants-from-bangladesh-pak-afghan-likely-from-january-2021-1748455-2020-12-10
Interestingly, the ruling party has been downplaying CAA as Bengal Elections approach. https://www.deccanherald.com/national/national-politics/why-is-bjp-downplaying-caa-ahead-of-west-bengal-polls-936283.html Well, we all know what's going on here.
My Opinion:-
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