STANFORD UNIVERSITY SHEETAL NARIANI Public Policy … · 2 Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019:...

STANFORD UNIVERSITY SHEETAL NARIANI

Public Policy Program

Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019: Revisiting Indian Secularity

June 5, 2020

Sheetal Nariani


Stanford University

Stanford, CA 94305

[email protected]

under the direction of

Professor Saumitra Jha

© 2020

All rights reserved

The author hereby grants to Stanford University permission to reproduce and to distribute

publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part.

Signature of Author…………………………………………………………………………

Sheetal Nariani


June 5, 2020

Certified by…………………………………………………………………………………

Professor Saumitra Jha

Thesis Advisor

Accepted by………………………………………………………………………………...

Gregory L. Rosston

Director, Public Policy Program

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Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019: Revisiting Indian Secularity

June 5, 2020

Sheetal Nariani

Submitted to the Public Policy Program

in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Master of Arts

at

Stanford University

ABSTRACT

When the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was first introduced in the Indian parliament

on December 2019, protests erupted all over India over the perceived non-secular nature of the

proposed bill. Despite the outrage, India passed the legislation rendering it the official status of

Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019.

The main beneficiaries of this act are illegal immigrants of certain minority religious faiths

from neighboring Islamic countries, who fled to India to escape religious persecution in their own

countries. This act accelerates their path to Indian citizenship thereby securing a safe life in India

as citizens with freedom to practice their religion without any fear.

However, it is the first time that religion has featured prominently in an Indian legislation,

thereby sparking unrest among indigenous population, especially more so because it excludes

Muslims. Additionally, it possibly negates the efforts of the border states in North East India, that

have been battling the issue of infiltration of illegal immigrants for decades.

As the protests continue in India despite the COVID19 crisis, this thesis aims to analyze

this act in the context of the Indian constitution and secularity, the history and perspective of the

people in the North Eastern states and Indian Muslims, and the impact its implementation could

possibly have all across the country.

Keywords: India, Citizenship Amendment Act, CAA, NRC, NPR, Indian Muslims, CAA protests,

Assam, Detention centers, Secular, Indian Constitution, India-Pakistan Partition, 1947

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Professor Saumitra Jha for his mentorship, guidance and invaluable support

to complete this thesis. His expertise and interest in this subject area served as tremendous

motivation and inspiration for me.

I am incredibly grateful to Professor Greg Rosston and Kelly Walsh for their immense support and

faith in me during my time in Public Policy.

I would also like to thank my peers at Stanford, people I consider as my family here in the US. I

have evolved immensely as a person and as a professional in their companionship.

This thesis marks end of my three years in Stanford. I am immensely grateful to my parents, Sunita

and Rajkumar Nariani, my siblings, Mona and Kamal Nariani and my oldest friend and guide,

Vishal Aggarwal, for their immeasurable support to accomplish this successful and amazing

journey. It would not have been possible without them.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Abbreviations ........................................................................................................................... 5-5

II. Chapters 1-9 ......................................................................................................................... 6-34

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 6-6

2. Understanding the nature of Indian democracy .................................................................. 7-9

3. The Indian Constitution and the concept of Secularity ..................................................... 9-12

4. Citizenship Act, 1955 and its amendments prior to 2019 ................................................ 12-15

5. Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 ................................................................................... 15-16

6. Connection between the CAA, NRC and NPR ................................................................. 16-20

7. Potential of Implementation Errors ................................................................................. 20-23

8. Public protest of CAA ...................................................................................................... 23-30

9. Conclusion: Connecting the dots ..................................................................................... 30-34

III. Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 35-61

A. India-Pakistan Partition - 1947 ...................................................................................... 35-36

B. Assam Movement and Assam Accord .............................................................................. 37-38

C. Detention centers in India ............................................................................................... 39-39

D. Main Political Parties in India ....................................................................................... 40-41

E. Political party succession at the center since 1947 ........................................................ 42-42

F. Citizenship Amendment Act, India, 2019 ........................................................................ 43-45

G. Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 .......................................................................................... 46-58

H. Indian Constitution ......................................................................................................... 59-61

a. Citizenship ............................................................................................................... 59-60

b. Right to Freedom of Religion .................................................................................. 61-61

IV. References ......................................................................................................................... 62-71

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ABBREVIATIONS

CAA Citizenship Amendment Act

CAB Citizenship Amendment Bill

NRC National Register of Citizens

NPR National Population Register

EIU Economist Intelligence Unit

OCI Overseas Citizen of India

J&K Jammu and Kashmir

NRI Non-Residential Indian

IB Intelligence Bureau of India

BJP Bharatiya Janata Party

NDA National Democratic Alliance

INC Indian National Congress

UPA United Progressive Alliance

BJS Bharatiya Jana Sangh

ABVP Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad

AASU All Assam Students’ Union

NESO North East Students’ Organisation

AAGSP All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad

JNU Jawaharlal Nehru University

JNUSU Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union

AMU Aligarh Muslim University

GST Goods and Sales Tax

PM Prime Minister

ANI Asian News International

MLA Member of Legislative Assembly

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1. Introduction

On December 12, 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by the

Parliament of India. The Act seeks to grant Indian Citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu,

Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities on ground of religious persecution in

Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh.1 Under the 2019 amendment, migrants who had entered

India before December 31, 2014, and had suffered “religious persecution or fear of religious

persecution” in their country of origin have been made eligible for citizenship. However,

Muslims from the same countries are excluded.

At the same time, the current ruling party also strives to implement the National Register

of Citizens (NRC) all across the country. When NRC was implemented in the state of Assam

earlier in 2019, 1.9 million people were not included in it due to lack of sufficient documentation

and hence risk being moved to detention centers. As a result, the combination of CAA and NRC,

may marginalize many people, especially Muslims.

There have been public outrages across the country over the implementation of the CAA

and NRC. For the first time in the history of India, religion has been used as a basis for

citizenship. There is a wave of public fear over the possible loss of secularity, which is a vital

part of the Indian constitution.

In this paper, I explore the following questions,

a. Does the CAA violate the secular principles outlined in the constitution of India?

b. How is the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) connected?

c. What issues can crop up during the implementation of the CAA and NRC?

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2. Understanding the nature of Indian democracy

India is the biggest democracy in the world covering 28 states and 9 union territories with

1.3 billion people who speak 121 languages (with almost 3,000 dialects).2 It is a federal

parliamentary democratic republic in which the President of India is the head of state and the

Prime Minister of India is the head of government; and follows the dual polity system, i.e. a

double government (federal in nature) that consists of the central authority at the center and

states at the periphery.

India is also a pretty young democracy of 70 years,i 3 as opposed to some of the other big

nations such as US or Canada. As per the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) democracy index,

India’s ranking fell by 10 places in 2019 with a score change from 7.23 in 2018 to 6.90 in 2019.4

Three major factors have contributed to this loss in ranking. Firstly, the Indian government

passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act in 2019 which essentially stripped the

Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state of its special autonomous status by repealing two key

constitutional provisions. J&K no longer enjoys statehood and is now divided into two union

territories: one that retains the name Jammu and Kashmir, and the other Ladakh. This action led

to a complete lockdown in the territory.

Meanwhile, when the NRC exercise was carried out in Assam, it excluded 1.9 million

people from the final list, sparking concerns over their uncertain future. The third factor was the

CAA legislation which enraged a large Muslim and North Eastern population, stoked communal

tensions and generated large protests in major cities.

i From January 26, 1950, the date of constitution coming into effect

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Figure 2: Democracy Index 2019 by regime type4

Figure 1: Age of Democracies at the end of 20153

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Comparing India’s democracy index with that of the US, which is also listed as a flawed

democracy; US has also fallen in its ranking albeit a bit more slowly than India, from 17th place

in 2010 to 25th place in 2019. This is primarily explained due to issues in the functioning of the

government. There is a public sentiment that Republicans and Democrats are seen as focused on

blocking each other’s agenda, rather than indulging in the right policymaking for the benefit of

the country.

As per EIU, India had major legislations put in place in less than a year that resulted in

the quick erosion of civil liberties in the country. Whereas in US, it is the absence of quality

policy making resulting in the gradual loss of ranking. This might explain why India is listed as a

more “flawed democracy” than US with a bigger dip in rankings. Interestingly, India’s score in

2018 was 7.23 placing it in the same “flawed democracy” category as US. The category dip only

occurred in 2019.

Comparing the EIU report to the Polity Score, India actually scores better than US. India

scores a 9 whereas US scores an 8 (For a democracy, minimum is 6, maximum is 10).5 However,

it is important to note that most of the legislative changes in India that have drawn negative

responses occurred in 2019. This has not been taken into account in the 2018 Polity score but

considered by EIU in their 2019 report.

3. The Indian Constitution and the concept of Secularity

The Indian Constitution was drafted by the Constituent Assembly of India, established in

1946, originally a 389-member assembly which was reduced to 296 members close to the time of

the India-Pakistan partition (referred to as partition here on) and formation of independent India

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in August 1947. It is the longest written constitution of the world, consisting of 444 articles, 22

parts, 12 schedules and 118 amendments. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar was the chairman of the drafting

committee, popularly known as the architect of the Indian Constitution or as the ‘Father of the

Constitution of India’.

The Constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950, outlining parameters for the

functioning of the newly formed Indian territory. It described India as a sovereign socialist

secular democratic republic. Breaking this down to individual definitions:

Sovereign: The dictionary definition of this term refers to a person who possesses

supreme or ultimate power, usually a king or a queen. However, in terms of a nation, it

means a nation that has one centralized government with the power to govern over the

nation’s defined geographical area. In the Indian context, it signifies a country with its

own government free from the British rule.

Socialist: This term refers to democratic socialism, achievement of socialist goals by

democratic and non-violent means. A socialist nation preaches equality in terms of

wealth distribution, educational opportunities and works for the upliftment of weaker

sections of the society.

Secular: In the context of this paper and the CAA, this is the most important part of the

constitution. A secular nation purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion,

supporting neither religion nor irreligion. However, from the Indian perspective, this

definition actually poses a dilemma. How does one go about “creating a secular state in a

religious society”?6 This point is addressed further along in this paper.

Democratic: A democratic state is one where citizens of the country have the right to

choose the governing legislature. India follows a parliamentary democracy wherein the

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government, who runs the legislation, is elected by the people and its representatives are

answerable to the citizens.

Republic: A democracy can be republic or monarchy. A republic state is one where

supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, whereby the

president is elected or nominated instead of a reigning monarch.

An important point to note here is that the original Preamble and the Constitution did not

contain the word secular (socialist was included at a later stage too). The term was included later

in the 42nd Amendment passed in the year 1976. This was primarily because there were multiple

debates in the Constituent Assembly between 1947 and 1950 on the concept of secularity and

how it can be implemented in India.6 Jawaharlal Nehru (the first Prime Minister of India) and Dr.

B.R. Ambedkar were both committed to the idea of secularism but yet wary of the using the

word in the Indian Constitution.7

“It (Secularism) is an ideal to be aimed at and every one of us whether we are

Hindus or Muslims, Sikhs or Christians, whatever we are, none of us can say

in his heart of hearts that he has no prejudice and no taint of communalism in

his mind or heart.”

-Jawaharlal Nehru

However, in Mumbai in February 2020, Abhinav Chandrachud (Advocate in Bombay

High Court, graduate from Harvard and Stanford law schools) explained his research on the

debates in the Constituent Assembly at the time when the constitution was being framed. Below

is a short excerpt of his speech,

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At the time of partition, two waves of immigration took place from West Pakistan to

India; the first wave that took place in March 1947 included primarily Hindus and Sikhs but a

second wave that took place in 1948 included mostly Muslims who wanted to relocate back to

India after figuring out that West Pakistan was not to their liking.

These two sets of immigrants are referred separately in the law as displaced persons

(primarily Hindus and Sikhs) and as evacuees (primarily Muslims). Evacuees were allowed back

only after they were issued a permit which could only be granted if they agreed not to claim back

their evacuee property that they left behind when they left India in 1947, primarily because that

property was now being used to shelter displaced people (Hindus and Sikhs). This concept is

included in the Indian constitution.

Additionally, this permit system was not implemented for East Pakistan (now

Bangladesh) since there were 16 million Hindus still living there whereas there were only

700,000 - 800,000 Hindus and Sikhs left behind in West Pakistan.8

In other words, the Indian constitution itself has not respected the true concept of

secularity in the first place and this has been further worsened by the CAA.

4. Citizenship Act, 1955 and its amendments prior to 2019

The Indian Constitution has sections outlining citizenship in Part II (Articles 5 to 11).

According to Article 5, anyone who was an Indian resident at the commencement of the

Constitution, or anyone born in India (birthright citizenship) are considered citizens of India.

India here refers to the territory as defined in the Constitution in relation to the undivided India

as defined by Government of India in 1935, while under the British rule.

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The legislation, passed in 1955, is related to future citizenship, elaborated extensively in

the Citizenship Act and focuses exclusively on acquisition and termination of future citizenship

(Appendix G). The original act granted citizenship under the following parameters:

i. By birthright: born in India on or after January 26, 1950

ii. By descent: born outside India and father is a citizen

iii. By registration: people of Indian origin who have been resident for a year, women

married to Indian citizens and citizens of commonwealth nations who have been

residents in India for a year or are in service of Government of India. Commonwealth

countries at the point included United Kingdom (Great Britain and Northern Ireland),

Australia, Canada, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), New Zealand, Pakistan (which included

Bangladesh i.e. East Pakistan), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Union of South Africa

and The Republic of Ireland (left the Commonwealth in 1949, but included in this act).

iv. By naturalization: a person has been resident for prior 8 years (throughout 12 months

preceding the date of application and 7 years in the aggregate)

v. By incorporation of territory: If any territory becomes part of India, people who have a

connection with that region automatically become Indian citizens

Since 1955, this act has been amended six times; with the latest amendment in December

2019. A summary of the prior amendments:

i. 1986: This amendment removed the citizenship by birthright and stipulated that at least

one of the parents must be Indian citizen. The bill also raised the qualifying periods of

stay within India for grant of citizenship by registration, marriage, or naturalization to 10

years.9

14

There was a huge influence of the Assam movement and Assam Accord

(Appendix B) on this amendment. Specifically, it granted citizenship status to illegal

immigrants who were present in Assam after having fled the atrocities of the Pakistan-

Bangladesh war in 1971.

At the time when this amendment was implemented, there was a split opinion

wherein human rights activists felt the amendment was unconstitutional by restricting

the jus soli principle and denying equality to people within the country whereas the then

Home Minister, P. Chidambaram, explained that this would not negate human rights but

instead help resolve the issue of illegal immigration especially from porous borders on

the sides of Pakistan and Bangladesh.9

ii. 1992: This amendment made a notion to change citizenship by descent from just father

to either parents.10

iii. 2003: This was a significant amendment which further restricted the jus soli principle

that children of illegal immigrants cannot be granted citizenship even if one of the

parents is a citizen. Illegal immigrants also cannot become citizens by naturalization or

registration.

This amendment also brought in two other major changes; the concept of

Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), a document issued to people of Indian origin who

are citizens of any another country except Pakistan and Bangladesh. This was brought in

due to high demand by the Indian diaspora settled outside the country who had chosen to

acquire citizenship of another country. While the Indian constitution did not allow for

dual citizenship, the OCI document helped Non-Residential Indians (NRIs) to travel to

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India as per their convenience. It essentially served as multi-entry and multi-purpose

lifelong Indian visa.

The second change was the concept of National Register of Citizens (NRC). This

was the first time a legislation was brought in to issue a national identity card to every

citizen on basis of being registered in the NRC.

iv. 2005 and 2015: These two amendments primarily re-enforced the changes of the 2003

amendment with minor alternations on the lines of eligibility criteria for OCI.

5. Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019

An important excerpt from the latest amendment implemented in December 2019, reads

as below:

“Provided that any person belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or

Christian community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered

into India on or before the 31st day of December, 2014 and who has been

exempted by the Central Government by or under clause (c) of sub-section (2)

of section 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 or from the application

of the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 or any rule or order made

thereunder, shall not be treated as illegal migrant for the purposes of this Act.”

This is the very first time, religion made its way into the paradigm of Indian citizenship.

Till date, members of certain nations mostly Pakistan and Bangladesh were restricted but religion

had never been used as a basis. This exact point here struck a raw chord with many Indians,

16

resulting in an outrage all over the country which is extremely sensitive to the issues of religion

even much before India had gained independence over 72 years ago.

This act also decreased the time period for citizenship to the above category of

immigrants from 11 years to 5 years, with the cutoff date for entry into the country imposed as

December 31, 2014.

As per the Intelligence Bureau (IB) report, 31,313 people (25,447 Hindus, 5,807 Sikhs,

55 Christians, 2 Buddhists, 2 Parsis) will benefit from this act;11 as per their 438-page report

submitted to both houses in January 2019. However as per Amit Shah’s statement in Rajya

Sabha on December 11, 2019; millions would benefit from this act.12

6. Connection between the CAA, NRC and NPR

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a registry of all Indian citizens, its creation

mandated by the 2003 amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955. This registry was initiated in

1951 in Assam to deal with the issue of illegal migration from Bangladesh (then East Pakistan)

but was not updated till Supreme Court directed for updating it in 2013.

Although the NRC in the 2003 amendment was intended for the entire country, the initial

action taken on it was for Assam in 2015 following the 2013 Supreme Court directive. In 2019,

with the sixth CAA, this was proposed to be extended for the entire country by the current Home

Minister, Amit Shah.

The updating of NRC in Assam has not been well received by the local population. In an

initial draft released in 2018, out of 32.9 million people who were evaluated, 29.9 million were

declared as citizens and 4 million left out. The final version released on August 31, 2019 still

17

excluded 1.9 million people (5.8% of total applicants). These 1.9 million could apply to

Foreigners’ Tribunals Court as well as high court and Supreme Court for reevaluation of their

case. Additionally, people excluded from the NRC, essentially branded as non-citizens, would be

moved to detention centers in Assam, if their appeal fails. (Appendix C).

Foreigners’ Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies set up to address the appeals of those who

have been left out of the NRC. These were established in line with the Foreigners’ Act, 1946 and

have the powers of a civil court while trying the cases.13

There are currently 100 such tribunals prevalent in Assam with 200 more under process.14

The majority of these tribunals were set up after the BJP came to power in 2014, as is true even

for the construction of detention centers. This entire process is long, tedious and expensive,

compounded further by the fact that most people left off the NRC are below poverty line and will

struggle to raise money for the court proceedings.15 Besides multiple reports have pointed out the

Foreigners’ Tribunals have been accused of bias and inconsistent working style. According to

Amnesty International, if a tribunal member declared foreigners in less than 10% of their cases,

they stood the risk of being sacked.16

There is a pattern seen in context of the government in power and NRC implementation.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA, a BJP-led alliance) was the government in session from

1998-2004, when the NRC legislation was brought in via 2003 amendment. The government

changed to United Progressive Alliance (UPA, an INC-led alliance) from 2004-2014, which also

coincides with the period of non-implementation of NRC. While there was no mention of NRC

in the BJP manifesto of 2014; NRC implementation was a part of BJP manifesto of 2019, the

second phase of the current government (Appendix E).

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NRC is also closely related to National Population Register (NPR). The NPR is defined

as a list of all people residing in India, citizens as well as non-citizens, with an aim to create a

database for improved targeting of government benefit schemes and prevent identity fraud. It

was first generated in 2010 under the guidance of the UPA government. This exercise was

carried out along with data collection being done for Census 2011 and then further updated by

linking it to the biometric based Aadhar database in 2015.

The matter of updating the NPR has recently come up in December 2019 (within days

after CAA-2019 was passed) with a budget approval of Rs. 3,941.35 crore (~ USD 550 million)

to be allocated for conducting the exercise in 2020-2021, for the entire country except Assam.

The budget approval also included an additional Rs. 8,754.23 crore (~ USD 1,225 million) for

conducting Census 2021. From an operational perspective, both exercises will be conducted

simultaneously.17

The connection between CAA-NRC-NPR has been extensively addressed in various

speeches, interviews and parliament discussions done by the current Prime Minister and the

Home Minister.

Timeline:

December 10, 2019: Home Minister Amit Shah openly declares in Parliament that NRC exercise

will be conducted without a doubt.18

December 12, 2019: Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) becomes an act, now known as CAA

December 22, 2019: PM Modi declares in a speech at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, that NRC has

not been mentioned by NDA government since 2014, it will not take place, and nor will

detention centers be used to house any people who don’t clear the NRC. The activity was only

19

carried out for Assam in line with the Supreme Court directive in 2013. He also mentioned that

NRC was originally initiated by UPA government and not NDA.19

December 24, 2019: In an interview with Smita Prakash from Asian News International (ANI),

telecast on India Today, Amit Shah spoke about CAA, NRC & NPR; stating that NRC and NPR

are not related. The data from NPR will not be used for NRC. NRC is not planned currently, in

line with PM’s speech. NPR was not a part of NDA agenda and was brought in by UPA

government in 2010. No one will have citizenship issues due to NPR and nor are the detention

centers being constructed in any connection with NRC.20

There are clear discrepancies observed in multiple statements made,21

§ NRC was originally conceived and addressed in 2003 and was a part of the CAA-2003 (then

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee), which was brought in by the NDA (BJP-led alliance)

government. The government changed to UPA in 2004.

§ NRC was very much a part of the BJP manifesto during the 2019 election campaign.

§ As recently as December 10, 2019, Home Minister has declared that NRC exercise will be

completed shortly; whereas on December 22, 2019, the PM said that NRC has never even

been mentioned since 2014, since NDA government came to power.

§ By definition, NRC is clearly a subset of NPR data. The current data requirement for NPR

includes information related to citizenship.22 While the documentation may not be required at

NPR stage, the data collection can support a demand for documents at a later point.23 24 If

NRC is to be brought in, it makes sense to do it while the NPR is being populated. The

process is an expensive one and it makes no financial sense to do it separately.

20

§ Lastly, the Census India website clearly links the NPR-2010 and NRC by quoting the

CAA-2003.25

Figure 3: Screenshot from the Census website, FAQs25

7. Potential of Implementation Errors

Assuming that CAA and NRC are implemented with all the right intentions, another

aspect for consideration is errors in actual implementation. We are talking about tracking 1.3

billion people, their citizenship and immigration status, supporting those who are the real

beneficiaries of the act while weeding out the illegal immigrants. This is a mammoth task.

There are two major types of errors that can occur; false positives and false negatives.26 A

false positive error is the one where an individual is accidently identified as a beneficiary of the

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act i.e. an immigrant is accidently classified as someone who identifies with the religions listed

in the act and a victim of religious persecution in one of the listed countries. A false negative

error is the one where an actual citizen or a beneficiary of the act is classified as an illegal

immigrant.

In the case of false positives, an illegal immigrant might gain access to citizenship and

this can be a threat to national security of the country. In case of a false negative, a current

citizen might be stripped off of their rights or an expected beneficiary will continue being

stateless for the foreseeable future.

As per the Intelligence Bureau (IB),11 the onus of proving that one is a beneficiary lies

with the applicant. The CAA helps those who have applied and claimed that they have faced

religious persecution in their respective country. Weeding out illegal immigrants is not a part of

the act, but NRC is. If the NRC data reveals an illegal immigrant, which will happen in case an

individual does not have sufficient or right documentation, the government will take action on

the same. The combination of CAA and NRC will help reduce false positives but at the same

time increase the chances of false negatives.

If we compare the two issues, illegal immigration is an issue primarily in the border

districts and a smaller problem as compared to cases with false negatives, which can break

families and drive the poor candidates into a state of despair and extreme poverty with the

burden of legal expenses. Considering Muslims are excluded from the CAA, a false negative

might affect them much more than followers of other religions.

Action is already being taken in Assam and that is precisely why Foreign Tribunals and

detention centers are being set up all over the country.27 28 After the NRC exercise in Assam, 1.9

22

million people (5.8%) need to prove their claim to citizenship to avoid being transferred to

detention centers.

While assessing to what extent errors can occur, it helps to draw parallels from some of

the other identification systems established in India;

Aadhaar Card: Aadhaar is a unique 12-digit identification number issued to Indian residents

based on demographic data. Biometrics are included in the same making it the world’s largest

biometric database. It is also the most common form of identification document currently in use

with maximum population coverage. It does not grant any citizenship rights and is only

considered as identification and residence proof. While it is a voluntary piece of identification, it

has become an important part of documentation requirement for multiple processes including

banking. The project was launched in 2009 and as of date 1.26 billion29 people have Aadhaar

card. As per the State of Aadhaar report, 2019, 30 4% people have reported an error in their

Aadhaar details (~ 50.3 million people).

Voter ID: The Voter ID card serves as an identity document issued to individuals over the age of

18, by the Election Commission of India, also serving as identity proof while casting votes

during municipal, state or national elections. After Aadhaar card, this is now the second most

common form of identity proof. In a comparison with Aadhaar card on the percentage of errors,

Voter ID holders reported a 5.7% error rate in 2017-18.31 In the same time period, the number of

Voter IDs holders were 450 million32 i.e. ~ 25.6 million people have an error in their Voter ID.

(Note: The actual number of people eligible to vote and the voter turnout is much higher than the

individuals holding Voter ID cards. The system of Voter ID issuance is plagued with multiple

issues and hence alternate forms of identity proof are accepted at voting booths.)

23

Even if the NRC system is perfected to the level of an error rate of 1%; that is still 13

million people who will need to struggle to prove their citizenship or risk being carted off to

detention centers. The Assam exercise alone threw up 1.9 million cases; segregation between

errors and actual cases still needs to be done, which is heavily dependent on the tribunal and

court system of India.

8. Public protest of CAA

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) was approved for introduction in the parliament

on December 4, 2019. This action sparked multiple protests all over India; however, the concerns

of protestors vary. Some feel the law is anti-Muslim and/or unconstitutional thereby promoting a

Hindu state agenda, typical of BJP, while some fear the influx of illegal immigrants will increase

in the border states.33

The criticism stemming from the anti-Muslim sentiments focuses on the aspect that the

act is discriminatory on basis of religion, something which is unprecedented. Additionally, the

timing of this act is uncanny, just two months after the Assam NRC exercise results rendered 1.9

million stateless (unless proven otherwise), spurring a fear that a similar outcome will occur all

over India when the combination of CAA-NRC will be implemented.

The protests first broke out in Assam on the same day that CAB was cleared (December

4, 2019), followed by the formal legislation on December 12, 2019, thereon referred to as CAA.

The sentiment prevalent in Assam is that this act goes against the Assam Accord (Appendix B)

signed in 1985 designed to prevent legalization of immigrants from Bangladesh after 1971.

24

“Assamese could become the second language. Then there is also the question

of loss of political rights and culture of the indigenous people.”

- Prafulla Mahanta, Former Chief Minister of Assam34

Protestors in Assam comprised of non-BJP parties, some BJP allies, student organizations

such as All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and North East Students’ Organisation (NESO).

Ripples of protest were also seen in other North Eastern states of India; Tripura, Manipur,

Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram.34

On December 14, 2019, the protests spread to India’s capital Delhi. Thousands of

agitators poured onto Jantar Mantar road in the heart of Delhi, protesting against the CAA. The

sentiment here was somewhat mixed, with part of the crowd against the perceived

unconstitutional nature of the act whereas another part echoed the Northeastern sentiment against

Bangladeshi immigrants.

“The process (of updating the National Register of Citizens) was peaceful until

the CAA was passed. This draconian law will push Assam and the Northeast

30 years back. We have no problem between Hindus and Muslims; the

Assamese don’t hate Bengalis; our problem is illegal Bangladeshi

immigrants.”

- Arman Ali, Disability rights activist, Assam35

Over the next few weeks, protests also erupted across university campuses primarily in

North India. Major incidents occurred in connection to violence on campuses:

25

Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, December 13, 2019 and December 15, 2019: Jamia Millia is an

autonomous university in Delhi with primarily Muslim student population. Students of Jamia

Millia Islamia University undertook a march to the Parliament to protest against the CAA on

December 13, 2019. In the process, they were stopped by the police. Stone pelting by both

parties and tear gas and baton usage by police ensued thereafter.

“We were marching peacefully, and police stopped us from marching. First,

they lathichargedii us asking us to move backwards. Then they pelted stones in

response to which students picked up stones too.”

-Law student at Jamia36

“Students started their march. We had placed barricades which they broke and

tried to jump over them. Then they threw stones at us forcing us to use teargas

shells. The students have been detained and taken to Badarpur police station.”

-Senior Police Officer36

Two days later, on December 15, 2019, protests began early morning with as many as

2000 people participating in the same37. Delhi police entered the Jamia Millia campus to quell

the student protest, without permission of the university personnel and used tear gas canisters in

the library area.38 39 40 There have also been multiple allegations of gun shots being fired.38 41As

per the statement of the vice chancellor, about 200 students were injured in this incident.42

ii Lathicharge: The police tactic of charging a crowd with batons in order to disperse it. The word 'baton' has been replaced by 'lathi' and hence the word "lathicharge" is widely used in English Media in India.

26

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Aligarh, December 15, 2019: AMU is a public university in

Aligarh, a city in Uttar Pradesh, around 80 miles from Delhi. On the same day as the episode on

the Jamia campus in Delhi, December 15, 2019, police also stormed the AMU campus to quell

the protests. While the police intention was supposed to only stop protests, the actual actions

seemed much harsher than required,43 with at least 60 students injured44 and usage of religiously

charged terms by the police45 which is against protocol.

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, January 5, 2020: JNU is a popular public university

in Delhi with an intense political ambience on campus, primarily left-wing activism. On January

5, 2020, over 50 masked people stormed the campus and attacked the students with stones, sticks

and iron rods46 for almost 3 hours, vandalizing multiple hostels while shouting extreme

religiously charged slogans.47

When an ambulance with two doctors and two volunteers arrived at JNU campus gate, it

was surrounded by the mob which did not let the vehicle enter the campus premises and

manhandled the medical personnel.48 Multiple news reports also mentioned police inaction and

that even the streetlights were switched off which aided the mob further to continue with the

vandalism on campus.49 50 51 Almost 40 people, students and professors, were injured in the

assault. Couple of students had even jumped out of a higher floor from a hostel to escape the

mob, fracturing their legs in the process.49

“I have been brutally attacked by goons wearing masks. I have been bleeding.

I was brutally beaten up.”

-Aishe Ghosh, President of JNU Students Union (JNUSU)52

27

“We showed our identity cards and our medical aprons, but they wouldn’t let

us through. They shouted at us and broke our windows,” said. “One of the

volunteers in the ambulance suffered injuries from the broken glass.”

- B.T. Praveen, one of the doctors inside the ambulance48

“These were big stones that could have broken our skulls. I fell on the side and

when I got up, I saw cars completely vandalized.”

- Professor Atul Sood, JNU46

This attack did not have a clearly defined motive. JNU students were involved in a heated

debate with the university administration over a housing fee hike of 150%, leading to multiple

student protests.53 54 However, this incident occurred while there were protests being carried out

all over the country in relation to CAA, including university campuses. JNU, being a left-wing

university, also echoes the anti-CAA sentiment. The connection between this attack and CAA

protests, was further supported when certain members of the mob were identified as activists

from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), a right-wing all-India student organization

which has close ties to the BJP55 and has been vocal about its support for the CAA.56 With this

background, it is easy to join the dots between the attack and the CAA protests.

This attack and the overall anti-CAA sentiment triggered multiple student protests all

over the country in many major cities. Within Delhi, at least 500 students and alumni protested in

solidarity in response to the JNU attack.57

In addition to student protests, two other major incidents that have been in media

limelight were the North East Delhi riots and the Shaheen Baug protest:

28

North East Delhi Riots, Delhi, February 23 - March 1, 2020: On February 22, 2020, around 1000

protestors began a sit-in protest against the CAA near a metro station in North East Delhi. The

next day, February 23, 2020; a prominent BJP leader instructed the police to remove the anti-

CAA protestors from the area and asked CAA supporters to gather at another location within the

same area as a response to the sit-in protest. This triggered off clashes between the anti- and pro-

CAA groups, i.e. communal riots between Hindus (pro-CAA) and Muslims (anti-CAA). The

week that followed was marked with clashes including arson, property vandalism, stone pelting,

attack on places of worship and tear gas usage and lathicharge by police.58

Initially the attacks by both groups were equally lethal, but after 48 hours, turned

lopsided with more Muslims being attacked. Yet again, the reports state that the police did

nothing to help instead contributed to victimizing Muslims.59 At least 53 people were killed,

majority of them Muslims.60

Shaheen Baug protests, Delhi, December 14,

2019 - March 24, 2020: This was a continuous

24/7 sit-in protest, led by women61 which lasted

over 3 months; the longest anti-CAA protest. It

only ended as a result of COVID19 lockdown in

March 2020.62 On Republic Day, January 26,

2020, almost 100,000-150,000 people

participated in the protest.63

Figure 4: Protest at Shaheen Baug on Republic Day,

January 26, 202063

29

Rest of India: While North and North-East India faced most of the protests, the agitation quickly

spread to other parts of the country too. As per the report published in The Hindu on January 6,

2020, 48% of protests in 94 districts across 14 states, recorded at least one violent incident. This

was even before the communal riots took place in North East Delhi.64

As of February 29, 2020, 69 people were killed, majority of them in the Delhi riots.65

Again, this number does not fully account for Delhi riots.

10 state chief ministers also

have refused to allow implementation

of CAA-NRC in their respective

states.66 The Supreme Court has

declined to stay implementation on the

CAA, twice so far with a petition

pending currently.

Locations of the protests: The protests

initiated in the North-Eastern and

Northern part of the country. While the

North-East protested to prevent

immigrants from gaining easy access

to citizenship, the protests in Delhi and

Uttar Pradesh took place in Muslim

dominated areas protesting against

exclusion of Muslims from the CAA. The

Districts with protests which recorded at least one violent incident or police action of both

Districts with protests which did not record any violent incident

Districts without any documented protests

Figure 5: Protest Locations64

30

spread towards Central, Western and Southern India was primarily in solidarity towards the

violence that erupted in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, especially on the university campuses.

Interestingly, the states of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat which share a border with Pakistan

showed almost no sign of protests.

International reactions: Indian diaspora spread all over the world have voiced their concern and

held protests against the CAA implementation. Almost 400 students and alumni from many

international universities have expressed their solidarity with Indian students protesting against

the act in India and demanded an end to the police violence with a thorough investigation.67

Indian Americans held protests in 30 US cities on January 26, 2020, the Indian Republic Day.68

9. Conclusion: Connecting the dots

In 2014, when the general elections were held, BJP party won with a landslide victory.

History repeated itself in the 2019 elections. In the last 6 years, this government has taken some

strong steps like demonetization to curb corruption and black market practices, imposing a new

tax system in form of a uniform centralized Goods and Service Tax (GST) which replaced the

prior decentralized system, ambitious infrastructure projects undertaken and implemented

broadly on schedule, international trade agreements to boost the economy, support to evacuate

Indians in any part of the world in time of crises (e.g. Project Raahat, where not only Indians but

many other nationalities were evacuated safely from Yemen, when the war broke out in 2015),

multiple schemes to support the less privileged sections of the society, strong push towards

31

increased digitization and cashless economy, strengthening the security at the borders and so

much more.

Narendra Modi, like most leaders, has many admirers as well as critics. However, his

work is widely appreciated for being decisive and growth focused, and this has earned him

popularity not only within the country but internationally too. When he was the Chief Minister of

Gujarat from 2001 to 2014, the Gujarat model of success was applauded by the entire country.

BJP has always been recognized for its Hindu nationalist stance and this was well known

to everyone who voted them into power twice. Establishing a temple in Ayodhya was a part of

their agenda in 2014, accomplished when the Supreme Court passed the judgement in November

2019. Resolving the Kashmir issue was also on their agenda, while it remains debatable whether

it is resolved or worsened, many citizens have supported the actions taken recently in August

2019.

So, what exactly went wrong with the CAA legislation that it triggered such a massive

unrest all over the country, toned down only due to COVID19 crisis; not because people are

finally accepting the legislation?

Prima facie, the act reads well and is in favor of helping beleaguered immigrants who

have been persecuted on grounds of their religion in some of the neighboring Islamic nations.

However, an act that is supposed to help 31,313 immigrants has actually resulted in 69 deaths till

date.

The concerns of the protestors are multi-faceted. The North-eastern states are against

granting illegal immigrants’ citizenship via CAA irrespective of religion because they fear this

will encourage more immigrants into their states, thereby diluting the language, culture and

rights of indigenous locals. Assam and the neighboring territories have been battling the issue of

32

illegal immigration through their porous borders right from 1947. The issue exacerbated with the

1971 war, finally resulting in the Assam Movement and the Assam Accord to help protect the

local population.

In the other parts of the country there is a strong sentiment that CAA is against the

secular nature of Indian constitution. The Indian constitution does advocate the principles of

secularity, but the irony is that the constitution was written at the time when the country was

reeling from the horrifying effects of the partition and communal riots. It was incredibly difficult

to separate religion from the affairs of the state.

There are two principles by which a state and religion need to be separated, in order to be

secular: non-interference or overlap of state and religion, and the absence of legal connection

between state and religion. The Indian constitution does not subscribe to the first principle but

upheld the second principle, 69 till the CAA was legalized recently.

The primary issue with this act is the fact that it makes religion as its base. A country

which underwent partition 72 years ago on the basis of religion with 13.5 million people

displaced is extremely sensitive to the issue of religion. Even post partition, many Muslims

wanted to come back to India and continue being citizens.8 Over the years, on multiple

occasions, Hindu-Muslim clashes have occurred with great damage borne by both sides. Despite

knowing this ugly aspect of Indian history, religion officially made its way into legislation. Is

this the right solution for the biggest democracy in the world which prides itself as being a home

to multiple diverse cultures and religions?

Even if we were to assume the best intentions possible, the error rate is too high to be

ignored. With a 1% false negative error rate, 13 million people will be branded as illegal

immigrants and possibly transported to detention centers. This is an optimistic scenario.

33

A realistic scenario is more likely that 3-4% i.e. 39-52 million people will not have

sufficient documentation. Can the Indian system guarantee humanitarian handling of these cases

with justice granted in a timely fashion? If the police action during protests is any indication,

humanitarianism seems a distant dream.

Compounding the entire issue further, the NRC implementation in the state of Assam has

put a question mark on the citizenship status of 1.9 million people. This is further exacerbated by

the fact that detention centers are being built at an alarming speed all over the country (Appendix

C). The timing of these events cannot be mere coincidence. If non-Muslims are excluded from

NRC and can claim to be a victim of religious persecution from one of the three countries

mentioned in the CAA, the act can help them gain access to citizenship. Needless to say, that

leaves mostly Muslims who will go to the newly built detention centers, since they don’t qualify

as eligible candidates under CAA.70

There are 200 million Muslims in India, representing 15% of the total population of India

and 11% of the total Muslim population of the world. At current growth rates, India will be home

to the world’s biggest Muslim population by 2060, i.e. a population of more than 333 million or

19% of the total population;4 unless this growth rate is impeded by acts such as CAA.

Helping victimized immigrants is a wonderful gesture but not when they are classified on

basis of their faith. This leaves no place for atheists and agnostics either and indirectly forces

people to follow a particular religion just to secure a safe future for themselves and their

families. A safe and a happy future is the right of every individual irrespective of their race, caste

or religion. This is the true spirit of secularity.

At the same time, it is also important to protect the interests of the local population

especially in a country like India with such a high population. Again, it is necessary to do this

34

while staying neutral to the religious faith of the beneficiary. The richness that the local culture

and language contribute to the heritage of the entire country is undeniable. While the NDA

government has put in a lot of effort for the upliftment of the local population in India, the

sentiment prevalent in the North Eastern states warrants more action, specific to their needs.

It is high time for religion to be discarded from official documentation in India. Religion

is personal and a highly sensitive topic for most and should be treated as such. It must remain a

personal choice and not a legal route to Indian citizenship.

35

APPENDIX

A. India-Pakistan Partition - 1947

In 1947, when the British exited India after 300 years of rule, India was split into two

nations; the Hindu-majority Republic of India and Muslim-majority Islamic Republic of Pakistan

(which included East Pakistan, today known as Bangladesh). This was one of the biggest

migrations in the last century with 13.5 million people displaced and up to 2 million deaths.71

In earlier centuries, Indian subcontinent was a place where different cultures co-existed

peacefully. There were Islamic conquests leading to the rise of the Mughal empire, but even

then, the two faiths, Hinduism and Islam, blended very well. A Muslim in Bengal had much

more in common with his Hindu neighbors than with other Muslims in the North-West region.72

There are multiple thought processes as to how this divide came about. Some blame the

British for this erosion of harmony between two religions, by adopting the divide and rule policy

to exit the country with minimal damage, especially critical for them after the World War II.

Some believe that this was a clash of personalities like Muhammed Ali Jinnah and Mahatma

Gandhi which led to this separation. Coincidently both are known as Father of the Nation in their

respective countries and considered a negative influence in the neighboring country.

Irrespective of the reason, the loss was borne by the common people on both sides. The

months preceding the official partition were marred with communal riots and violence especially

in the border areas of Punjab and Bengal including massacres, forced religion conversions,

abductions and sexual violence.72

36

In a matter of months, the entire landscape changed with hardly any Hindus or Sikhs left

in West Pakistan. Muslims in India had a choice to stay back or move to Pakistan; while many

chose to move, a reasonable amount chose to remain in India which form 15% of the Indian

population today. The Radcliffe line separating the two countries was drawn in merely a matter

of 40 days72 by Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a British lawyer who had never been to India.73 Additionally,

the 1971 war between West Pakistan and East Pakistan, led to the formation of Bangladesh;

which led to infiltration of immigrants from Bangladesh to North-East India, subsequently

leading to the fragile Assam situation as we see today.

The basis of partition was

religion, hence the hostility between

India and Pakistan translates into

communal tension between Hindus and

Muslims till date. The carnage has

continued with communal violence

episodes in the North-East part of India,

wars on the North-West side over the

Kashmir issue, one of which came very

close to a nuclear exchange,72 1992 Babri Masjid demolition which gave rise to a terrorist attack

in Bombay (now Mumbai) and Hindu-Muslims riots, 2002 Sabarmati train burning which killed

Hindu pilgrims and in retaliation to that, the Godhra riots in Gujarat which killed Muslims; and

the most latest, clashes over the CAA with a similar rioting and protest situation all over the

country especially in Delhi in 2020.

Figure 6: The Radcliffe Line of India-Pakistan partition

37

B. Assam Movement and Assam Accord

Assam shares a 163-mile-long border with Bangladesh. Right from the time of

independence in 1947 to 1971 war, there were multiple migrations from East Pakistan (then

Bangladesh) into Assam. These immigrants were a mix of Bengali Muslims and Hindus, which

changed the demographic structure of Assam. The Assamese felt that Bengalis treated them as

inferior and that they (the Assamese) might become a minority in their own state.

The Assam Movement, also termed as the Assam Agitation, was a six-year long

movement, from 1979 to 1985, against the illegal immigrants in Assam.74 The trigger point of

this movement was death of a local Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in 1978, hence

mandating the need to conduct elections in the local constituency. During the process of the

elections, the officials noticed a sharp rise in the number of registered voters, presumably the

illegal immigrants with fake citizenship documents. Two local organizations, All Assam

Students Union (AASU) (also involved in recent CAA protests) and All Assam Gana Sangram

Parishad (AAGSP) demanded that names of these immigrants are removed from the electoral

rolls before the elections are conducted.

From November 27, 1979 onwards, there were multiple protests, demonstrations and

episodes of violence in the entire state. This continued for next six years causing death of over

855 people.75 On August 15, 1985, after multiple rounds of negotiations, the Assam Accord was

signed between the central government and AASU & AAGSP; officially signaling the end of the

Assam movement.

38

The broad terms of Assam Accord were:76

§ All immigrants who entered the region before January 1, 1966 were considered as citizens

and could vote in the elections

§ All immigrants who entered the country between January 1, 1966 and March 24, 1971 will

be deleted from electoral rolls for a period of ten years. After ten years, they can register

themselves to acquire citizenship and can be included in the electoral rolls again

§ All immigrants who entered the country after March 24, 1971 are deemed illegal and will be

deported. This date was selected in line with the 1971 war.

There were few additional clauses regarding economic growth of the region and physical

re-enforcement of the border with improved security.

In summary, as per this Memorandum of Settlement, all immigrants who entered the

region after March 24, 1971 were deemed illegal and should be deported. The current CAA

directly contradicts this by changing the date to December 31, 2014.

39

C. Detention centers in India

As of November 2019, there are

10 operational detention centers in

India, 6 in Assam and 4 in other states.

6 more centers are planned all across

India including a huge 3000 capacity

facility in Assam. 77 The very first of

these detention centers came up in

Assam in 2009 sanctioned by the UPA

government with an aggressive push, in

2014, from the current NDA

government to build more.78

The existing detention centers

currently house 970 detainees, with over

98% of them suspected to be of

Bangladeshi origin and the other 2%

possibly from Myanmar.77

According to a human rights group, approximately 28 people have died

in these detention centers, with 90% of deaths in the last 5 years.79

Center State Status

Goalpara District Jail Assam Operational

Kokrajhar Assam Operational

Silchar Assam Operational

Dibrugarh Assam Operational

Jorhat Assam Operational

Tezpur Assam Operational

Lampur Delhi Operational

Mapusa Goa Operational

Alwar Central Jail Rajasthan Operational

Amritsar Central Jail Punjab Operational

Goalpara Assam Under construction

Tarn Taran Punjab Under construction

Bengaluru Karnataka Under construction

Nerul (Mumbai) Maharashtra Location identified

New Town (Kolkata) West Bengal Location identified

Bongaon West Bengal Location identified

Table 7: Detention Centers in India77

40

D. Main Political Parties in India

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): BJP is currently the ruling government in India with Narendra

Modi as the Chairperson and the Prime Minister. It is a right-wing party with pro-Hindu

ideology, termed popularly as Hindutva; an ideology that seeks to define Indian culture in terms

of Hindu values.80 It was founded in 1980 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee (also the Prime Minister from

1998-2004) and Lal Krishna Advani. BJP has its roots in Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), which was

formed in 1951 as the political wing of the pro-Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak

Sangh (RSS).81

The RSS was founded in 1925 as a response to British rule and communal tensions

prevalent at that time. It presents itself as a cultural organization that promotes Hindu

nationalism. On multiple occasions it has been believed to have a dominant role in communal

violence.82 Many of the political leaders of BJP are members of the RSS, including Narendra

Modi. Essentially, the pro-Hindu roots of BJP go back almost 100 years.

National Democratic Alliance (NDA): NDA is a coalition of center-right- and right-wing

political parties in India. It was formed in 1998 as an alliance of 20 parties to contest the general

elections in that year. The first Prime Minister from NDA was Atal Bihari Vajpayee (also

founding member of BJP).

NDA is currently the ruling government. Since NDA is primarily a BJP-led alliance, the

terms NDA and BJP are sometimes used interchangeably in media and literature.

41

Indian National Congress (INC, also known as Congress): INC is the oldest political party of

India, founded in 1885 in the era of the British Empire. It was the main driving force in the

Indian independence movement led by prominent personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar

Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru and many others.

After India’s independence, INC went ahead to form the union government with

Jawaharlal Nehru serving as the Prime Minister for 15 years till his death in 1964. Since then his

daughter Indira Gandhi and grandson Rajiv Gandhi have also held PM offices.

INC has been the ruling government or a part of the coalition in the ruling government

for majority of the years since Independence. However, in the last decade the party has been

losing ground with the Indian voters, which cost them the last two elections.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA): UPA is a coalition of center-left political parties in India,

led by INC. After the 2004 general elections, when no party had won absolute majority, UPA

was formed as an alliance of 15 parties in order to form a government at the center.

UPA is currently the opposition government. Similar to NDA and BJP, the terms UPA

and INC are also sometimes used interchangeably.

42

E. Political party succession at the center since 1947

Period Party Prime Minister

1947-1964 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru

1964-1966 Indian National Congress Lal Bahadur Shastri

1966-1977 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi

1977-1979 Janata Party Morarji Desai

1979-1980 Janata Party (Secular)

(Indian National Congress) Charan Singh

1980-1984 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi

1984-1989 Indian National Congress Rajiv Gandhi

1989-1990 Janata Dal

(National Front) Vishwanath Pratap Singh

1990-1991 Samajwadi Janata Party

(Indian National Congress) Chandra Shekhar

1991-1996 Indian National Congress P.V. Narasimha Rao

1996-1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Atal Bihari Vajpayee


(United Front) H.D. Deve Gowda


(United Front) Inder Kumar Gujral

1998-2004 National Democratic Alliance

(Bharatiya Janata Party) Atal Bihari Vajpayee

2004-2014 United Progressive Alliance

(Indian National Congress) Manmohan Singh

2014-Present Day 2020 National Democratic Alliance

(Bharatiya Janata Party) Narendra Modi

43

F. Citizenship Amendment Act, India, 2019

Page 1 of 3 of Citizenship Amendment Act, India, 2019

44


45


46

G. Indian Citizenship Act, 1955 (Edited document to include amendments)

Page 1 of 13 of Indian Citizenship Act, 1955

47


48


49


50


51


52


53


54


55


56


57


58


59

H.a. Indian Constitution: Citizenship

Page 1 of 2 of Indian Constitution, Citizenship

60

Page 2 of 2 of Indian Constitution, Citizenship

61

H.b. Indian Constitution: Right to Freedom of Religion

Page 1 of 1 of Indian Constitution, Right to Freedom of Religion

62

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