What is the new Citizenship Act all about?



The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, sought to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955 to make illegal immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. The Bill was first introduced in 2016 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government, but was passed only in the Lok Sabha. The Bill lapsed as it could not be passed in the Rajya Sabha then.



It was again introduced by Home Minister Amit Shah in December 2019 in Parliament. Despite heated debates over certain aspects of the Bill, it was passed by both Houses. Following this, the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, was sent to President Ram Nath Kovind for his assent. After his assent, it because an Act on December 12.



Meanwhile, the Act sparked massive protests in Assam and other northeastern states. Thousands of people poured onto the streets defying curfew. Army troops were deployed. Police firing and violence crippled the states.



The Act was vociferously opposed by citizens and civil society groups and politicians from across the parties because of its communal nature.



The Indian Union Muslim League moved the Supreme Court challenging the Act.



 



Picture Credit : Google


Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

Comments

Display comments as Linear | Threaded

No comments

Add Comment

Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (*word*), underscore are made via _word_.
Standard emoticons like :-) and ;-) are converted to images.
E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications.
To leave a comment you must approve it via e-mail, which will be sent to your address after submission.