Citizenship Amendment Act

Introduction

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill or CAB, which grants Indian citizenship to the non-Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, Jains and Parsis -- from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, was passed by the Rajya Sabha by the President. As many as 125 lawmakers voted in the favour of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill and 99 against it.

Background

The Indian government passed the Citizenship Act in 1955. The Act provided two means for foreigners to acquire Indian citizenship. People from "undivided India” were given a means of registration after seven years of residency in India. Those from other countries were given a means of naturalisation after twelve years of residency in India.

Political developments in the 1980s, particularly those related to the violent Assam movement against all migrants from Bangladesh, triggered revisions to the Citizenship Act of 1955.

The Citizenship Act was first amended in 1985 after the Assam Accord was signed, wherein the Indian government of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi agreed to identify foreign citizens, remove them from the electoral roles, and expel them from the country.

The Second attempt

It was in the year 2016 that the Government had for the first time introduced the Bill in Lok Sabha. However, the same could not be passed in Rajya Sabha due to lapse of time.

Why are people of North East  protesting against CAA?

North East noticed a huge influx of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants added to voter list, threatening their land, culture and livelihood. While CAA is supposedly Pan India, almost entire influx happens through the North East border. North East people are protesting towards the amendment because even if 10% people get citizenship, the entire demographics of North East (especially Assam) will change and the original people of North East will be treated as minority.

National Media on CAA

The Indian newspapers gave neutral news on the act and had articles about how different things like foreign relations are affected. However, the broadcast media had debates on CAA.

Times of India  had a report that how foreign diplomats complain about not having been briefed about the CAA and claim that India is losing friends fast. TOI suggests the government must not lose the capital it has with foreign nations and realise that it needs both Islamic and Western nations by its side. It will only happen if India is committed to its secular and liberal values.

Indian Express reported  that 372 people were “slapped” with property damage notices to recover damages following the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. In the headline, it notes that “UP goes where no state has gone”.

The Hindu  in an exclusive report, wrote that the Railways, which suffered Rs 80 crore in losses during the nationwide anti-CAA protests, will also recover the damages from those involved in the incident.

CNN-News18 conducted a debate on`The Right Stand’, anchor Anand Narasimhan debated aggressively, whether the opposition was caught in spreading misinformation about CAA.

ABP News had a news which said After Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra targeted the Yogi Adityanath government over the alleged police violence in the state during anti-CAA protests, anchor Rubika Liyaquat asked whose anarchy it was— that of the UP Police or Priyanka?

India TV anchor Saurav Sharma asked whether the opposition was planning a conspiracy against PM Modi over CAA.

Media of the North East

The media in the North East had articles on how the bill is Anti – constitutional and about te protests going on all over the country.

Assam Tribune had headlines as ‘Women protest against CAA at Kalaigaon and Tangla’ and ‘Anti-CAA rally held in Agartala’.

Eastmojo made headines with ‘CAA clearly violates Indian Constitution: Amnesty International’

The Shillong Times had an editorial about the protests of CAA becoming a national protest.

International Media on CAA

The international media is against CAA, it also criticised the Prime Minister how he is not supporting secularism.

The New Yorker had a headline which said Has Narendra Modi Finally Gone Too Far?

The Guardian had a report on Indian students join fierce protests against ‘anti-Muslim’ citizenship law

The Washington Post featured an article with an image of the students of Darul Uloom University in Lucknow protesting against the Citizenship Act while trying to break through a gate.

Pakistan Today also published an editorial with the title: India’s fascist Citizenship Amendment Act.

AL Jazeera had an article on how  US cities protest against India citizenship law. It also had a headline stating ‘Modi has started war against Muslims’

Shaheen Bagh

The Shaheen Bagh protest is a 24/7 sit-in peaceful protest, led by women, that began with the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in both houses of Parliament on 11 December 2019 and the ensuing police intervention against students at Jamia Millia Islamia who were opposing the Amendment.

Media on Shaheen Bagh

Anchors across major news networks such as Zee News, Republic TV, India TV and ABP News have kept the focus on Shaheen Bagh over two weeks. Apart from shoddy stings on Times Now and Republic TV, most anchors have labelled the protest site as a “den” of pro-Pakistan, Jinnah-loving anti-nationals who are also anti-Hindu. India Today had an article that how the journalists were attacked by the protestors of Shaheen Bagh.

Social Media pro - CAA

PM Narendra Modi Launched a Social Media Campaign in support of CAA The Prime Minister, in a tweet, asserted that the CAA does not take away anyone's citizenship. "#IndiaSupportsCAA because CAA is about giving citizenship to persecuted refugees & not about taking anyone’s citizenship away.

BJP also launched a social media campaign, "Spread Facts Not Myth", in support of the Citizenship Act and in a series of tweets, the party has addressed various issues related to the new legislation.

Social Media anti – CAA

CAA protests are more active than ever. The images of protestes has been circulated on a large scale on social media. Hashtags (#) like Boycott CAA, Kaagaz Nahi Dikhayege are also trending. People have also started writing post cards to the Prie minister and posting it’s image on social media.