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 amende