An Open Access Journal from The Law Brigade (Publishing) Group 270 living in Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan were to face religious persecution, the fact that the community did not practice being Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian would disentitle them from the benefit of the CAA 2019, with no apparent justification. It is also clear that Article 14 of the constitution confers right to all persons and not just citizens of India. Therefore, without doubt one can see that the CAA 2019 introduces a religious element into the notion of citizenship, striking clearly at the heart of a secular Constitution, and potentially going against the basic structure of the Constitutioniii. In the backdrop of the Act coupled with the NRC exercise in the state of Assam (and supposedly continuing that model pan-India), there are severe concerns, as there exist lack of clarity as to the fate of millions of persons who may be unable to prove their citizenships through documents. Currently, we have seen the construction of detention centers in India but what will be the future of those imprisoned there is yet unknown. The actions of the Government of India in this exercise only highlight the attitude in which it regards India’s 200 million Muslims, one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. Many scared Muslim citizens have viewed the Citizenship Amendments, as a step to make them second-class citizens in their own country and render many of them stateless. CAA, NPR and NRC Other than the question of CAA 2019’s constitutional validity, the manner in which the Government has executed the enactment especially in reference to the NRC and NPR provide for a disturbing legislative trend for the future. There is an undeniable link between NRC, NPR and the CAA 2019. Examples of how this cumulative effect shall come into being is a feared outcome by most Muslim citizens of India. The NRC and NPR exercise is feared to turn into a witch-hunt targeting Muslims across the country. Most of these individuals shall then be ‘foreigners’. If thereafter, they were to apply for citizenship under the Amended Act, Muslims – an excluded religion community under the CAA 2019 shall have an increased burden (as compared to those who do benefit under the Act) to show proof for the longer requisite period of stay. In a country like India, which is characterized by a large part of its population being poor and lacking documentation, this proves to be a mammoth task. The process itself is not without fault, and suffers from severe lacunae, which allows the misuse of the process to oppress those that one does not like. The impact and social strife caused by such an enactment will be of unimaginable proportionsiv. JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES AND RESEARCH Volume 6 Issue 4 – ISSN 2455 2437 August 2020 www.thelawbrigade.com Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3665733