160 SOCIO-LEGAL REVIEW VOL. 17 The 2019 Act has been met with monumental backlash in the form of nationwide protests countered by police crackdowns,15 and 130 petitions challenging its constitutionality before the Indian Supreme Court (“SC”).16 The 2019 Act also earned India global condemnation17 ranging from the United Nations (“UN”),18 United States (“US”),19 European Union (“EU”),20 Pakistan,21 and the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation.22 Critics of the 2019 Act widely view it as an effort to radically redefine India as a nation – from a pluralist and secular democracy to an ethnonationalist state.23 They highlight that India has been forced to re-examine crucial ques15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Anjali Mody, ‘India Awakens to Fight for its Soul’ (The New York Times, 20 December 2019) <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/20/opinion/india-citizenship-law-protests.html> accessed 28 July 2021; Sanya Mansoor and Billy Perrigo, “‘This is not just a Muslim Fight.” Inside the Anti-Citizenship Act Protests Rocking India’ (Time, 19 December 2019) <https://time. com/5752186/india-protests-citizenship-act/>; accessed 28 July 2021. Supreme Court Observer, ‘Citizenship Amendment Act, Indian Union Muslim League v Union of India – Day 2 Arguments 22 January’ (22 January 2020) <https://www.scobserver.in/ court-case/caa/caa-day-2-arguments> accessed 28 July 2021. Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, ‘The Rising Domestic Danger to India’s Foreign Policy Under Modi’ (The Diplomat, 6 March 2020) <https://thediplomat.com/2020/03/the-rising-domestic-danger-to-indias-foreign-policy-under-modi/> accessed 28 July 2021; Citizen Bureau, ‘Protests Across the World Against CAA’ (The Citizen, 27 January 2020) <https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/6/18226/Protests-Across-the-World-Against-CAA> accessed 28 July 2021. Draft amicus curiae application by Michelle Bachelet Jeria, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, before the Supreme Court in Deb Mukharji v Union of India, W.P. (C) No. 1474 of 2019. However, it is unclear if this petition was indeed put before the SC; Arvind Narrain, ‘UN Human Rights Chief’s CAA Plea Puts the Spotlight on India’s International Law Obligations’ (Scroll.in, 5 March 2020) <https://scroll.in/article/955177/ un-human-rights-chiefs-caa-plea-puts-the-spotlight-on-indias-international-law-obligations> accessed 28 July 2021. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, Annual Report 2020 p. 20; Mohammad Ali, ‘Another US City Passes Resolution Against India’s Citizenship Law’ (Al Jazeera, 12 February 2020) <https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/2/12/another-us-city-passes-resolution-against-indias-citizenship-law> accessed 28 July 2021. European Parliament, ‘European Parliament Resolution on India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019’ (22 January 2020) <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2020-0082_EN.html> accessed 28 July 2021. Naveed Siddiqui, ‘Pakistan Condemns “Regressive, Discriminatory” Nationality Bill Passed by India’s Lower House’ (Dawn, 10 December 2019) <https://www.dawn.com/ news/1521480>accessed 28 July 2021. PTI, ‘OIC Expresses Concern Over CAA, Minorities in India; Says “Closely” Following Developments’ (The Indian Express, 23 December 2019) <https://www.newindianexpress.com/ nation/2019/dec/23/oic-expresses-concern-over-caa-minorities-in-india-says-closely-following-developments-2079712.html> accessed 28 July 2021. Niraja Gopal Jayal, ‘Reconfiguring Citizenship in Contemporary India’ [2019] 42 Journal of South Asian Studies 33; Prabhash Ranjan, ‘A fight for Old India’ (Telegraph, 13 January 2020) <https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/how-the-anti-caa-protests-mark-a-pushback-fromcivic-nationalists-against-the-rising-tide-of-ethno-cultural-nationalism/cid/1735546> accessed 28 July 2021; Nazir Ahmad and Muneeb Yousuf, ‘The Idea of India—And a Transition Toward Violent, Exclusionary Nationalism’ (The Diplomat, 2 April 2020) <https://thediplomat.