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demonstrates discrimination on the ground of religion, race, and class. The Act excludes
neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, or non-neighbouring countries, from
where oppressed members of specified religious groups may also be in India, reflecting the
unconstitutional behaviour and unjustified classification of the Act. By restricting the time period,
those who enter after December 31, 2014, have no rights even if they have suffered religious
persecution in their countries. Hence, it can be said that this Act not only ostensibly undermines
India's humanitarian purpose and moral obligations but also gesticulates the legislation's
discriminatory behaviour. Under this Act, the residency requirement for citizenship for these six
religious minorities has been reduced from eleven to five years. However, excluded communities still
have to reach eleven years of residency requirement for citizenship by naturalization.
In the 21st century, India is an emerging power and has played an essential and vital role globally
through its democratic and secular credentials. The Act is not just an internal affair but also has a
prominent international reach. The ill-decision under secular democracy tarnishes the image of the
country across the world. The United Nations Human Rights Office staunchly opposed the
discriminatory Act and termed it "fundamentally discriminatory in nature" (Lauren, 2019, para. 1).
The nature of the Act is utterly biased as it legitimates the discrimination based on religious grounds.
However, India's current prime minister stated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill aims to give
justice to these religious minorities in mentioned countries who faced religious persecution or feared
persecution and took refuge in India. He added that "the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment)
Bill by Parliament is a landmark day for India and its ethos of compassion and brotherhood" (The
Economic Times, 2019). Consequently, the Act will alleviate the suffering of many who have faced
persecution for years (Regan et al., 2019). Although helping immigrants is undoubtedly a decisive
move on humanitarian grounds, it cannot be limited to cherry-picking by making classifications
based on religion (Shitole, 2020). That's why the overarching chaos of upheaval in India against the
Act is driven by questions of its constitutionality and religious factor of the inclusion of particular
groups and excluding others based on religious grounds.
Conclusion
The Act represents a broader sectarian agenda by giving preferences to non-Muslims beneficiaries.
Various arguments indicated that the Act is unconstitutional, unjustified, and unfair in its nature
because it provides differential treatment to illegal immigrants on religious grounds, which counters
the countries' democratic principles enshrined in its own Constitution. Political upheavals and social
outrages against the Act are motivated by a deep commitment to constitutionalism and democratic
values in India. More concrete solutions, like a codification of the appropriate refugee law that is still
absent in India, should have been examined by the government. Surprisingly, India has not yet
developed any proper refugee policy; there is no parliamentary legislation that explicitly ensures the
recognition or enforcement of refugees' rights or deals with the issue of illegal immigrants in India.
India is home to a significant immigrant community; it should follow the humanitarian grounds in the
treatment of refugees and illegal immigrants, including the non-refoulement concept.
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Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3898542