2021
STATELESSNESS AND THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT, 2019
185
Some revisionist arguments to Indian citizenship, most prominently by
Abhinav Chandrachud,202 have attempted to provide an explanation to the modern resurgence of the ‘homeland for Hindus’ idea. Chandrachud submits that
the 2019 Act is merely an extension of the Constituent Assembly’s debates at
the time of and following Partition.203 In a nutshell, Chandrachud argues that
the permit system204 enshrined in Articles 6 and 7 of the Indian Constitution
created differential pathways to Indian citizenship for Hindu and Muslim
202
203
204
india-hindutva-constitutional-theocracy-caa> accessed 28 July 2021; Adnan Qaiser, ‘The
Hindutva Itch: India’s Perverse Strategic Thought’ (South Asia Journal, 1 September 2018)
<http://southasiajournal.net/the-hindutva-itch-indias-perverse-strategic-thought/>
accessed
28 July 2021; Angana Chatterji and others, Majoritarian State: How Hindu Nationalism is
Changing India (Harper Collins 2019); Martha Nussbaum, The Clash Within: Democracy,
Religious Violence, and India’s Future (Harvard University Press 2009); Irfan Habib, ‘The
Envisioning of a Nation: A Defence of the Idea of India’ [1999] 27 Social Scientist 18;
Partha Mukherji, ‘The Indian State in Crisis? Nationalism and Nation-Building’ [1994] 43
Sociological Bulletin 21; Human Rights Watch, Violent Cow Protection in India: Vigilante
Groups Attack Minorities (2019); Dilip Mandal, ‘Whose Ram Rajya does Ayodhya temple
bring — Gandhi’s or Modi’s? Ambedkar Can Answer’ (The Print, 5 August 2020) https://
theprint.in/opinion/ram-rajya-ayodhya-bhoomi-pujan-temple-gandhi-modi-ambedkar/475024/
accessed 28 July 2021; Jeffrey Gettleman and Maria Abi-Habib, ‘As Protests Rage on
Citizenship Bill, is India Becoming a Hindu Nation?’ (The New York Times, 16 December
2019)
<https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/16/world/asia/india-citizenship-protests.html>
accessed 28 July 2021; Flavia Agnes, ‘The Abuse of India’s Triple Talaq Verdict’ (Al Jazeera,
4 September 2017) <https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/9/4/the-abuse-of-indias-triple-talaq-verdict> accessed 28 July 2021; Andrew Whitehead, ‘Article 370: India’s Move on
Kashmir will Fuel Resentment’ (BBC, 5 August 2019) <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asiaindia-49233608> accessed 28 July 2021.
Chandrachud (n 27); Abhinav Chandrachud, ‘The Origins of Indian Citizenship’ (Bloomberg
Quint, 26 December 2019) <https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/citizenship-amendment-act-the-unsecular-origins-of-indian-citizenship-by-abhinav-chandrachud> accessed 28
July 2021.
Chandrachud (n 27); Bhatia (n 51); Ram (n 30); Hassan (n 133); Samrat Choudhary, ‘North
East: NRC, CAA Open Healing Wounds’ (National Herald, 13 December 2019) <https://www.
nationalheraldindia.com/india/north-east-nrc-caa-open-healing-wounds> accessed 28 July
2021; Mohamed Zeeshan ‘The Completion of Partition’ (Deccan Herald, 28 December 2019)
<https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/main-article/the-completion-of-partition-789345.html>
accessed 28 July 2021; Kamran Siddiqui, ‘Indian Muslims are Partially Responsible for their
Own Deprivation’ (The Quint, 21 February 2020) <https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/
indian-muslims-partition-secular-caa-nrc-protests> accessed 28 July 2021.
The permit system was created at the western border for migrants coming to India from
Pakistan. The intent behind the system were concerns over the property left behind by
Muslim migrants because in their initial move to Pakistan, the Indian government had re-allotted the property to new refugee settlers. The Indian government worried that if the original Muslim inhabitants were allowed to return and reclaim their property, conflict would
ensue between them and the new occupants. To specifically discourage these Muslim migrants
from returning from Pakistan, a “permanent resettlement permit” was introduced, which
was one of the five kinds of permits as in Chandrachud (n 27); Joya Chatterjee, ‘Partition
Studies: Prospects and Pitfalls’ [2014] 73 Journal of Asian Studies 309; Manav Kapur,
‘Evacuee or Citizen? Minority Citizenship and Property Rights in 1950s India’ (The Leaflet,
28 January 2021) <https://www.theleaflet.in/evacuee-or-citizen-minority-citizenship-and-property-rights-in-1950s-india/#> accessed 28 July 2021; Jawaharlal Nehru, Constituent Assembly
Debates Vol IX p 9.117.31 (12 August 1949) <https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_
assembly_debates/volume/9/1949-08-12> accessed 28 July 2021.
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