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.