SHILLONG:
A citizen can be interpreted either narrowly or broadly. In a strict sense, it refers to a person who lives in a city or has the privilege of doing so. While in a wide sense, the term “citizen” refers to a person who resides within the state’s boundaries.
In our nation, a person above the age of twenty-one has access to political life of the state regardless of caste, colour, or creed, educational attainment, wealth, or place of residence, etc.
The Citizenship Act of 1955 and the Indian Constitution provide down the rules for Indian citizenship. Only a few nations, including India, have citizenship laws written directly into their constitutions. Due to inevitable circumstances brought on by the division of India and Pakistan and the freedom of the Indian state to join or quit the Union, the citizenship law had to be included in the constitution itself.
Articles 5 to 11 of Part II of the Indian Constitution address citizenship in India. Article 5 of the Constitution’s founding document discusses Indian citizenship (Nov 26, 1949). The Indian Parliament was given the authority to enact laws governing citizenship rights under Article 11. This led to the Parliament passing the Citizenship Act of 1955. It is a law that outlines how citizenship in India can be obtained, lost, and terminated. The same law also addresses citizenship in India following the Constitution’s implementation.
However, there is a unique provision in the Act that was implemented as a result of the 1985 Amendment Act. The provisions of citizenship of those covered by the Assam Accord are found in Section 6A of the Citizenship Act of 1955. (1985). All those who arrived in Assam on or after January 1, 1966, but before March 25, 1971, from the specified territory—which, at the time the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985, included all territories of Bangladesh—and have lived in Assam since then, are required to register for citizenship under section 18 of the act, according to section 6A. Consequently, this statute establishes March 25, 1971 as the deadline for awarding citizenship to Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam.
What is Assam Accord?
Between 1979 and 1985, Assam experienced unprecedented levels of ethnic violence, state government breakdown, and president’s rule. Thousands of people were slain in the state by violence motivated by linguistic and communal identities during the government-conducted elections. Finally, to deal with the issue, on August 15, 1985, Rajiv Gandhi and the movement’s leaders signed a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) known as the Assam Concord.
What is Citizenship Amendment Bill?
The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 (also known as CAB 2016) was put forth by the current government, the Bhartiya Janata Party, in 2016 with the intention of offering refuge to those who were being persecuted in the neighbouring nations. The proposed change departs from the definition of citizenship in India provided under the Citizenship Act of 1955. It sneaks differences in religion into a statute that is now nonreligious. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan are deemed to be “persons belonging to minority communities” and “must not be treated as unlawful migrants for purposes of this Act,” according to the amended bill.
These persons are denied the “opportunities and advantages” that are currently available solely to Indian nationals, according to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, a document that is attached to the bill that explains the background and reasons for passing any bill.
Is the Bill violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution?
According to Article 14, “Equality before the law” within the boundaries of India, the State shall not deny anyone’s right to equal treatment under the law or to equal protection of the laws. Discrimination against people based on their birthplace, ethnicity, caste, religion, or gender is forbidden. Laws may only distinguish between various groups of individuals if doing so furthers an acceptable goal.  The sole criteria for citizenship for the illegal immigrants who will benefit from this legislation are those related to religion, which again goes against one of the fundamental principles of the Indian Constitution, secularism. Differentiating between illegal immigrants based on their status is not explained in the Bill’s Statement of Objects and Reasons.
According to the “basic structure” hypothesis, the Constitution has certain features that cannot be altered by legislation, such as judicial independence review, fair elections, and the welfare state. These comprise the basis of the government of a nation. Consequently, any legislation that fails the “basic needs” test is against the law.
Because there shouldn’t be any politics involved in the adoption of laws that go against India’s democratic ideals, the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 can be argued to be undeserving of becoming an Act.