The government, inspite of the growing countrywide opposition to the CAA takes a contrary stand.
On January 1, braving the bitter winter cold, people gatheted at India Gate in New Delhi, sang songs, held placard and shouted slogans against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) 2019. In other part of the city, several women were collected under a tent in Shaheen Bagh, some with their children, with the same objective: oppose the CAA. The outrage over the CAA was not confined to Delhi, it spilled over to almost every city in the country, the only discernible difference being the size of the protesting crowds. The protest have echoed abroad as well- in the United Kingdom, in the United States and even in Cape Town in South Africa.
The CAA has been perceived as highly discriminatory as it offers the naturalisation of citizenship to refugees and “illegal migrants” from six specific communities(Hindu, Christain, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, and Parsi) from three neighbouring countries namely Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It ignored the citizenship claims of others who might be already residing in India either as refugees or illegal migrants but do not belong to the Hindu, Christain, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, or Parsi communities. The assured message is that all the six communities selected in the CAA for preferential citizenship are inherently “Indian” while other refugee groups or migrants are not.
The bias could not have been more apparent as the CAA singularly excludes Muslims(political refugees or economic migrants from any country whatsoever) or for that matter, thousands of Tamil refugees residing in camps in India from such regularisation of citizenship.