What is CAA beyond Noise ?

By – Utkarsh Raghav

On 11 Dec 2019 CAA was passed in Parliament by the Indian Government.

12 Dec 2019 a massive protest was launched by the opposition led by Congress, it was one of biggest protest the country has witnessed since the famous or infamous (Depending on which side of the spectrum you were) Anna Hazare ‘led protests were launched on India against Corruption, which eventually led to the birth of Aam Aadmi Party.

The Shaheen Bagh protests were one of the most focal point of that particular moment which also gave it’s famous ‘Bilkis Dadi’ & ‘Kudrati Biryani ‘ but A lockdown imposed because of Covid killed nearly all the protests throughout the Country.

Then comes the election Year and Honorable Home Minister Amit Shah on 11 March 2024 notified CAA Rules. With the notification CAA has caused massive uproar within the opposition ranks, citing it ‘unconstitutional’ and raising suspicion on the secular nature of The Law. Let us explore further to understand CAA in the simplest form.

1. It has nothing to do with Indians; In any situation no one’s citizenship would be revoked.
2. CAA simply grants citizenship to persecuted religious minorities of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh namely Hindus, Sikhs, Christians etc.
3. It is not dangerous in terms of massive population explosion from the neighbouring countries because a cut off date has been fixed which is 31 December 2014.
4. CAA excludes Muslims because they cannot be religiously persecuted in a Muslim-majority country as Islamic Republic of Pakistan & Bangladesh (Then West Pakistan) was formed on the basis of Religion -The two nation theory.

India -USA war of words over CAA

“We are concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11,” US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at his daily briefing.

“We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles,”
When questioned about the same, the honorable External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that it is important to put CAA in the context of the Partition, and underlined that there are a “number of examples” in which many countries have fast-tracked citizenship.