Indian Parliament Passes Citizenship Bill Excluding Muslims

India’s lower house has passed approved a controversial bill that will grant citizenship to religious minorities from neighbouring countries except for Muslims.

The citizenship amendment bill says that Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians fleeing persecution in Muslim majority states such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will be granted citizenship. The bill passed with 311 votes in favour and 80 against just after midnight on Tuesday. The aim of this legislation is to change the Citizenship Act of 1955 which prohibits illegal migrants from applying for Indian citizenship. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about the legislature saying, “This bill is in line with India’s centuries-old ethos of assimilation and belief in humanitarian values,” and adding that he was “delighted” about it being passed.

However, Muslim organisations, rights groups and others are far from pleased about the passage of the bill. They believe it is part of Modi’s agenda to marginalise the Muslim minority in India consisting of almost 200 million people. In response to this year, 100 scientists and scholars in India and abroad teamed together to write a letter to the government expressing their “dismay” at the bill and saying that according to the Indian constitution, all people must be treated equally. Modi’s “proposed bill would mark a radical break with this history and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the constitution”. The letter further mentioned that a careful exclusion of Muslims would “greatly strain” India’s pluralism. Prominent political groups in the nation called for a total shutdown across all states in protest of the passage of the bill. Amit Shah, India’s Home Minister denied any malicious intent for marginalisation by saying, “This is a bill to give rights, not to take them away from anybody.” Modi’s government had attempted to pass this legislature in Parliament in the past during his first term in power. However, this failed to pass as Modi didn’t have enough support in the upper house as Modi and his party (BJP) lack a majority. After a major victory earlier this year, Modi was more confident that the bill would pass in both houses. During a lengthy debate marked by angry exchanges, the opposition Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor said the bill “infringes upon the principle of equality before law” guaranteed to all persons including non-citizens. Since Modi has risen to power, several Indian cities that have Islamic sounding names have had their names changed and many school textbooks have been altered to downplay the contribution of Muslim’s to India. In August, Modi’s government revoked the partial autonomy granted to the disputed territories of Jammu and Kashmir. In the midst of all the protest, the government has remained strong in defending the bill and claiming that it’s aim is to get rid of infiltrators and that Muslim’s were not facing persecution in the three neighbouring nations. “I say this again and again that this bill has nothing to do with the Muslims in this country. The Muslims in this country will be able to live here with dignity, are living here, and will continue to do so,” Shah said. “What are we doing now? We are giving the minority their rights.” Shah has recently also proposed a “national register of citizens” that would see “each and every infiltrator identified and expelled” from India by 2024. The citizenship bill has led to protests in India’s north-eastern states, where residents are unhappy about an influx of Hindus from neighbouring Bangladesh. In Guwahati in Assam state protesters set fire to tyres while tribal groups staged protests in Tripura. Keep up to date with more news at ProperGaanda: Women Activists Rally Against Harassment and Violence in Balochistan’s capital