Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 | |
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Parliament of India | |
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Citation | Act No. 6 of 2004 |
Passed by | Rajya Sabha |
Passed | 18 December 2003 |
Passed by | Lok Sabha |
Passed | 22 December 2003 |
Assented to | 7 January 2004 |
Signed by | President of India |
Effective | 3 December 2004 [1] |
Legislative history | |
First chamber: Rajya Sabha | |
Bill title | Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2003 |
Bill citation | Bill No. 39 of 2003 |
Introduced by | L. K. Advani Minister of Home Affairs |
Introduced | 7 May 2003 |
Amends | |
Citizenship Act, 1955 | |
Status: In force |
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 was passed by the Parliament of India in December 2003, [2] and received presidential assent in January 2004. [3] It is labelled "Act 6 of 2004". [3]
The Act amended The Citizenship Act, 1955 by:
The Act also mandated the Government of India to construct and maintain a National Register of Citizens. [17]
Scholar Anupama Roy described this amendment as a "hinge point" from which emerged the two contradictory tendencies represented by the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 (eventually to be an Act in 2019) and the National Register of Citizens. [18] These two developments gave rise to large-scale protests all over India in December 2019.
The Indian Constitution was implemented in 1950 guaranteed citizenship to all of the country's residents at the commencement of the constitution, and made no distinction on the basis of religion. [19] [20] [21] The Indian government passed the Citizenship Act in 1955. The Act provided two means for foreigners to acquire Indian citizenship. People from "undivided India" [a] were given a means of registration after five years of residency in India. Those from other countries were given a means of naturalisation after ten years of residency in India. [23] [24] [b]
A very large number of illegal immigrants, the largest numbers of whom are from Bangladesh, live in India. The Task Force on Border Management quoted the figure of 15 million illegal migrants in 2001. The majority of them live in the states of Assam and West Bengal, but many attempt to find work in big cities like Delhi. [26] [27] The reasons for the scale of migration include a porous border, historical migration patterns, economic reasons, and cultural and linguistic ties. [28]
On August 15, 1985, after six years of violent protests against migrants and refugees in the northeastern states of India, the Assam Accord was signed between the Indian government and the leaders of the Assam movement in the presence of Rajiv Gandhi. [29] [30] This accord, amongst other things, promised that the Indian government will deport all illegal aliens who had arrived after March 1971. [29] [30] A 1986 amendment to the Citizenship Act of 1955 was proposed and passed by a Congress-led government. [31] This amendment restricted the Indian citizenship to those born in India prior to 1987 to either a mother or a father who was an Indian citizen. [31] The Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 1986 effectively blocked jus soli citizenship to the children of couples who were both illegal aliens and to second-generation refugees from citizenship rights in India. [31]
In addition, in 1983, the Congress government passed the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, thereby establishing a system to detect and expel foreigners through tribunal proceedings. [32]
The "detection, deletion and deportation" of illegal migrants has been on the agenda of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 1996. [33] After coming to power in 1998, the government drafted an amendment to the Foreigners Act, 1946 proposing jail sentences and fines for illegal immigrants as well as for those abetting illegal immigration. After receiving a review report from the Law Commission, the bill was passed by Rajya Sabha in May 2003 and by Lok Sabha in January 2004. [34] [35] [36] [37]
The bill was introduced in the Parliament by L. K. Advani, the Home Minister, on 7 May 2003 during its Budget session. It was sent to the parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, and came back to both the houses of the Parliament towards December 2003. It was passed unanimously by Rajya Sabha on 18 December and passed "without any acrimony" in the Lok Sabha on 22 December. The Congress, AIADMK, Rashtriya Janata Dal and some other opposition parties supported the bill. [38] [39]
The bill was branded as a "dual citizenship bill", a reference to the provision for Overseas Citizen of India. [39] All the other changes to the citizenship law, some of the most radical ones since 1955, were passed without any comment. More than a decade later, in 2019, a comment made by Manmohan Singh, the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha, got circulated. Singh said, in connection with the legislation of "illegal immigrants", that the minorities of Bangladesh who had faced persecution in the country had to be treated more liberally: [40]
After the partition of our country, the minorities in countries like Bangladesh have faced persecution, and it is our moral obligation that if circumstances force people, these unfortunate people, to seek refuge in our country, our approach to granting citizenship to these unfortunate persons should be more liberal. [40]
The deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Najma Heptullah added that minorities in Pakistan also faced persecution. [40] The Home minister L. K. Advani endorsed the view and made a distinction between an "illegal immigrant" and a "bona fide refugee": [41]
We always say that a person who has to flee because of religious persecution is a refugee, bona fide refugee, and he cannot be regarded on par with the illegal immigrant who may have come for any reason, even for economic reasons. If he is an illegal immigrant, he is an illegal immigrant. So, I take note of what has been said and endorse it. [41]
But no changes in the bill are visible to address these concerns. [41]
Illegal migrants: The first significant change introduced by the 2003 Amendment is the introduction of the term "illegal migrant" to the Citizenship Act: [4] [5]
In section 2 of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (57 of 1955) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), in sub-section (1), for clauses (b) and (c) and the proviso to clause (c), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:
- (b) "illegal migrant" means a foreigner who has entered into India
- (i) without a valid passport or other travel documents and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf; or
- (ii) with a valid passport or other travel documents and such other document or authority as may be prescribed by or under any law in that behalf but remains therein beyond the permitted period of time; [6]
The concept of "illegal migrants" was used for amending all the sections of citizenship acquisition (by birth, by descent, by registration and by naturalisation).
Citizenship by birth: The section 3 of the principal Act (citizenship by birth) was replaced wholesale:
For section 3 of the principal Act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:
- (l) Except as provided in sub-section (2), every person born in India,
- (a) on or after the 26th day of January, 1950, but before the 1st day of July,1987;
- (b) on or after the 1st day of July, 1987, but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth;
- (c) on or after the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, where-
- (i) both of his parents are citizens of India; or
- (ii) one of whose parents is a citizen of India and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of his birth, shall be a citizen of India by birth.
- (2) [...] [42]
The newly added clause (c) declares that, after 2003, if either parent of a child born in India is an illegal migrant, the child is not qualified to be a citizen. For children born between 1987–2003, it was adequate for one parent to be an Indian citizen. Prior to 1987, there were no restrictions. [12] [13]
Citizenship by descent: The section 4 of the principal Act (citizenship by descent) had its subsection (1) replaced wholesale:
(1) In section 4 of the principal Act, for sub-section (1), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:
- (1) A person born outside India shall be a citizen of India by descent,
- (a) on or after the 26th day of January, 1950, but before the 10th day of December, 1992, if his father is a citizen of India at the time of his birth; or
- (b) on or after the 10th day of December, 1992, if either of his parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth:
- Provided that [...] [43]
The amended section liberalised descent via father to descent via either parent.
Citizenship by registration: The section of the principal Act (citizenship by registration, meant for "persons of Indian origin", i.e., migrants from "undivided India") had its subsection (1) replaced wholesale:
In section 5 of the principal Act,
- (a) for sub-section (1), the following shall be substituted, namely:
- "(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and such other conditions and restrictions as may be prescribed, the Central Government may, on an application made in this behalf, register as a citizen of India any person not being an illegal migrant who is not already such citizen by virtue of the Constitution or of any other provision of this Act if he belongs to any of the following categories, namely:
- (a) a person of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration;
- (b–e) [...]
- (f) a person of full age and capacity who, or either of his parents, was earlier citizen of independent India, and has been residing in India for one year immediately before making an application for registration;
- (g) a person of full age and capacity who has been registered as an overseas citizen of India for five years, and who has been residing in India for two years before making an application for registration.
- Explalation 1 [...]
- Explanation 2 [...] [44]
By the main amendment to section 5, illegal migrants cannot acquire citizenship by registration. The residence requirement for citizenship by registration was also increased to seven years from five years. The clauses (f) and (g) added new provisions.
Citizenship by naturalisation: Section 6 (citizenship by naturalisation) was amended prohibiting illegal migrants from getting naturalised:
In section 6 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), for the words "who is not a citizen of a country specified in the First Schedule", the words "not being an illegal migrant" shall be substituted. [45]
The Third Schedule, which lists the requirements for naturalisation, was amended by increasing the residency requirement to 12 years from the earlier 10 years. [46]
The 2003 Amendment mandated the Central Government to create and maintain a National Register of Citizens and to issue national identity cards to all the registered citizens.
After section 14 of the principal Act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:
- "14A. Issue of national identity cards.-
- (l) The Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue national identity card to him.
- (2) The Central Government may maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and for that purpose establish a National Registration Authority.
- (3) On and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, the Registrar General, India, appointed under subsection (1) of section 3 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (18 of 1969) shall act as the National Registration Authority and he shall function as the Registrar General of Citizen Registration.
- (4) The Central Government may appoint such other officers and staff as may be required to assist the Registrar General of Citizen Registration in discharging his functions and responsibilities.
- (5) The procedure to be followed in compulsory registration of the citizens of India shall be such as may be prescribed." [47]
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In January 2005, it was reported that the Odisha government headed by Naveen Patnaik targeted 1,551 people in the Mahakalpada block for deportation, calling them illegal Bangladeshis. All of them were Hindus, and included women and children. Even though it was known that the majority of illegal immigrants in the area were Muslims, it was said that the Biju Janata Dal government was reluctant to target them. [48] The targeted persons, belonging to the Namasudra Matua community, protested these actions over the next 15 years, including hunger strikes in Delhi and Kolkata, and filing a Supreme Court petition demanding unconditional citizenship. [49]
The Estimates Committee of the Indian Parliament estimated 5.2 million refugees from the present day Bangladesh in 1989, 70 percent of whom belonged to agricultural communities and were mostly from scheduled castes. This population is likely to have grown to 13 million by 2019. [49] Scholar Himadri Chatterjee states:
"The amendment of 2003 was, therefore, made with full knowledge as to who it would primarily and adversely affect." [49]
In 2012, the CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat wrote Manmohan Singh, then prime minister, reminding him of his 2003 statement and urging him to bring an amendment to address the minority community refugees. [41] The chief minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi also submitted a memorandum to the prime minister pleading that "Indian citizens" who had to flee religious persecution due to partition should not be treated as foreigners. [50] [51]
In September 2015, the Narandra Modi government made a decision to exempt the minority refugees of Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India before December 2014 from the category of "illegal immigrants" and made them eligible for long-term visas. The Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 was issued under the Foreigners Act, 1946 for this purpose. [52] [53]
In 2016, the Home minister Rajnath Singh brought a bill to the Parliament seeking exemption for persons belonging "minority communities, that is, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, and Christians" fleeing Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecuting from being treated as "illegal immigrants". After considerable debate, a revised version of the bill was passed as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and led to large-scale protests across India in 2019.
Naturalization is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the United Nations excludes citizenship that is automatically acquired or is acquired by declaration. Naturalization usually involves an application or a motion and approval by legal authorities. The rules of naturalization vary from country to country but typically include a promise to obey and uphold that country's laws and taking and subscribing to an oath of allegiance, and may specify other requirements such as a minimum legal residency and adequate knowledge of the national dominant language or culture. To counter multiple citizenship, some countries require that applicants for naturalization renounce any other citizenship that they currently hold, but whether this renunciation actually causes loss of original citizenship, as seen by the host country and by the original country, will depend on the laws of the countries involved. Arguments for increasing naturalization include reducing backlogs in naturalization applications and reshaping the electorate of the country.
Jus soli, meaning 'right of soil', is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. Also commonly referred to as birthright citizenship in some Anglophone countries, it is a rule defining a person's nationality based on their birth in the territory of the country. Jus soli was part of the English common law, in contrast to jus sanguinis, which derives from the Roman law that influenced the civil-law systems of mainland Europe.
Indian nationality law details the conditions by which a person holds Indian nationality. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the Constitution of the Republic of India and the Citizenship Act, 1955.
The primary law governing nationality of Ireland is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which came into force on 17 July 1956. Ireland is a member state of the European Union (EU), and all Irish nationals are EU citizens. They are entitled to free movement rights in EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, and may vote in elections to the European Parliament. Irish citizens also have the right to live, work, and enter and exit the United Kingdom freely, and are the only EU citizens permitted to do this due to the common travel area between the UK and Ireland.
The Assam Movement (1979–1985) was a popular uprising in Assam, India, that demanded the Government of India detect, disenfranchise and deport illegal aliens. Led by All Assam Students Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) the movement defined a six-year period of sustained civil disobedience campaigns, political instability and widespread ethnic violence. The movement ended in 1985 with the Assam Accord.
All Assam Students' Union or AASU is an Assamese nationalist student's organization in Assam, India. It is best known for leading the six-year Assam Movement against Bengalis of both Indian and Bangladeshi origin living in Assam. The original leadership of the organisation, after the historic Assam Accord of 1985, became part of the newly formed Asom Gana Parishad which formed a state government in Assam.
Since its independence in 1947, India has accepted various groups of refugees from neighbouring countries, including partition refugees from former British Indian territories that now constitute Pakistan and Bangladesh, Tibetan refugees that arrived in 1959, Chakma refugees from present day Bangladesh in early 1960s, other Bangladeshi refugees in 1965 and 1971, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from the 1980s and most recently Rohingya refugees from Myanmar. In 1992, India was seen to be hosting 400,000 refugees from eight countries. According to records with the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, as on January 1,2021, there were 58,843 Sri Lankan refugees staying in 108 refugee camps in Tamil Nadu and 54 in Odisha and 72,312 Tibetan refugees have been living in India.
The Assam Accord was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement. It was signed in the presence of the then-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi on 15 August 1985. Later, the Citizenship Act was amended for the first time the following year, in 1986. It followed a six-year agitation that started in 1979. Led by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the protestors demanded the identification and deportation of all illegal foreigners – predominantly Bangladeshi immigrants. They feared that past and continuing large scale migration was overwhelming the native population, impacting their political rights, culture, language and land rights. The Assam Movement caused the estimated death of over 855 people. The movement ended with the signing of the Assam Accord.
The Illegal Migrants (IMDT) Act was an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 1983 by the Indira Gandhi government. It was struck down by the Supreme Court of India in 2005 in Sarbananda Sonowal v. Union of India.
The Foreigners Act, 1946 is an Act of the Imperial Legislative Assembly enacted to grant the certain powers to the Interim Government of India in matters of foreigners in India. The Act was enacted before India became independent.
Pakistani nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a national of Pakistan. The primary law governing these requirements is the Pakistan Citizenship Act, 1951, which came into force on 13 April 1951.
Thai nationality law includes principles of both jus sanguinis and jus soli. Thailand's first Nationality Act was passed in 1913. The most recent law dates to 2008.
Bangladeshis in India are members of the Bangladesh diaspora who currently reside in India. The mass migration into India since Bangladesh independence has led to the creation of anti-foreigner movements, instances of mass violence and political tension between Bangladesh and India, but it has also created measurable economic benefits for both nations.
The National Register of Citizens for Assam is a registry (NRC) meant to be maintained by the Government of India for the state of Assam. It is expected to contain the names and certain relevant information for the identification of genuine Indian citizens in the state. The register for Assam was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India. Since then it was not updated until the major "updation exercise" conducted during 2013–2019, which caused numerous difficulties. In 2019, the government also declared its intention of creating such a registry for the whole of India, leading to major protests all over the country.
An illegal immigrant in India is a foreigner who has entered India either without valid documents or who initially had a valid document, but has overstayed beyond the permitted time, as per the general provisions of the Citizenship Act as amended in 2003. Such persons are not eligible for citizenship by registration or naturalisation. They are also liable to be imprisoned for 2–8 years and fined.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) was passed by the Parliament of India on 11 December 2019. It amended the Citizenship Act, 1955 by providing an accelerated pathway to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who arrived in India by 2014. The eligible minorities were stated as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians. The law does not grant such eligibility to Muslims from these countries. Additionally, the act excludes 58,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, who have lived in India since the 1980s. The act was the first time that religion had been overtly used as a criterion for citizenship under Indian law, and it attracted global criticism.
Assam Detention Camp is a group of immigration detention centers for illegal immigrants located in Assam. The first detention centre in the state had come up in 2008 under orders of the Gauhati High Court. Currently six immigration detention centres have been set up in Assam, all inside jails, in various districts of the state.
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is meant to be a register of all Indian citizens whose creation was mandated by the 2003 amendment of the Citizenship Act, 1955. Its purpose is to document all the legal citizens of India so that the illegal immigrants can be identified and deported. It has been implemented for the state of Assam starting in 2013–2014. The Government of India announced plans to implement it for the rest of the country in 2021, but it has not yet been implemented.
The Bengali Hindus are the second-largest ethno-religious group just after Assamese Hindus in Assam. As per as estimation research, around 6–7.5 million Bengali Hindus live in Assam as of 2011, majority of whom live in Barak Valley and a significant population also resides in mainland Brahmaputra Valley. The Bengali Hindus are today mostly concentrated in the Barak Valley region, and now are politically, economically and socially dominant. Assam hosts the second-largest Bengali Hindu population in India after West Bengal.
There are 4.9 million foreign-born residents in India, accounting for 0.4% of the population. 98% of immigrants to India came from a previous residence elsewhere in Asia.