All About Citizenship Amendment Act

Dear Blogger, In past few days, there is lot of resistance on street against the Citizenship Amendment Act recently passed by parliament of  India with thumping majority. Why it is so when parliament enacted it with majority. What went wrong? What are the salient features of this amendment Act? Is the protest against it is based on wrong interpretation of it? Violent protests on the Citizenship Amendment Act  are unfortunate and deeply distressing. Debate,discussion and dissent are essential parts of democracy but, never has damage to public property and disturbance of normal life been part of our ethos.Let me discuss in detail.
        In Greek, it is told that there are three types of people in any country irrespective of its location on the world map. One is 'IDIOTS'.Such category of people are very selfish,self centered and busy in their own lives. They don't have time for society, common issues it faces,etc. In fact they are good for nothing. Second is 'TRIBAL'. Such category of people are concerned about their group of people, their cast and creed. They are better than 'IDIOTS' in the sense that they are at least bothered about their kith and kin,relatives,group of people belonging to their sect,tribe etc. Third is 'CITIZEN'. Such category of people are well informed,concerned about the well fare of whole society.They discuss.debate and reach to a conclusion based on facts. They take time to fight injustice with peaceful means. They are the essence of any successful country.
     Therefore, as per Greek traditions, Citizen means a person who is well informed and who is concerned about the issues which impact Nation as a whole. Now we need to analyze the present violent protest against Citizenship Amendment Act [CAA] in India with the above mentioned criteria in mind. We will find that the opposition seems mindless and without any basis. It appears that whole situation is deliberately created by few who has vested interested in the protest. I am surprised when I see the students coming in streets with wrong logic. It appears that Students have even not gone through the wordings of this Act or the provisions of Citizenship Act.1955 before coming out for protest. It seems more of sentiment and fear about future course of action probably planned by government of the day rather than facts of CAA.
    For any country, Citizens are the main factor. India has enacted Citizenship Act 1955 with Citizenship rules amended from time to time to cater the need of the hour. The latest Citizenship rules were framed in 2009. As per the act, there are five ways to get Indian Citizenship as follows:-

1. Citizenship by Birth
2. Citizenship by descent
3. Citizenship by registration
4. Citizenship by Naturalisation
5. Citizenship by incorporation

     The Citizenship Act,1955 provides for acquisition, determination,and termination of Indian citizenship. As discussed above Citizenship of India can be acquired by Birth (Section 3), by descent (section 4),by registration (section 5),or by naturalisation (section 6) or by incorporation of territory (section 7). Any foreigner on becoming eligible can acquire citizenship by registration or by naturalization irrespective of his country or his community.
     Now, the parliament of India has enacted an amendment to this Act by The Citizenship (Amendment) Act,2019 popularly known as CAA. It has been made effective from 10th January 2020. It enables migrants/foreigners of six minority communities from three specified countries who have come to India because of persecution on grounds of their religion to apply for Indian citizenship. It does not amend any existing legal provision which enables any foreigner of any class,creed,religion,category,etc to apply for Indian citizenship through registration or naturalization modes.Such a foreigner has to become eligible to apply for Citizenship after fulfilling the minimum legal requirements.
  The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill has been in the public domain since 2016. It was cleared by a 30-member Parliamentary Committee consisting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members. The present act is broadly based on the same Bill.
    As it is clear from above discussion, The CAA does not apply to Indian citizens. They are completely unaffected by it. It only seeks to grant Indian citizenship to particular foreigners who have suffered persecution on ground of their religion in three neighbouring countries.
    In the year 2015-16, Government of India has already amended rules to provide long term visa(LTV) and legalized the entry of such foreign migrants belonging to six minority communities from these three countries who had come in to India up to December 2014 because of persecution on grounds of religion. Now through this CAA, they are being given Citizenship of India.
     On different occasions, special provisions have been made by Government of India in the past too. 4.61 Lakh Tamils of Indian origin were given Citizenship in 1964-2008 after signing of International agreements in 1964 and 1974. Similarly, during 1962-78, more than 2 Lakh Burmese of Indian origin fled from Burma were given Citizenship. In 2004, Central government delegated the power to grant citizenship by registration to six collectors of Gujrat and Rajasthan in respect of Hindu migrants displaced due to 1965 and 1971.
     During the last six years, around 2830 Pakistani Citizens,912 Afghani Citizens and 172 Bangladeshi Citizens have been given Indian Citizenship. Between 2016 to 2018, 391 Afghani and 1595 Pakistani migrants and in 2019, 40 Afghani and 172 Pakistani migrants have been granted citizenship. About 14864 Bangladeshi nationals were also granted Indian Citizenship after incorporating more than fifty enclaves of Bangladesh into Indian territory post the boundary agreement between India and Bangladesh in 2014.
    All the above are factual details readily available on numerous websites including government documents. I did not find any provision which is against any Indian Citizen.
    In the light of above, where is the scope of violent protest? It appears that vested interest political parties are trying to infuse sentiments on wrong grounds and provoking people to come on street and protest. If any of these protesters take the pain to go through the provisions of these CAA, they would not have come to protest. That is the serious issue because ill informed population is not Citizen actually as per Greek traditions as discussed above.
   Some people say that Why the Baluchis,Ahmediyas in Pakistan, Rohingayas in Myanmar not included in CAA.  The fact is, CAA has not stopped any foreigners of any country from applying for Indian Citizenship undet the Citizenship Act,1955 on fulfillment of the qualifications provided in the relevant sections of The Citizenship Act,1955.
     There have been some concern form North-Eastern states regarding CAA. These concerns have been taken care of as CAA would not apply to tribal area of Assam,Meghalaya,Mizoram or Tripura as included in the 6th schedule to the Constitution and the area covered under 'The Inner Line ' notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. Manipur has also been added under the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime.
   In my view, this issue should be seen as a humanitarian one,beyond political ideologies. There should be constructive politics on this issue. People should be informed properly....Keep on blogging..Jai Hind

Who is undermining Institutions??

Dear blogger, I am perturbed on seeing reports of vandalism, violence and mindless opposition of government action almost on daily basis through news paper or through digital media. I often hear the views of many that incumbent government is undermining Institutions. Is it true? I am putting up my observations for you to decide in right perspective.

    First of all, India is a healthy democracy with vibrant legislature and strong media including social media. It is difficult for anyone to undermine Institutions created by Constitution or by government statute. For e.g. Election Commission of India which has been constituted by Constitution. It is to ensure free and fair elections which is very much essential in a healthy democracy. But see the disturbing trends since 2014 that opposition parties are blaming EC and EVMs. The mindless opposition and illogical arguments given by opposition parties clearly indicates that they are the one who are undermining Institution. I have written previously in detail on this blog, how EVMs functions and why they cant be compromised. After recent victory in Jharkhand election, now opposition is completely silent on EVMs. This is not fair to hard work done by Election Commission of India which has reputation among international community.

    Secondly, it was alleged that in India, central government is crushing Media. The facts says otherwise. We have The Hindu,Indian Express,The Wire,NDTV etc etc who are continuously presenting free voices without any fear and favour. Had the government been crushing them,they would not be in apposition to survive but they are flourishing. Opposition parties are regularly making false claims that Media is being crushed. So basically, opposition is undermining this Institution of media as well.

   Thirdly, It is being said that government agencies like CBI,ED,Income Tax,DRI,DGGI all premier investigating agencies of India are being misused by incumbent government. The fact is these agencies has elaborate SOPs to act upon intelligence received. As prime  minister told in a gathering that few wrong doers in Industry who have been booked my investigating agencies are being termed as if whole government is against business establishment. This is not true. There are several corporate houses who have misused Banking sector to take humongous loans and vanished.Action needs to be taken by agency in the national interest. For e.g Neerav Modi case by E.D., Vijay Malaya case etc are all wrong doings by these corporate houses.

   Based on above I conclude my discussion today. My only point is to give you different perspective. We need to analyze the situation based on facts an then express or form our opinions on any issue….keep on blogging…     

Happy New Year 2020

Dear Bloggers,I wish you all a very happy,prosperous,healthy and meaningful year 2020.May God give you enough opportunities in this year to prove yourself with a meaningful goal. Be positive and do constructive....Once again, a very happy new year to all...keep on blogging.

Will the bureaucracy change in 2020?

Dear Bloggers, I am re-publishing a thought provoking article written by eminent journalist

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s constant refrain to officials at high-level meetings is to aim high and justify the huge political mandate the public gave him in the 2019 general elections. He virtually goads the secretaries to the government not to take baby steps, but to deliver big for India, commensurate with the trust the public reposed in the Modi government.

Stung by the official under-assessment of the country-wide anti- Citizenship Amendment Act protests, home minister Amit Shah virtually said the same thing to the assembled law enforcers at the Intelligence Bureau Endowment Lecture on December 23, albeit in the context of internal security.

Addressing the intelligence community and top police officers, Shah said there was a difference between rumour and information and asked them to be more operational rather than restrict themselves to merely writing reports and analyses.

While PM Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar led from the front to counter the Pakistani global propaganda over abrogation of article 370, the action on the ground was firmly led by Shah and national security advisor Ajit Doval.

The meticulous planning post the abrogation of article 370 and the Ayodhya judgement was only possible due to defined targets given to core national security teams.

In many ways, these were individual-driven responses and not institutionalized ones, with the Indian bureaucracy failing to convey India’s point of view to the liberal western media targeting the Modi government over developments ranging from the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 paramilitary troopers in Kashmir in February to the anti-CAA stir in December.

PM Modi has already broken the three silos existing within the Indian armed forces by appointing General Bipin Rawat, the first Chief of Defence Staff, to promote operational synergy despite serious bureaucratic reservations. The CDS decision was not a simple one given the inherent uneasiness between the political and military leadership since Nehru’s days.

The CDS decision should pave way for PM Modi to overhaul the Indian bureaucracy, which more than often promotes seniority over merit and encourages turf wars in the name of national interest.

Rather than only depend on the wisdom of officers who cleared a certain exam some 30 or 35 years ago, there is a need to induct professionals at the secretary level through lateral entry. It does not take rocket science to predict that dyed-in-the-wool Delhi Gymkhana-going secretaries will allow lateral entry joint secretaries to enter the official sanctum sanctorum to function in their ministries.

As the political mandate was huge and unprecedented for decades, the merit and innovative skills of an officer should be given preference over mere seniority or age. Fact is that the academic tools required to clear the All India Services Exam are dated and need a thorough overhaul in order to sync it with the 21st century, where technology is developing at the speed of light.

The high degree of specialization required in commerce and trade matters these days is clearly far beyond the comprehension of generalist officers, who more than often learn on the job through hits and misses.

Specialization of the same level but in a different context applies to Indian diplomacy as in the world today perceptions are more sacrosanct than facts. The projection of India should be the key objective of Indian diplomats rather than behaving like satraps in countries where they are posted. The rise of China in the Indian subcontinent, particularly Nepal, needs urgent attention and the diplomatic task today goes beyond the daily beating-up of Pakistan.

At least for the neighborhood, the five permanent members of UN Security Council (also called P-5), Japan, Israel, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, India needs to push its best diplomats to handle the task.

Just as the political mandate the PM won was unprecedented, so is the challenge he faces of reforming a bureaucracy that still suffers from an imperial hangover."...keep on blogging...

Source:- Hindustantimes..An article by Sri Shishir Gupta