CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained – What is CAA 2019?

CAA NRC UCC NPR explained in detail with their timeline. Know their meaning and how it applies to citizen of India.

In 2019, India made a new law called the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA. This law changes who can become an Indian citizen. It says that people from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, or Christians can become citizens faster if they came to India before the end of 2014 and faced problems in their home countries because of their religion. But this law doesn’t apply to Muslims from these countries.

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

What is CAA

Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019: Key Provisions Simplified

Who Qualifies for Citizenship?

• Criteria for Eligibility: People from certain religious communities (Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian) in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan, who entered India before December 31, 2014, and have government exemptions, won’t be considered illegal migrants.

Granting Citizenship:

• Application Process: The Central Government or designated authorities can grant citizenship certificates to eligible individuals as per the specified conditions and restrictions.

Exemptions and Amendments:

• Foreigners Exemption: Individuals from minority communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, who fled religious persecution and arrived in India before December 31, 2014, are exempted from certain laws regarding passport and travel documents.
• Extension of Exemptions: In 2016, Afghanistan was included in the list of countries whose persecuted minorities are exempted under the amended rules.

Regional Exclusions:

• Tribal and Northeastern Regions: The citizenship provisions do not apply to tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, or Tripura, as per the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and “The Inner Line” notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873.

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

What is NRC

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is like a big list of all the people who are legal citizens of a country. It was made because of a change to the Citizenship Act in 2003. Right now, it’s only being used in the state of Assam, which is a part of India. But the political party called BJP said they want to use it for the whole country, like they promised in their plan during the 2019 elections.

NRC Rules

The NRC tries to list every person who is legally allowed to be in the country. This helps figure out who might be living there illegally, like people who came from other countries without permission. In Assam, when they tried this, they found that many people didn’t have enough documents to prove they were legal citizens, so they were considered “foreigners.”

Now, some people are worried about a new law related to citizenship called the Citizenship Act. They’re worried that this new law gives special protection to non-Muslims who say they came from Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Bangladesh because they were being treated badly in those countries. But Muslims don’t get the same protection under this law. This could be a problem especially for people who live in the border areas and look similar to people from those other countries.

Muslim leaders are saying that this new law combined with the NRC could target Muslims, saying they don’t have enough proof to show they’re legal citizens. They worry that only non-Muslims will be protected by the new law.

NPR India

The Home Minister, Amit Shah, said in an interview that Indian citizens don’t need to worry about the NRC. He said special rules will be made to make sure minority groups, like non-Muslims, won’t be treated unfairly. But some people are confused because the whole point of the NRC is to figure out who’s an Indian citizen. So, they’re not sure how these special rules will work for everyone.

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

What is UCC

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a proposal in India to create and enforce personal laws that apply to all citizens equally, irrespective of their religion, gender, or sexual orientation. Currently, personal laws for different communities are based on their religious texts. Implementing a uniform civil code nationwide is a contentious issue, and it’s been a goal pursued by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Personal laws cover matters like marriage, divorce, inheritance, adoption, and maintenance, distinguishing them from public laws.

During the British Raj, personal laws were first established, primarily for Hindu and Muslim citizens. The British hesitated to interfere further in this area due to potential opposition from community leaders. Goa, which was under Portuguese rule, retained its own family law, known as the Goa civil code, making it the only state in India with a uniform civil code. However, the Goa civil code isn’t entirely uniform, as it has special provisions for different communities, such as allowing Hindu men to practice bigamy under certain conditions.

UCC Law

After India gained independence, Hindu code bills were introduced to codify and reform personal laws among various sects within Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. However, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Parsis were exempted from these reforms, as they were considered distinct communities.

The UCC became a significant topic in Indian politics after the Shah Bano case in 1985, which raised questions about the applicability of certain laws without infringing on the right to practice religion. The focus shifted to Muslim Personal Law, which is partly based on Sharia law and allows practices like unilateral divorce and polygamy.

The UCC has been proposed twice, in November 2019 and March 2020, but was withdrawn both times without being introduced in parliament. Reports suggest that differences between the BJP and RSS led to the withdrawal of the bill. Many opposition parties and BJP’s allies from the NDA, especially from Northeast India, have opposed the UCC, fearing it will undermine the “idea of India” and eliminate special privileges for tribal communities. Despite renewed calls by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June 2023 for implementing a UCC, opposition to the idea remains strong.

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) aims to replace various laws currently applicable to different communities, which often conflict with each other. These laws encompass statutes like the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Indian Christian Marriages Act, Indian Divorce Act, and Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act. Additionally, certain codes like Sharia (Islamic laws) are not codified and are based solely on religious scriptures and interpretations.

The proposed UCC includes provisions for monogamy, equal inheritance rights for sons and daughters regarding paternal property, and gender and religion-neutral laws concerning wills, charities, religious duties, guardianship, and custody sharing. These proposals may not significantly alter the status of Hindu society, as they have already been applicable to Hindus through the Hindu Code Bills for many years.

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

What is NPR

The National Population Register NPR is a registry containing information about individuals who typically live in a village, rural area, town, ward, or specific area within a town or urban region. It was initially created in 2010 and updated in 2015 as per Sub-rule (4) of Rule 3 of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, established under the Citizenship Act, 1955.

NPR India

The NPR is regularly updated to reflect changes such as births, deaths, and migrations, in conjunction with the Houselisting and Housing Operations during upcoming Census activities. The main aim of the NPR is to develop a comprehensive database of usual residents across the country. Notably, no documents are collected during this process.

What is CAA in India?

The ruling party in India, called the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had promised to help persecuted religious minorities from nearby countries become Indian citizens. The CAA lets people who came to India before 2014 and suffered because of their religion become citizens sooner. Before, they had to live in India for 12 years before they could apply for citizenship, but now they only need to live there for 6 years. CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

Some people say the CAA is unfair because it treats people differently based on their religion, and it could make many Muslims in India stateless if they can’t prove where they were born or who they are. The United Nations and others have criticized the law, saying it goes against human rights. Some also question why the law doesn’t help persecuted minorities from other places like Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.

The CAA caused big protests in India, especially in Assam and other northeastern states. People there worry that giving citizenship to refugees from Bangladesh will affect their own rights and culture. In other parts of India, protesters think the law is unfair to Muslims and want Muslim refugees to get citizenship too. Some protests turned violent, leading to deaths, injuries, and damage to property. Some states even said they won’t follow the CAA, but the central government insists that they have to.

Citizenship Act Law CAA

Background Indian Citizenship Law In 1950, India’s Constitution said everyone living in the country would be citizens, no matter their religion. Then, in 1955, India made a law called the Citizenship Act. This law gave citizenship to people born in India with some rules. It also said how foreigners could become Indian citizens. If someone from “undivided India” lived in India for seven years, they could register to be a citizen. Others from different countries could become citizens after living in India for twelve years.

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

In the 1980s, there were protests in Assam against people coming from Bangladesh. Because of this, the government changed the Citizenship Act. In 1985, they made changes so people from Bangladesh who came before 1971 could be citizens, but others couldn’t. The government also said they would find and remove people who came after 1971.

The Citizenship Act got changed more times in 1992, 2003, 2005, and 2015. In 2003, the government added a new thing called “illegal immigrants.” These are people from other countries who come to India without permission. The law says they can’t become citizens and neither can their children. The government also started making a list of citizens called the National Register of Citizens.

Immigrants and Refugees

Many people from Bangladesh come to live in India without permission. In 2001, a report said there were 15 million illegal immigrants in India, most from Bangladesh. In 2004, the government said there were 12 million illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. People come to India from Bangladesh because of the open border, old migration habits, jobs, and cultural ties. Some Bangladeshi Hindus come because they face problems in Bangladesh. Some Pakistani Hindus also come to India because they face discrimination.

India doesn’t follow the UN rules about refugees. It doesn’t have its own rules either. All refugees are seen as illegal migrants. India has hosted many refugees, but it thinks they should go back home once things are better. There are over 456,000 refugees in India, with about 200,000 from faraway countries helped by the UN. Since the 1950s, different Indian governments have thought about making laws for refugees, but it’s been hard because of many reasons like too many refugees, city planning, costs, helping local people, and making sure tribes are safe.

BJP Government on CAA

Since 1996, the BJP has focused on finding, removing, and sending back illegal immigrants. During the 2016 elections in Assam, BJP leaders promised voters they would remove Bangladeshi migrants from the state. They also pledged to safeguard Hindus fleeing persecution in Bangladesh. This promise took a new meaning because they proposed giving citizenship to non-Muslim illegal migrants, considering them as refugees, while Muslims would face deportation.

In their 2014 election manifesto, the BJP pledged to offer a “natural home” to persecuted Hindu refugees. Just before the 2016 Assam elections, the government legalized refugees from Pakistan and Bangladesh belonging to religious minorities, granting them long-term visas. Certain groups like Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis, and Buddhists who faced persecution in their countries could stay in India.

In 2016, the BJP government proposed amending the citizenship law to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. However, the bill faced strong opposition and protests, especially in northeast India, where people feared losing their political rights and cultural identity due to migration. Many in Assam felt betrayed as the amendment conflicted with the Assam Accord, which aimed to deport all illegal Bangladeshi migrants regardless of religion.

While discussing the citizenship law amendment, the BJP government also updated the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, as directed by the Supreme Court. The updated list, released in August 2019, excluded around 1.9 million residents, putting their citizenship at risk. Many affected were Bengali Hindus, a key voter base for the BJP. Consequently, the BJP withdrew support for the Assam NRC. Home Minister Amit Shah later announced plans to implement the National Register of Citizens nationwide.

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

Introduction in Parliament

The BJP government initially introduced a bill in 2016 to change the citizenship law. This bill aimed to grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. Although the bill passed the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha halted its progress due to widespread opposition and protests in northeast India.

During its 2019 election campaign, the BJP reaffirmed its commitment to amending the citizenship act. It argued that religious minorities like Hindus and Sikhs face persecution in neighboring Muslim-majority countries and promised to speed up citizenship for non-Muslim refugees. After the elections, the BJP government crafted a bill addressing concerns from northeastern states. It excluded certain regions and tribal areas.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016, and referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on August 12, 2016. After submitting its report on January 7, 2019, the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019. However, it remained pending in the Rajya Sabha and lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.

In the 17th Lok Sabha, the Union Cabinet approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, on December 4, 2019, for introduction in Parliament. It was introduced in the 17th Lok Sabha by the Minister of Home Affairs, Amit Shah, on December 9, 2019, and passed on December 10, 2019, despite opposition attempts to delay it. The bill received 311 votes in favor and 80 against it in the Lok Sabha.

On December 11, 2019, the Rajya Sabha passed the bill with 125 votes in favor and 105 against it. Some parties outside the ruling coalition also supported the bill.

CAA implementation in india

After receiving assent from the President of India on December 12, 2019, the bill became an act and came into effect on January 10, 2020. The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) began on December 20, 2019, with the granting of citizenship certificates to seven refugees from Pakistan by Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

CAB

Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 Amendments:

• Who it Applies to: People from certain religions and countries who came to India before December 31, 2014.
• Protected Communities: Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan.
• Exemption Conditions: They must have been exempted by the Central Government from certain laws.
• New Section Added: Section 6B was added, allowing the Central Government to grant registration or naturalization certificates under certain conditions.
• Definition of Exempted Groups: The Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015, defined minority communities from Bangladesh and Pakistan facing religious persecution and arriving in India before December 31, 2014, as exempt.
• Inclusion of Afghanistan: In 2016, Afghanistan was added to the list of countries for exemption.
• Exclusion of Certain Areas: Tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, or Tripura, as per the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution and the Inner Line notified under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, were excluded from these provisions. CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

Protest against the CAA Law

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) caused a lot of protests and disagreements. In Assam, people were very upset because they thought the new law went against agreements they had before, like the Assam Accord. They were worried it would take away their political rights and hurt their culture. The protests got so intense that a big meeting between India and Japan had to be canceled.

In other parts of India, many people, including political activists and students, protested because they thought the law was unfair to Muslims. They believed that the law should also give Indian citizenship to Muslim migrants and refugees, not just to non-Muslims.

Protests happened in many big cities across India, like Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Jaipur. People in different states also protested. Unfortunately, some protests turned violent, and police ended up shooting and killing 27 people. CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

Besides protests in person, there were also a lot of debates and arguments about the law on the internet, especially on social media like Facebook and Twitter. Many people, from different backgrounds, spoke out against the law and against Islamophobia.

Protests weren’t just in India. Cities around the world, like New York, Washington D.C., Melbourne, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, Barcelona, San Francisco, Tokyo, Helsinki, and Amsterdam, saw protests against the law and the way Indian protesters were treated by the police.

In Kerala, a huge human chain was formed by about 6 to 7 million people, stretching for 700 kilometers, to show unity against the law.

Students from many universities across India, like Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and others, also protested. On December 15, the police forcefully entered Jamia Millia Islamia University and detained many students, which led to even more protests.

Muslims all over India came out to protest against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) with a strong sense of their identity as Indians. In Shaheen Bagh, a neighborhood in New Delhi, Muslim women started a peaceful protest that lasted 24/7 for more than 51 days. However, on February 24, violent clashes broke out during the North East Delhi riots, resulting in seven deaths and over a hundred injuries.

International Reactions

Different countries and organizations around the world had varied reactions to India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Here’s a breakdown of what some of them said:

Afghanistan: Hamid Karzai, former President of Afghanistan, wanted India to treat all minorities equally and expressed that Afghanistan didn’t have persecuted minorities. He mentioned that all religions in Afghanistan, including Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs, had suffered due to the conflict there.

Australia: Australian Greens MP David Shoebridge called for attention to India’s CAA and urged renegotiation of trade agreements with human rights clauses.

Bahrain: The Shura Council urged India to consider Muslim rights and respect international principles.

Bangladesh: Bangladesh’s Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed concerns about the CAA, saying it could weaken India’s secular character, though he acknowledged it was India’s internal matter. CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

France: France considered the CAA an internal matter of India and respected it.

Kuwait: Kuwait lawmakers expressed concern over India’s treatment of Muslims and urged diplomatic efforts and UN intervention.

Malaysia: Malaysia’s Prime Minister criticized the law, fearing it could deprive some Muslims of citizenship, which India denied.

Maldives: Maldives’ Parliament Speaker saw the CAA as India’s internal matter, democratically passed by its Parliament.

Pakistan: Pakistan’s Prime Minister and National Assembly criticized the Act, labeling it discriminatory and contrary to bilateral agreements.

Russia: Russia considered the CAA India’s internal matter.

Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister saw the CAA as internal to India and stated Sri Lankan Tamils were free to return.

United Kingdom: The UK hoped India would address people’s concerns, aligning with its commitment to development for all.

United States: The US Commission on International Religious Freedom called for sanctions, while the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs questioned the Bill’s intent. President Trump deferred comment, stating it’s India’s decision.

European Union: The EU Ambassador trusted that discussions about the CAA would align with India’s constitutional standards.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation: The OIC expressed concern about the CAA-NRC situation and urged India to ensure Muslim safety.

United Nations: The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights criticized the Act as discriminatory and filed an intervention in India’s Supreme Court in 2020.

Additionally, some city councils, like those in Seattle and Cambridge, passed resolutions urging India to repeal the CAA. CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

FAQ’s

Full Form of UCC

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC)

UCC Meaning

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a proposal in India to create and enforce personal laws that apply to all citizens equally, irrespective of their religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

NPR Full Form

National Population Register

NRC Full form

National Register of Citizens

UCC Full Form

Uniform Civil Code

What is UCC in India

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is a proposition in India aimed at establishing and enforcing personal laws that are uniform and applicable to all citizens regardless of their religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

CAA Full Form

Citizenship Amendment Act

CAA Long From

Citizenship Amendment Act

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained

CAA NRC UCC NPR Explained are new laws that India applied.

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