The law issued in late 2019 was met with massive demonstrations in the country at the time (Reuters)

New Delhi

- Last Monday, the Indian government issued regulations implementing the amended Citizenship Law issued in December 2019, which was not implemented at the time due to major protests across the country and the Corona pandemic.

To silence opponents, the government decided to implement the first step of this law by granting citizenship to illegal non-Muslim immigrants, followed by the second step by conducting a nationwide census to determine who is an Indian citizen according to documents that each individual will be required to present.

A Muslim who does not have these papers will be denied citizenship, while non-Muslims will obtain it by claiming to have come from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh.

More than 200 cases have been filed in the Supreme Court against this law, but the court has not even begun to consider its legality, and its opponents say that it violates Articles 14 and 26 of the Indian Constitution, which prohibit discrimination between citizens on the basis of religion.

Does timing have anything to do with implementing the citizenship law now?

There are two reasons for announcing the implementation of the new citizenship law now: The first is that this was done days before the date of the next general elections was announced, as the government may not announce or take any major decision after the election is announced.

The second reason is that the Indian government found itself in a major dilemma - last Monday - when the ruling People's Party was exposed in the issue of electoral bonds, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government began in 2017 with "strange and suspicious" controls, including not revealing the identity of donors to political parties.

The ruling party obtained hundreds of billions of rupees from companies and businessmen in this way, and donated some of it after state agencies raided its offices and the homes of its owners and managers.

Cases were filed against these bonds in the Supreme Court, which ruled them illegal due to their lack of transparency.

This is one of the biggest scandals that have befallen the ruling party so far, so the implementation of the citizenship law was quickly announced on the same day, with its news overshadowing the news of the bonds.

Are there other steps to the citizenship law?

The Indian government says - in its statements - that this law is not against Muslims.

But that contradicts the truth because the implemented part gives citizenship to non-Muslim legal immigrants already in India while denying it to Muslims.

But the greatest danger comes after the elections expected next May, if the People's Party wins.

The next part of this law requires a general survey to be conducted throughout India to find out who is an Indian citizen and who is an “infiltrator.”

When it is implemented, every citizen will be required to provide certain documents that not all Indians usually have, such as an official birth certificate, high school graduation certificate, or land ownership papers, and thus millions of Muslims will be deprived of Indian citizenship.

Shortly after announcing the implementation of the first part, the Indian Ministry of Interior said - in a statement - that the citizenship law “is not against Muslims, but rather serves Islam, whose reputation is being tarnished due to the abuse of non-Muslims in some Islamic countries.”

After "sarcastic" questions were raised about this statement, it was quickly deleted from the ministry's website.

There are fears that the government will exploit the law to withdraw citizenship from Muslims who do not have documents in some border states (Reuters)

How was the announcement of the implementation of the citizenship law met?

After the announcement of its first step, protests began in many places and in some universities, especially in the state of Assam, because the Assamese reject the Bengalis, whether they are Muslims or Hindus, and they see that the government - in this way - gives citizenship to illegal Bengali Hindu immigrants, which is unacceptable to them.

Several states, such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, announced that they would not implement the new citizenship law within their borders, as it is a political game for the People's Party to win the Hindu voter on the eve of the elections.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal denounced it.

For their part, major Islamic organizations and figures in India issued a statement denouncing the implementation of the law and considered it an attack on the principles of equality and justice and in conflict with the spirit of the Indian Constitution.

Many international bodies also opposed this law, including the United States and the United Nations, which said it was a law that differentiates between citizens on the basis of religion and opposes the legal principles and international conventions signed by the Indian government.

How will the citizenship law be implemented?

It will be implemented in 3 stages: The first is to allow illegal non-Muslim immigrants - who entered India until the end of 2014 - to submit papers that are easy to obtain.

The second stage includes conducting a survey on every household - throughout India - during which every individual and family is required to submit certain difficult-to-obtain documents to prove citizenship, and whoever is unable to submit them will have their citizenship stripped.

As for the third stage, the National Population Register will be published, which contains the names of all Indian citizens. Anyone whose name does not appear in the register will be considered an illegal resident or an “infiltrator,” and will be arrested and placed in concentration camps.

He cannot be deported to any country because all neighboring countries refuse to receive any person of this type.

Thousands went out to protest against the draft citizenship law amended in 2019 (French)

What are the consequences of denaturalization?

Removing citizenship from a person has serious consequences that India cannot bear, as if it is stripped from only 1% of the population, this means that 13 million citizens will lose it.

But it is believed that the percentage will be much higher.

Since neighboring countries will not accept them, the government has set up detention camps for them in Assam and they are being set up in other states.

What is the goal of the Indian People's Party in activating the citizenship law?

The Modi government aims to create polarization ahead of the elections to send a message to Hindu voters that the government is working for them and is punishing Muslims for voting for the People's Party, whose cadres are stoking sectarian unrest, attacking mosques and demolishing Muslim homes and cemeteries.

Does the new law solve the problem of minorities in neighboring countries?

The amended law allows displaced persons, who entered India until the end of 2014, to apply for citizenship on the grounds that they fled their country due to religious persecution.

The law also ignores countries neighboring India, such as Sri Lanka, Burma, and Bhutan, whose minorities suffer because of the mistreatment of the governments of those countries.

Source: Al Jazeera