BJP and the story of a subterfuge

In its Lok Sabha election manifesto in 2019,the Bharatiya Janata Party made 75 promises to coincide with India’s 75th Independence day in 2022. By amending the original Act of 1955, the 2019 Bill sought to grant citizenship status to illegal immigrants of six religious groups from the three neighbouring Muslim-dominated countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh on the hypothetical assumption that they were in India after fleeing persecution or anticipated persecution on account of their religious identity. Therefore, under the present Act, all such persons who had entered India without valid documents before December 2014 would automatically be eligible for Indian citizenship by the end of 2019 as the waiting period has been reduced from 11 to five years. By classifying certain categories of immigrants who have been awaiting naturalisation, the present Act has effectively excluded Bengali-speaking Muslims, identified as illegal immigrants, from claiming that same right, especially those who had stayed in India for an aggregate of 11 years for economic or other reasons, including those fleeing their home country on grounds of persecution as in the case of Rohingya Muslims. The amendment was “discriminatory and potentially disastrous” as it implied that Bangladeshi Hindus, who were in detention centres in Assam and faced deportation or were declared illegal foreigners, would get relief while their Muslim compatriots would face legal proceedings.