Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo
Every country has a sovereign right to determine the basis of its citizenship. Normally, anyone born in a particular territory which we commonly call a nation is supposed to be the citizen of that particular nation, without any regard to his or her gender, caste or religion. Though this is a thumb rule generally applicable to every birth but it has some important riders ie, the parentage should also be the legal citizens of that particular territory and none of them should be an illegal immigrant living in the respective country. It is due to this important rider that there is an option to apply for registration as a citizen.
The citizenship normally is granted by birth, by descent, by registration and by the process of naturalisation as per the Indian Citizenship Act of 1955. This important piece of legislation has been amended a number of times by a number of governments at the centre as per the requirements of time and situation. The Indian Citizenship Act infact is a promise of the State to its subjects that no one living in its defined territory would be disqualified as a citizen provided he or she has a legal basis to prove that he or she has a right to claim the citizenship. In this context, the Act gives a clear authority to the Union of India to maintain a Registry of it’s legal citizens.
Section 14(a) of the Indian Citizenship Act 1955 is a clear mandate to the Central Government to use its political will and administrative determination to implement the promise of the law enacted by the sovereign parliament of India. The Act clearly says that the Central Government may compulsorily register every citizen of India and issue national identity card to him/her. In this particular context, the Act gives the Union of India a complete procedure to follow in order to implement the political and administrative will.
It says that the Central Government may maintain a National Register of Indian Citizens and for that purpose establish a National Registration Authority. On and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, The Registrar General of India, appointed under sub section(1) of Section 3 of the Registration of the Births & Deaths Act 1969 (18 of 1969) shall act as the National Registration Authority and he shall function as the Registrar General of Citizen Registration. The Act further specifies that 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 responsibilities and functions. The procedure to be followed in compulsory registration of the citizens of India shall be such as may be prescribed.
The reference in the Act to the 2003 Amendment Act clearly suggests that the NDA regime during the stewardship of Vajpayee and Advani had an intent to go for the National Registration of Citizens (NRC). Their intent could not be implemented primarily due to the time paucity and the nature of the coalition government plus their losing of mid-term elections in the year 2004.
The UPA government after the NDA regime interpreted wrongly the word “may” used in the Act as a choice of the government whether to implement the promise of the Act or not. Their interpretation laid stress on that the normal meaning of the word “may” doesn’t qualify the term used in the Act “compulsory registration”, and therefore they kept mum on the issue for ten long years. Moreover, their flawful interpretation also suited their ideology, practice and intent to go slow on the issue keeping in view their vote bank politics and the compulsion of coalition arithmetic.
In legal terminology, it is the words “compulsory registration” which qualify the word “may” and not the vice versa. The emergence of BJP under the Narendra Modi leadership acquired a full fledged majority in the Lok Sabha in 2014 but the mathematics of Rajya Sabha kept it away from implementing a number of promises. The decisive and increased mandate in 2019 of both BJP and NDA plus the change of arithmetic in the Rajya Sabha coupled with the tactical floor management right ab initio in both the houses of parliament resulted in thumping endorsement of the intent and will of the government. Whether the issue was of Article 370, Article 35A, Reorganisation of J&K or the creation of two Union territories or that of SC/ST Reservation Act or the Citizenship Amendment Act, the government was empowered by both the Houses in parliament to execute its will and determination.
The BJP in its manifesto in 2019 received an overwhelming support by the electorate in the general elections and it had a sacred duty to go for the implementation of its promises made, as early as possible. The debate and discussion on many important issues including the NRC occupied an essential place in the discourse of issues at the national level all these five to six years. The leaders of BJP and the government at the Centre always talked about the importance of NRC, further the Supreme Court of India monitored NRC implementation in the North-Eastern states particularly Assam for a long time.
The determination, follow-up action, will and intent of the Central government “unfortunately” lacked their worth for the last seven decades, politically speaking. In this connection, the national polity and the political class had acquired a strange psyche to keep the important pieces of law in their showcases for display and exhibition. PM Modi and the Home Minister Amit Shah took the command of the government to made it known to the nation that they meant business and that too in the early hours of the tenure of 2019-24. The Union Cabinet supported their political moves which inherently were both nationalistic and realistic and which shunned political hypocrisy and opportunism.
The proposed implementation of NRC nationwide inspired the leadership of the nation to take a decisive action regarding the minority migrant-refugees of the three adjoining countries which are the declared Islamic Nations ie, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The vote in the Parliament in favour of to allow the minorities of the three nations, who are living as the persecuted and exterminated people of their nations due to the religious genocide and ethnic cleansing to register themselves as the genuine citizens of India through the process of naturalisation is a historical step. This would also enable them, such refugees in India, to get registered as the citizens of India in the event the NRC is implemented at a national level.
It needs to be made clear that the Amendment in the Citizenship (CAA) doesn’t include the religious majority community of the three nations since that would open floodgates for the people of these three nations to over-populate India and would also defeat the important criteria of “religious persecution”. An Islamic nation is not supposed to inflict religious persecution upon its subjects of Islamic faith. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have severely (but perpetually) failed to protect their minorities and the CAA puts it on record for ever and posterity. This goes in consonance with the recent UN reports as well.
Bangladesh’s open announcement that it will take it’s illegal immigrants living in India back and their taking up the issue of Rohingyas with Myanmar is the first recognised international repercussion of the CAA. There are vivid reports of movement of these illegal immigrants from India back to Bangladesh and from Bangladesh to Myanmar. Pakistan PM Imran Khan’s announcement that it won’t be taking such illegal immigrants back clearly recognises the fact that Pakistan is in knowledge of it’s illegal immigrants living in India and it also endorses that fact.
The government of India has given to understand every Tom, Dick and Harry that national citizenship of India is not an issue of alms and it needs to be earned and one needs to qualify for that. It is entirely in tune with the spirit of granting national citizenship world wide by all countries to their citizens. It also doesn’t injure the international commitments and conventions on the issue to which the State of India is a party or a signatory.
“Stateless citizens” is a nomenclature used by the UN and UNHRC in terms of the people throughout the world who have been refused grant of citizenship by the respective countries on one pretext or the other. UN and UNHRC and its allied wings are in candid agreement that the issue of Stateless citizens would be addressed soon and a possible solution would be found well before 2024. In such a situation, the Stateless citizens in India would also have a possibility to be a part of the UN solution in case their countries refuse to take them in the event they are declared Illegal Immigrants by India formally. So, the issue of relationship between NRC and CAA has an invisible but a definitive character and will unfold with the passage of time keeping in view the national interests and core strategic political goals of the State of India.
The mandate granted by the Constitution of India coupled with the mandate given by the “we people of India” constitute a clear and sacred trust that the Government of India is supposed and expected to secure and transform into a reality notwithstanding the farcical and orchestrated opposition to the mandate. The pent-up feelings of the so-called anger which was made to explode into riot, arson and anarchy on roads recently are actually the manifestation of desperateness, defeat and double talk of the opposition in the country. Their helplessness and brittle support of people are no excuse to take away the command and mandate that the constitution and the people of India have given to the government led by the BJP top leader, PM Narender Modi and his right hand man, the Home Minister, Amit Shah.
It is now seven decades post the achievement of independence for India, that is Bharat, that the nation is due to enjoy its freedom from false narrative of nationalism and patriotism. NRC and CAA are just the beginning of a long journey ahead…..!
(Feedback: ashwanikc2012@gmail.com)
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