Citizenship Amendment Bill,2019 Passed | Why is it opposed

Citizenship Amendment Bill,2019 Passed. Why is it opposed? Rajya Sabha cleared the Citizenship Amendment Bill with 125 in favour and 105 against. What is Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019? The bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to refugees from 6 communities- Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian, Jain, and Parsi coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The refugees are assumed to those who were “forced or compelled to take shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of their religion” in their native country. The bill gives the facility to Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) cardholder to travel in India, work, and study in the country. Unlike in the Citizenship Act 1955 which said a person may be given an OCI card, if he is of Indian origin (e.g., a former citizen of India or their descendants) or the spouse of a person of Indian origin. Acquiring Citizenship In the Citizenship Act 1955, it was mandatory for a person to stay in India for at least 11 years to acquire citizenship naturally. The period was then reduced to 6 years in the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. And now in the CAB 2019 the period has been reduced to 5 years. However, the bill will not give these benefits to the illegal migrants of tribal areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. Why the bill is opposed? • The bill is opposed because it does not give citizenship to illegal migrants of Muslim community from these 3 countries. • People are arguing that this amendment is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution as it opposes discrimination with anyone based only on caste, religion, sex, and place, etc. Now the bill will be presented to the President. Once the President gives his consent, the bill will become an act.