What is the CAA & NRC?
There has been a lot of confusion about the meaning of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Watch the video for a clear & objective explanation.
There has been a lot of confusion about the meaning of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Many people are completely against it and many are supporting it. We have had many requests from the Deaf community to explain about the CAA without supporting any party. Let me tell you about it.
The original Citizenship Act was passed in 1955. Amit Shah presented the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Lok Sabha & the Rajya Sabha where many MPs voted in favour of it and it was passed by both the houses. The CAB was then approved by the President of India Ram Nath Kovind and now it has Become the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)
What does the CAA say?
-
The CAA focuses on three countries. Pakistan, Bangladesh & Afghanistan. The CAA says that 6 religious minorities such as Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian from these three countries who have entered India on or before 31st December 2014, will be given Indian Citizenship.
-
They will be given fast track Indian citizenship in six years.
-
The law focuses on giving Indian citizenship to religious minorities that face persecution in these three countries.
-
Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh & Afghanistan will not be given Indian Citizenship.
It is not only CAA that people are talking about. People are talking about CAA & NRC as well.
So what is the NRC?
The NRC stands for the National Register of Citizens. On the Supreme Court’s order, the NRC was implemented under the Citizenship Act 1955 only for the state of Assam between 2013–2014. Many people illegally enter and stay in Assam, which is why the number of Assamese people is reducing and illegal immigrants is increasing.The main aim of the NRC in Assam was to identify illegal immigrants in Assam to make sure Assam’s culture is protected. In Assam people had to prove that they are Indian citizens by showing various documents. On 31st August, after checking all the documents, the Indian Government released the NRC which was a list of all the legal citizens in Assam. 19 lakh people of Assam were not included in the list and could lose their citizenship.
People who have not been included in the list can appeal in the Court. But once all their legal options are over, they will be sent to a detention centre in Goalpara, Assam. This is India’s first Detention centre and it is the size of 7 football fields.On 19th November 2019, Amit Shah announced in the Rajya Sabha that the NRC will be implemented all over India. People all over India will have to prove their citizenship. If they can not prove their citizenship, they will be sent to the detention centres or deported. The construction of detention centres in Maharashtra & has already started.However the Indian Government has not clearly announced how the NRC will be implemented in the country and what are the documents required.
Now on 22nd December while addressing a gathering at the Ram Leela Maidan, PM Modi said that there was no discussion of implementing NRC all over India. In Assam NRC was implemented because of the Supreme Courts order.
