The Centre’s decision to notify the rules for implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), just a few days before the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule, is clearly designed to polarise public opinion ahead of the crucial polls. The timing of the move raises questions over the government’s motives because it took more than four years to notify the rules after both Houses of Parliament passed the bill in December 2019, amending the Citizenship Act of 1955. The crux of the controversial amendment is that it provides an expedited route to Indian citizenship for migrants from three Islamic countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan – belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian communities. These migrants must have entered India on or before 31 December, 2014, citing religious persecution in their home countries.
The exclusion of the Muslim community from the purview of the Act has triggered a furore in the country because many see it as discriminatory on the basis of religion and unconstitutional. In a country that takes pride in secularism being its core value, religion cannot be the basis of citizenship. For the BJP, however, it means fulfilling yet another manifesto promise after other key promises like the abrogation of Article 370, construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and ending the practice of triple talaq. The challenge to the CAA rests on the ground that it violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.