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<ul style=""><li style="">The NRC process will be carried out across India, Home Minister <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-shah">Amit Shah</keyword> said in <keyword id="48510" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajya-Sabha">Rajya Sabha</keyword> on Wednesday while making it clear that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion.</li><li style="">Shah said the Government accepts that refugees - Hindu, Buddhists, Jain, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis - who left Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious atrocities should get Indian citizenship.</li><li style="">He said there is no provision in NRC that people belonging to other religions will not be included in the register.</li></ul> The NRC process will be carried out across India, Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday while making it clear that there would be no discrimination on the basis of religion. Shah said the Government accepts that refugees - Hindu, Buddhists, Jain, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis - who left Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious atrocities should get Indian citizenship. "The process of National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be carried out across the country. No one irrespective of their religion should be worried. It is just a process to get everyone under the NRC," he said replying to a supplementary during Question Hour in the Upper House. He said there is no provision in NRC that people belonging to other religions will not be included in the register. "People from all religions who are Indian citizens will be included. There is no question of any discrimination on the basis of religion. NRC is a different process and the Citizenship Amendment Bill is different," Shah said. In <keyword id="6354915" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="assam">Assam</keyword>, the NRC process was carried out as per Supreme Court order, he said and added that when the NRC process will be implemented in the entire country Assam will also be included. The Home Minister said that in Assam, people whose name has not figured in the draft list, have the right to go to the Tribunal. "Tribunals will be constituted across Assam. If any person doesn't have the money to approach tribunals, then the Assam government will bear the cost to hire a lawyer," he said. He reiterated that all citizens of India irrespective of religion will figure in the NRC list. The Home Minister said the government accepts that Hindu refugees, Buddhists, Jain, Christians and Sikh and Parsi should get this country's citizenship and this is why the Citizenship Amendment Bill is there. "All refugees coming from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on account of religious atrocities will get citizenship under the Bill," he said. He said Lok Sabha had passed the Bill and the Select Committee had approved it but Lok Sabha had lapsed. "Now it will come again. It has no connection with the NRC," he said.

NRC process to be carried out in entire country: Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha

The union cabinet today passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, <keyword id="54707" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="2016">2016</keyword> which legitimises illegal immigrants of certain religions. This attempt to sieve immigrants on the basis of religion resulted in protests and debates on the Narendra Modi-led government. What is the <keyword id="452568" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citizenship-bill">citizenship bill</keyword>? As per PRS legislative, an independent research institute. the bill amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 to add a religious angle. In its new avatar, the citizenship bill makes illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from ⁠— Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan --- eligible for citizenship. To be able to benefit from it, the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months and for 11 of the previous 14 years. For the applicants of the above mentioned six religions from three countries, the bill relaxes the 11 year requirement to six. Why was this bill being opposed? This bill which was brought to the fore in 2016 had sparked protests from many groups for picking and choosing the religion of the people who would be eligible for citizenship. PRS says that this Bill could violate Article 14 of the Indian Constitution which guarantees the right to equality. “The Bill allows cancellation of Original Citizens of India (OCI) registration for violation of any law. This is a wide ground that may cover a range of violations, including minor offences (eg. parking in a no parking zone),” said PRS. Added to that, Muslims, Jews and atheists have been left out of the bill which goes on to include only those religions who are in minority in the three countries in question. Many debaters have pointed out that Muslims are a minority in Nepal and Sri Lanka, and the amendment excludes them. The government had claimed that the Bill is for the greater good of the country, and offers sanctuary to asylum seekers. “There are some decisions that are acceptable to some, not acceptable to others. The BJP has thought deeply about the <keyword id="1814045" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Citizenship-Amendment-Bill">Citizenship Amendment Bill</keyword> before bringing it. We cannot leave a large swathe of people fleeing persecution hanging in mid-air. We believe that the Bill is necessary for the country,” Amit Shah, the home minister of India told earlier this year, as agitations against the Bill were<a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/citizenship-bill-necessary-says-amit-shah/article26168945.ece"> at the zenith.</a> Who has agitated against the bill? Though protests and marches against the bill were organized all over the country, civil groups of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh have been vehemently against it. The new bill violates the Assam Accord, 1985 — which led to deportation of illegal immigrants in the state regardless of their religion, many debaters had said. Families of around 855 martyrs of the anti-foreigners Assam Agitation of 1979-1985 had returned the citation that the government had given them in 2016. “India is a democracy, though people have the right to voice their ideas and demands, such actions are not appreciated in society,” said Assam<a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/assam-admits-protests-over-citizenship-bill-a-challenge-calls-for-calm-1987411"> Chief Secretary Alok Kumar</a>. The controversial bill coupled with National Register of Citizens (NRC) might alter the composition of many states in the country--especially the North-East which is known to harbour maximum illegal immigrants. What next? After the approval of the Union cabinet, the bill will be tabled in the Parliament next week. The bill was passed by the lower house of the last winter session had lapsed as it awaited the upper house to pass it-- and lapsed as the government was dissolved. The Union defence minister <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/union-cabinet-gives-green-signal-to-citizenship-amendment-bill-11575437696107.html">is known to </a>have asked all the MPs against absenteeism in both the houses as it is tabled. As Amit Shah tables the bill, the opposition is expected to disrupt the session, and the ruling BJP is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that it gets the green signal this time around.

What is citizenship bill and how does it affect religious freedom in India?

Several academicians, former bureaucrats and judges, writers, artistes and scientists have expressed outrage over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill calling it "divisive" and violative of the Constitution and asked the government to withdraw it. In separate letters and petitions, they asserted that the proposed legislation threatens the federal framework provided by the Constitution and will fundamentally alter the character of the Indian republic if it comes into force. In an open letter, about 600 writers, artists, activists, former bureaucrats, ex-judges asked the government not to betray the Constitution. The signatories include historian Romila Thapar, author Amitav Ghosh, actor Nandita Das, filmmakers Aparna Sen and Anand Patwardhan, activists Yogendra Yadav Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy and Bezwada Wilson, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah and the country's first CIC Wajahat Habibullah among others. "All of us from the cultural and academic communities condemn this bill as divisive, discriminatory and unconstitutional. It will, along with a nationwide NRC, bring untold suffering to people across the country. It will damage, fundamentally and irreparably, the nature of the Indian republic. This is why we demand that the government withdraw the bill. "This is why we demand that the government not betray the Constitution. We call on all people of conscience to insist that the Constitutional commitment to an equal and secular citizenry be honoured," the letter states. The Lok Sabha passed the bill a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. The contentious Bill will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there. According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31 2014 facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. If religious persecution was the logic presented in the bill, then why were refugees such as Rohingyas from Myanmar or Hindu or Muslim Tamils from Sri Lanka or Ahmadis from Pakistan left out, the signatories asked. "Why focus on only three countries as if these constitute the only possible sources of asylum-seekers?" they asked, stressing on the need to have a refugee policy in line with international law, not a legislation dictated by an ideology that makes use of religion for political gains. "The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 tears to shreds the inclusive, composite vision of India that guided our freedom struggle. In the amendments it introduces to the Citizenship Act of 1955, the new Bill violates every single one of these fundamentals of the Constitution," the letter states. After the legislation got the nod of the Lower House, civil rights activist Mander said if the bill is passed, he will practice civil disobedience. "I will officially register as a Muslim. I will then refuse to submit any documents to NRC. I will finally demand the same punishment as any undocumented Muslim -- detention centre &amp; withdrawn citizenship. Join this civil disobedience," Mander tweeted. In a separate petition, a group of scientists and academicians said the use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution. Academician Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a signatory to the petition, said the citizenship bill will convert a constitutional democracy into a unconstitutional ethnocracy. "We can debate the past forever. But with <keyword id="6363576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cab">CAB</keyword> India takes a giant step to officially convert a constitutional democracy into a unconstitutional ethnocracy," he tweeted. Academician Ramchandra Guha hit out at Home Minister <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-shah">Amit Shah</keyword> and said he was a professed Savarakrite and had no issue with Muhammad Ali Jinnah's two-nation theory. "Savarkar, 1943: I have no quarrel with Mr Jinnah's two-nation theory. We Hindus are a nation by ourselves and it is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two nations'. The home minister, a professed Savarkarite, has no quarrel with Mr Jinnah's two-nation theory either," Guha tweeted. The petition said the idea of India emerged from the independence movement, and as enshrined in the Constitution, is that of a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally. "The use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break with this history and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution. We fear, in particular, that the careful exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the bill will greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country," the petition noted. The petitioners include those affiliated to Harvard University, Masachussets University, Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Indian Institute of Science, Delhi University, Chennai Mathematical Institute, International Centre for Theoretical Science, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, the University of Bonn, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Oslo. Over 230 activists and academicians from Gujarat also wrote an open letter expressing concern over the bill. Some social organisations in Pune appealed to the Maharashtra government to move Supreme Court against the bill.

Romila Thapar, Amitav Ghosh, Nandita Das join 600 writers and artists to seek withdrawal of Citizenship Bill

<ul><li>Seven constituencies in <keyword id="6357783" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="West-bengal">West Bengal</keyword> - Bongaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Hooghly, Arambagh and Sreerampore - will head to the polls on May 6th as the election enters its latter phase. </li><li>One of the major issues polarising the state is the central government’s proposed <keyword id="383721" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="National-Register-of-Citizens">National Register of Citizens</keyword> (NRC) Bill and its pitting the incumbent state government, led by Mamata Banerjee’s TMC against the BJP, </li><li>Like the Citizenship Amendment bill, the NRC seeks to expel undocumented people living in various parts by deeming them illegal immigrants. </li><li>While campaigning at the end of March, BJP president <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-shah">Amit Shah</keyword> pledged to “throw out infiltrators” from West Bengal by implementing the NRC if voted to power.</li></ul> As India heads into its fifth week of polling, tensions are flaring in the east Indian state of West Bengal, so much so that the Election Commission (EC) is deploying members of central armed police forces <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/all-polling-booths-in-west-bengal-to-have-central-forces-from-fifth-phase/article27016769.ece">to all of the state’s polling booths </a>for the remainder of the elections. Seven constituencies in West Bengal - Bongaon, Barrackpore, Howrah, Uluberia, Hooghly, Arambagh and Sreerampore - will head to the polls on May 6th as the election enters its latter phase. One of the major issues polarising the state’s constituents is the central government’s proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) Bill and its pitting the incumbent state government, led by Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Like the Citizenship Amendment bill, the NRC seeks to expel undocumented people living in various parts by deeming them illegal immigrants. The citizenship amendment bill has been widely criticised across the country for discriminating against people on the <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/himanta-biswa-sarma-citizenship-ammendment-bill-assam-pakistan-1427021-2019-01-09">basis of religion.</a> The first draft of the NRC, released last year, left out the names of a number of residents of West Bengal. The idea has, however, gained some traction in some parts of the state such <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/west-bengal/nrc-citizenship-bill-to-decide-fortunes-in-north-bengal/articleshow/68881768.cms">as North Bengal</a> that see illegal immigration as a worrying issue. While the register is intended to be national, it is particularly important to West Bengal given its status as a border state. However, unlike states in the Northeast, West Bengal has a high number of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh. While the bill might exempt them, the TMC has stressed <a href="http://aitcofficial.org/aitc/the-bjp-is-trying-to-impose-nrc-but-well-give-them-nbc-national-biday-goodbye-certificate-mamata-banerjee-at-samsi/?lang=bengali">that they won’t be safe</a>. While campaigning at the end of March, BJP president Amit Shah pledged to <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/amit-shah-promises-nrc-in-west-bengal-with-exemption-for-hindu-refugees/article26679409.ece">“throw out infiltrators</a>” from West Bengal by implementing the NRC if voted to power. In response, the TMC has said that it <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/lok-sabha/west-bengal/will-never-allow-nrc-in-bengal-trinamool-congress/articleshow/68632272.cms">won’t allow the register to be implemented</a>, citing the division of the state on a communal basis. Just a few days ago, Bannerjee went so far as to <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/mamata-dares-bjp-to-conduct-nrc-survey-in-bengal-731661.html">dare the BJP</a> to implement the NRC. Demonetisation has also been <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha-2019/of-business-and-the-ballot-in-west-bengal/article26713937.ece">an important issue in the state</a>, which boasts a large share of informal workers and micro-small-and-medium enterprises (MSMEs). In fact, the ministry of MSME’s annual report last year shows that West Bengal had the highest number of MSMEs in the country <a href="https://msme.gov.in/sites/default/files/MSME-AR-2017-18-Eng.pdf">with nearly 8.9 billion</a> units. Given that the burden of demonetisation was disproportionately <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-government-wants-you-to-believe-that-demonetisation-didnt-slow-down-the-economy/articleshow/67785050.cms">borne by small business owners,</a> it seems highly likely that they’ll vote keeping this in mind. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lok-sabha-elections-2019-first-phase-of-polling-key-issues-in-all-states/articleshow/68824300.cms">142 million voters go to polls today in 20 states— here’s a look at the key issues in every state</a>

The concept of ‘citizenship’ is dividing voters in this large east Indian state

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Amit DaveActivists of Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) shout slogans during a protest against what they say is the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the northeastern state of Assam, in Ahmedabad, India, September 5, 2019.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>India has begun constructing a large scale detention center in the northeastern state of Assam. </li><li>According to Reuters, the expansive project in the Goalpara district includes a school, hospital, and recreation area and is meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees. </li><li><keyword id="6355005" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="news">News</keyword> of the construction of the detention facilities follows a crackdown on residents in Assam that the government now considers to be stateless. </li><li>1.9 million people were excluded from the state's register, and the country has not yet outlined what fate lies ahead for them.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>India has begun construction on a mass detention center for illegal immigrants in the Goalpara district of the northeastern state of Assam, one month after the country stripped almost two million people of citizenship.According to <a href="https://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFKCN1VT00S">Reuters</a>, which interviewed workers and contractors at the site, an area the size of seven soccer fields has been cleared to make space for the expansive project said to include a school, hospital, and recreation area. Layout plans reviewed by Reuters also show quarters for guards, a high boundary wall, and watchtower, it said.The detention center visited by Reuters is the first of at least 10 others planned in Assam. It is meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees.Government guidelines released this year indicate that detention centers should have a boundary wall at least 10-feet high lined with barbed wire, Reuters said, citing local media.The Goalpara camp has a red boundary wall and two large watchtowers. Men and women will have separate living areas, workers and contractors told Reuters. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Anuwar HazarikaA security tower inside an under-construction detention centre for illegal immigrants is pictured at a village in Goalpara district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, September 1, 2019. Picture taken September 1, 2019.</div></div></div>One contractor told Reuters that the rooms in the center would be around 350 square-feet each, with each unit housing 24 rooms. <h2>India made 1.9 million people effectively stateless last month </h2>News of the detention facilities in Assam follows a crackdown on 1.9 million residents that the government now considers to be stateless. Last month, the government <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">put out a final list</a> of all the residents in Assam considered to be Indian citizens called the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Around 33 million people submitted documents for consideration by the state, though the final list only contains 31.1 million names. According to <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">India Today</a>, the NRC is used to verify citizenship in India and is used by the government to identify anyone who immigrated from neighboring Bangladesh after March 25, 1971.Residents need to prove their citizenship by showing that either they or their ancestors were born in Assam before the cutoff date - which corresponds to the beginning of the Bangladesh War of Independence that saw hundreds of thousands of people flee the country as it split from Pakistan. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">REUTERS/Anuwar Hazarika Laborers work at a construction site of a detention centre for illegal immigrants at a village in Goalpara district in the northeastern state of Assam, India, September 1, 2019. Picture taken September 1, 2019. </div></div></div>Those excluded from the NRC have 120 days to prove their citizenship. The Assam government has previously said those not included in the register will not be detained until they are declared foreigners by a special tribunal, according to India Today. According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-politics-citizenship/india-leaves-nearly-two-million-people-off-citizens-list-fate-uncertain-idUSKCN1VL04W">Reuters</a>, state officials have not outlined what fate lies ahead for those deemed foreigners, and neighboring Bangladesh has not agreed to accept the potential influx of stateless people.<h2>Critics say the move is bringing the region to the brink of a crisis </h2>The move has faced backlash from critics who accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies of stoking racial tensions in one of India's poorest regions, which is also home to a large Muslim population. Amit Shah, the country's home affairs minister, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/09/not-a-single-illegal-immigrant-will-stay-says-india-after-register-excludes-millions">said on Sunday</a> that the government "will not allow a single illegal immigrant to stay." He also previously encouraged the country to take action against "infiltrators who were eating the country like termites," according to the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/09/not-a-single-illegal-immigrant-will-stay-says-india-after-register-excludes-millions">Guardian</a>. "Our intention is to expel illegal immigrants from the entire country and not just Assam," he <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/intend-to-expel-illegal-immigrants-from-entire-country-shah/articleshow/71047249.cms">said</a>.<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/71047249.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=cppst"></a>Read more:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-controlling-srinagar-razor-wire-2019-8"> India is controlling people in Kashmir with an elaborate maze of razor wire that changes configuration several times a day</a><a href="https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/uncertain-destiny-for-millions-in-assam-post-nrc/">Amnesty International</a> has criticized the NRC and says it leaves the futures of millions of people in the region uncertain."Many Indians, especially those belonging to poor and marginalized communities, do not have certified copies of identity documents or are unable to produce it on time to prove their citizenship," said Aakar Patel, Head of Amnesty International India. "Assam is on the brink of a crisis which would not only lead to a loss of nationality and liberty of a large group of people but also erosion of their basic rights - severely affecting the lives of generations to come."<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-revoke-article-370-quasi-independence-internet-tourists-2019-8">Earlier this month</a>, India also revoked part of its constitution which gave the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir a special status and quasi-independence. The state, which is home to a significant Muslim population, was cut off from communication and is now directly under the control of India's federal government in New Delhi. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-us-marines-respond-to-natural-disasters-hurricane-2019-8">We rode along with US Marines to see how troops respond during a hurricane</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

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<ul class="summary-list"><li>India's parliament passed a new amendment to its citizenship law earlier this month, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities while singling out its minority Muslim population. </li><li>The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> and has sparked deadly protests around the country.</li><li>The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>A controversial amendment to a law was recently passed in India, sparking deadly protests around the country and leading some to question the country's democratic values.On December 11, India's parliament passed an amendment to its Citizenship Act of 1955, which sets out guidelines for becoming a citizen in the country. The 2019 revision added a religious element to the bill, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled neighboring Muslim-majority countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> as anti-Islam, and they say it further marginalizes India's sizeable Muslim minority. Violent protests have erupted across the country in response, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-burning-protests-new-citizenship-act-2019-12">resulting in the deaths of six people</a>. Dozens more have been arrested or injured in clashes with police.The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.The bill has also handed more power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government in crafting a country which affords more rights to its Hindu majority and leaves room for further discrimination in the areas of governance and public space. <h2>What exactly does the bill say?</h2>India's Citizenship Act was first established in 1955 and created comprehensive guidelines related to citizenship in the country.It has been amended several times, including at 2003 amendment that authorized the government to keep a national register of all of its citizens (referred to as the NRC). Today, the register has not yet been implemented except in the northeastern state of Assam, which is home to a Muslim-majority population. The most recent changes to the Citizenship Act (often referred to locally as CAB or CAA) were passed by India's lower house of parliament - the Lok Sabha - on December 10, before being cleared by the upper house of parliament - the Rajya Sabha - a day later. The bill was signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.The bill was introduced by Indian home affairs minister Amit Shah, a leading member of ‎Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and it promised to provide refuge for persecuted religious minorities from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries who entered India before 2015.Notably, the act excludes Muslim migrants "as they do not face religious persecution in these Islamic countries," India's parliament <a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195783">said in a statement</a> after the bill's passage. The bill also leaves out two neighboring Buddhist countries, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, which have experienced major refugee crises in recent years. There are about 59,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees residing in over 100 camps in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30328790.ece">Indian magazine Frontline</a>, and about 30,000 that live outside these camps.The bill also ignores what the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22491&amp;LangID=E">UN has deemed the world's most persecuted minority</a>, the Rohingya Muslims, who suffered ethnic and religious cleansing at the hands of the Burmese military in Myanmar. Authorities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-india-idUSKCN1AU0UC">have reportedly pledged</a> to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in India, despite facing danger in their home state. "The only religion that the Modi government follows is the Constitution of India," the statement added.In the statement, Shah "reiterated that the Bill is not against any Minority in India and the rights of each Indian Citizen will be equally protected."The bill does not apply to Assam and other indigenous areas.A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25425&amp;LangID=E">called</a> the act "discriminatory in nature" and said it undermines India's democratic framework:"The law isn't truly about protecting the region's religious minorities," <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/17/india-citizenship-law-protests-narendra-modi-amit-shah-founding-fathers/">wrote Ravi Agrawal and Kathryn Salam of Foreign Policy</a>. "Instead, it challenges India's secularism by making religion part of the basis for citizenship."The Citizenship Act has spurred thousands of people from human rights groups, universities and religious groups to come out in protest this month. On December 15, clashes between police and students escalated on two Muslim university campuses - Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi - resulting in police <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/17/india-protests-students-condemn-barbaric-police">using batons and tear gas on students</a>.The unrest has even led authorities to deploy army personnel and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/curfew-relaxed-few-hours-guwahati-assam-boils-caa-1628386-2019-12-15">impose a curfew in Assam</a>, as protests boil over. <h2>This is not the first time the government has targeted its Muslim population</h2>India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has taken steps to further marginalize the country's Muslim population since coming into power in 2014.The NRC's exclusive use in Assam has been derided by critics as a way to of stoking religious tensions. According to a <a href="http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW18C-01%20MDDS.XLS">2011 census</a>, Muslims makeup nearly 35% of Assam's population, and are a majority in eight of the state's districts. <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">In August</a>, 1.9 million people from the region were excluded from the register, effectively stripping them of citizenship. <a href="https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/uncertain-destiny-for-millions-in-assam-post-nrc/">Amnesty International</a> has criticized the NRC and says it leaves the futures of millions of people in the region uncertain.In September, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-building-mass-detention-center-illegal-immigrants-assam-citizenship-2019-9/commerce-on-business-insider">India began construction</a> on a large-scale detention center in the Goalpara district of Assam meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees, according to Reuters. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-revoke-article-370-quasi-independence-internet-tourists-2019-8">And in August</a>, India also revoked part of its constitution which gave the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir a special status and quasi-independence. Over the past four months, Kashmir, which is home to a significant Muslim population, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/kashmiri-artists-resisting-india-months-long-lockdown-191207062705088.html">has been off from communication, held on lockdown</a>, and is now directly under the control of India's federal government in New Delhi. As part of shutting down communication, residents in Kashmir have lost access to phone lines and the internet. According to advocacy groups, the internet shutdown in the region is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-internet-shutdown-in-kashmir-is-now-the-longest-ever-in-a-democracy/2019/12/15/bb0693ea-1dfc-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html">longest-ever crackdown imposed on a democracy</a>. Only authoritarian countries, like China and Myanmar, have experienced longer internet shutdowns.The four-month internet blackout has been so severe that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-kashmir-accounts-removed-internet-blackout-2019-12">WhatsApp is deleting the accounts</a> of residents in the region because they've been inactive for so long. <h2>State-sanctioned discrimination against Muslims has had dire consequences</h2>The Modi government's attitudes and policies towards minority groups has sparked racially motivated clashes, and observers say that the ruling Hindu party has fostered a culture of impunity through its inaction in addressing violence.Shah, who crafted the citizenship bill, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/india-election-speech/amit-shah-vows-to-throw-illegal-immigrants-into-bay-of-bengal-idUSKCN1RO1YD">vowed in April</a> to throw illegal Muslim immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal. He has also <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/bjp-amit-shah-hindu-refugees-mamata-bannerjee-1499691-2019-04-11">previously referred</a> to illegal immigrants as "termites." India has also seen an increase in attacks against its Muslim minority in recent months. A February 2019 report from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/02/18/violent-cow-protection-india/vigilante-groups-attack-minorities">Human Rights Watch</a> found that between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 36 Muslims were killed across 12 Indian states. Roughly 280 people were injured across 20 states during the same period, the rights group added.In a particularly gruesome case last year, an eight-year-old Muslim girl was kidnapped, raped, and killed in Jammu and Kashmir by a group of Hindu men with the intention of committing the crime <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/six-men-convicted-in-rape-of-8-year-old-girl-that-shocked-india/2019/06/10/cde7b17c-8b5f-11e9-b162-8f6f41ec3c04_story.html">in order to drive away Muslim nomads in the area</a>. The country has also seen a <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/asia/in-southern-kashmir-there-s-little-enthusiasm-for-india-s-elections-26253">crackdown on protests</a>, attacks on the <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/narendra-modi-amit-shah-bjp-india-media">free press</a>, and history books <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/india-modi-culture/">have been rewritten</a> in favor of Hindu achievements.<h2>India is inching towards fascism</h2>Experts have noted that India is straying away from its democratic values under the Bharatiya Janata Party. "There is absolute political consensus within the Bharatiya Janata Party that India is culturally a Hindu country," Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-17/citizenship-law-moves-india-closer-to-being-hindu-country">Los Angeles Times</a>. Harish Pullanoor, an editor at Quartz India, <a href="https://qz.com/india/844672/along-with-narendra-modis-rise-india-has-displayed-classic-signs-that-foreshadow-fascism/">wrote</a> in 2016 that India was "displaying classic signs that foreshadow fascism," including the disenfranchisement of religious minorities. "The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders," wrote Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher, who wrote of a <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/">list of features</a> that define a fascist state.In April, several Muslim merchants in Old Delhi described fears of religiously-motivated violence against them. "I could be lynched right now and nobody would do anything about it," Abdul Adnan, a Muslim businessman, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/asia/modi-india-elections.html">The New York Times</a>. "My government doesn't even consider me Indian. How can that be when my ancestors have lived here hundreds of years?"According to The Times, the consensus among Indian activists and liberal political analysts is that the country, under Modi, has become "more toxically divided between Hindus and Muslims.""In plain language, they are what we now call communal fascists," Aditya Mukherjee, a retired historian told The Times. Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an op-ed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/">The Washington Post</a> in August that it was time to downgrade India's status as a world-class democracy. "Given the lack of any sort of credible opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the atmosphere of fear among religious minorities and the attacks on a free press, we are now a 40-60 democracy," he wrote of India.

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NRC process to be carried out in entire country: Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha

PTI

What is citizenship bill and how does it affect religious freedom in India?

Katya Naidu

Romila Thapar, Amitav Ghosh, Nandita Das join 600 writers and artists to seek withdrawal of Citizenship Bill

PTI

The concept of ‘citizenship’ is dividing voters in this large east Indian state

Dilsher Dhillon

India is building a mass detention center for illegal immigrants, less than a month after it effectively stripped 1.9 million people of their citizenship

Rosie Perper,Rosie Perper

Pulwama terror attack and how it has changed India in just a year

Sriram Iyer

Kejriwal's spectacular win has five lessons for Rajinikanth, Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, and Lalu Yadav

Sriram Iyer

The world's largest democracy is heading toward modern-day fascism

Rosie Perper,Rosie Perper

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