Arguments against the Amendment Act

♤ Classification of countries: It is not clear why migrants from these countries are differentiated from migrants from other neighboring countries such as Sri Lanka (Buddhism is the state religion) and Myanmar (primacy to Buddhism).

o Sri Lanka has had a history of persecution of a linguistic minority in the country, the Tamil Eelams.

o Myanmar has had a history of persecution of a religious minority, the Rohingya Muslims.

♤ Classification of minority communities: The amendment simply mentions the 6 ‘minority communities’ and there is no mention of ‘persecuted minorities’ or ‘religious persecution.’ So, ideally it should not differentiate between religious persecution and political persecution. Moreover, exclusion of Muslims, Jews and Atheists from CAA is said to be violation of Article 14 of the constitution. For example:

o Persecution of co-religionists like Shias, Hazaras or Ahmadiyya Muslims in Pakistan (who are considered non-Muslims in that country).

o The murder of atheists in Bangladesh has also been noticed.

♤ Classification based on date of entry: CAA also offers differential treatment to migrants based on their date of entry into India, i.e., whether they entered India before or after December 31, 2014.

♤ Against the letter and spirit of Assam Accord: The Assam accord put the date of detection and deportation of foreigners as March 25 1971, whereas, for other states, it was 1951.

o CAA extends the cut-off date for NRC from 25th March 1971 to 31st Dec 2014. CAA extends the cut-off date for NRC from 25th March 1971 to 31st Dec 2014.

♤ Cancellation of OCI registration: giving the central government the power to prescribe the list of laws whose violation result in cancellation of OCI registration, may amount to an excessive delegation of powers by the legislature.

♤ Implication on external relations: The amendment implies that religious persecution of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh as one of the reasons for the amendment and also implies that Muslim migrants from Bangladesh will be “thrown out”.

o This invites trouble from Bangladesh with bearing on bilateral issues. India’s strong commitment to civic nationalism and religious pluralism, have been important pillars on which India’s strategic partnerships with the US and the West have been built, which may be imperiled.