The calendar obeys above all a political calculation, with the approach of the national elections scheduled for the spring. On Monday March 11, the Indian government announced the implementation of a law stigmatizing Muslims, denying them rights granted to other religions. This so-called citizenship reform was adopted by Parliament in December 2019, but had never been applied. It then sparked the largest mobilization across the country, and three months of demonstrations which ended in bloodshed, with anti-Muslim pogroms triggered by Hindu fanatics in north Delhi. Fifty-three people died.
On Monday, Interior Minister Amit Shah announced on the social network X that he was notifying the rules for implementing the law. The text aims to regularize refugees belonging to religious minorities persecuted in neighboring Muslim-majority countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – who entered India legally or illegally before the end of 2014. It thus lists the religions eligible for naturalization , Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, but excludes Muslims. However, the latter are also victims of persecution around them, like the Rohingya in Burma or the Hazara in Pakistan.
This legislation marks a constitutional break, because for the first time in the history of this secularist country, it introduces a religious criterion in obtaining nationality. “It is morally and constitutionally wrong. The introduction of religion as a criterion for granting citizenship goes against the principles of the Constitution. Throughout Indian history, citizenship has never been linked to religion,” recalls Shashi Tharoor, MP from the Congress, the main opposition party.
Marginalizing Muslims
The Supreme Court, contacted by Muslim associations, is slow to rule on the constitutionality of the provisions. Opponents argue that the text violates Article 14 of the Basic Law which stipulates the equality of all before the law. Concerns are all the more acute as the government could combine the text with the organization of a national register of citizens, as was done in Assam, an Indian region bordering Bangladesh, to identify illegal immigrants and thus target Muslims.
For all others, according to the rules set by the Ministry of the Interior, all procedures will be done online, and applicants will not need to produce a valid passport or visa. Any document showing that one of the applicant’s parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents was from one of these countries will be sufficient to prove their nationality. They will not have to demonstrate that they were persecuted. Until now, these migrants have been living in India either illegally or on long-term visas. We do not know their number.
You have 38.95% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.