Parliament passes Citizenship (Amendment) Bill

In a historic move, the Rajya Sabha passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill which was already passed by the Lok Sabha. Backed by the BJP government, this Bill would become an Act of law after the President of India Ramnath Kovind signs it. The bill has been drawing a lot of protests around the country due to its controversial nature. Assam has been witnessing the maximum amount of protests. The government introduced Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 which will provide Indian citizenship to the six minority communities from Muslim-majority countries of Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. These six minority communities are - Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian and Sikhs. At present, it is mandatory for a person to stay here for at least 11 years to get citizenship of India. The bill will reduce this period to six years. It will enable people from these communities to get Indian citizenship in six years. It will make some amendments to the Citizenship Act 1955 to provide legal aid for citizenship. In Indian law, if you enter India without proper visa and passport, you can be jailed or sent back to your country. But this Bill would be relaxed for these six communities. People from Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Christian and Sikh communities who come from either Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan would not be put in jail. If they stay here for more than six year, they would be given Indian citizenship. Many opposition parties are protesting against the bill, calling it non-secular. It may go to Supreme Court for revision.