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The Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill) protests, also known as the CAA Protest, CAB Protest or CAA and NRC protests,[74] occurred after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted by the Government of India on 12 December 2019. The move sparked a widespread national and overseas ongoing protests against the act and its associated proposals of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).[75] The protests first began in Assam and spread swiftly in other states such as[76] Delhi,[77]Meghalaya,[78]Arunachal Pradesh, and Tripura on 4 December 2019.[45] Protests broke out rapidly across the country, although the concerns of the protesters vary.[3][79]
The CAA amends the Indian citizenship act to provide accelerated pathway for citizenship for illegal migrants who are Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist, and Christian from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and who entered India before 2014, following the religious persecutions.[80] The bill reduced the time taken for naturalization for this category from twelve years to six years. The bill does not mention Muslims and other communities who fled from the same or other neighbouring countries. Refugees from Sri Lankan Tamils in India, Rohingyas from Myanmar, and Tibetan refugees are also not mentioned in the bill.[81][82] The proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be an official record of all legal citizens of India. Individuals would need to provide a prescribed set of documents before a specified cutoff date to be included in it.[83]
The amendment has been widely criticised as discriminating on the basis of religion, particularity for excluding Muslims.[84] Protestors against the amendment demand that it be scrapped and that the nationwide NRC not be implemented.[85][86][87] The bill has raised concerns among the Indian Muslim community.[88][89][90][91] They are also concerned that all citizens will be affected by the bureaucratic exercise of the NRC where they will have to prove their citizenship for inclusion in the registry.[92][93] The protesters have raised voices against authoritarianism and the police crackdown in universities to suppress protests.[3][94]
Protesters in Assam and other northeastern states do not want Indian citizenship to be granted to any refugee or immigrant, regardless of their religion, as they fear it would alter the region's demographic balance, resulting in a loss of their political rights, culture, and land.[95][96][97] They are also concerned that it will motivate further migration from Bangladesh that could violate the Assam Accord which was a prior agreement reached with the central government on migrants and refugees.[95][96][97]
The protests started in Assam on 4 December 2019, after the bill was introduced in parliament. Later on, protests erupted in Northeast India, and subsequently spread to the major cities of India. On 15 December, major protests took place near Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi and Aligarh Muslim University. As the protests broke out, mobs burnt and destroyed public as well as private properties and several railway stations were vandalised.[98][99][100] Police forcibly entered the campus of Jamia, used batons and tear gas on the students, and more than 200 students were injured while around 100 were detained overnight in the police station. The police action was widely criticised and resulted students across the country protesting in solidarity.[101][102]
The protests resulted in thousands of arrests and 27 deaths as of 27 December 2019.[103][67] Two 17-year-old minors were among those reported to have been killed due to police firing during a live ammunition on protesters in Assam.[104] On 19 December, the police issued a complete ban on protests in several parts of India. As a result of defying the ban, thousands of protesters were detained.[105]
^ abcSerhan, Yasmeen (18 December 2019). "When Is a Protest Too Late?". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019., Quote: "Though the protesters in India share a common opposition to the new citizenship law, their reasons for rejecting the legislation vary."
^Cite error: The named reference IEConception was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"A dark day for the country, says Jamaat-e-Islami chief". The Hindu. 15 December 2019. ISSN0971-751X. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020. He said Tamil Hindus from Sri Lanka had been persecuted and questioned why they had not been brought under the ambit of the CAA(subscription required)
^Pokharel, Krishna (17 December 2019). "India Citizenship Protests Spread to Muslim Area of Capital". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020. Protests against a new citizenship law favoring non-Muslim immigrants erupted in violence in a Muslim-dominated part of the Indian capital [...] "People are opposing this law because it discriminates against Muslims [...]
^"It's Not Just About Muslims, All Indians Will Have to Queue Up to Prove They are Indians: Owaisi". News18. 22 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020. "Why are we protesting? We are protesting because, in the country, in the name of religion, preparation is being made to make us not just second-class citizens but stateless," [Owaisi] claimed, adding it is a loss for everyone.
^Cite error: The named reference CaravanAuthoritarianism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference BBC 2 Dead was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abSaha, Abhishek (20 January 2019). "Explained: Why Assam, Northeast are angry". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019. Protesters have expressed fears that the prospect of citizenship will encourage migration from Bangladesh. They have cited several grounds for opposing this. Demography: This will change across Northeastern states, protesters say, as has already been happening in Assam and Tripura over decades of migration (see graphs). "Assamese could become the second language. Then there is also the question of loss of political rights and culture of the indigenous people," said former Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta, who was the face of the Assam Movement (1979–85) against illegal immigration, and one of the signatories to the Assam Accord at the culmination of the movement. (...) Protesters say the Bill goes against the Assam Accord and negates the ongoing update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
^ ab"India's parliament passes citizenship law, protests flare". Reuters. 11 December 2019. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020. The bill will take away our rights, language and culture with millions of Bangladeshis getting citizenship (...) people in Assam and surrounding states fear that arriving settlers could increase competition for land and upset the region's demographic balance
^"CAA: Violence, arson in south Delhi as protesters torch four buses; two injured". Livemint. 15 December 2019. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 17 January 2020. Four buses were set ablaze by a mob and two fire officials were injured in stone pelting as the protests against the newly enacted Citizenship Act" (...) "The situation turned critical when a bus was burned by the protestors and police got into action
^"Delhi cops didn't fire during Citizenship Act protests at Jamia: Officials". Business Standard India. 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 1 January 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2020. Several vehicles, including buses, were burnt down and public properties destroyed during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which was passed by Parliament last week.