India, Dec. 14 -- On December 9, 2019, and on December 11, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which aimed to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955. After the President's assent, the bill became an Act.
The bill seeks to provide citizenship to immigrants and refugees who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. The reason behind granting citizenship is that these religious communities are minorities in the above-mentioned counties, and have been subject to state-sponsored discrimination. The Bill excludes the Muslim community.
According to the provisions of the Bill, it will not apply...