The timing is primarily a political calculation, in the run-up to the national elections scheduled for the spring. On Monday, March 11, the Indian government announced the implementation of a law that stigmatizes Muslims, denying them rights given to other religions. This citizenship reform, adopted by the Parliament in December 2019, has never been implemented. It sparked off the largest mobilization in the country, and three months of demonstrations that ended in bloodshed, with anti-Muslim pogroms unleashed by Hindu fanatics in north Delhi. Fifty-three people were killed.
On Monday, Home Minister Amit Shah announced on 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 lists the religions eligible for naturalization as Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians, but excludes Muslims. However, the latter are also victims of persecution in the surrounding area, such as the Rohingya in Myanmar or the Hazara in Pakistan.
This legislation marks a constitutional break, as for the first time in the history of this secular country, it introduces a religious criterion into the granting of nationality. "It is morally and constitutionally wrong. Introducing religion as a criterion for citizenship goes against the principles of the Constitution. Throughout India's history, citizenship has never been linked to religion," pointed out MP Shashi Tharoor of the main opposition party.
Muslim non-profits asked the Supreme Court to rule, and the judges have yet to decide on the constitutionality of the provisions. Opponents claim that the text violates Article 14 of the Basic Law, which stipulates equality of all before the law. Concerns are increased by the fact that the government could couple the text with the creation of a national register of citizens, as has been done in Assam, the Indian region bordering Bangladesh, to identify illegal immigrants and thus target Muslims.
For all others, according to the rules laid down by the ministry of interior, all procedures will be carried out 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 originally from one of these countries will be enough to prove citizenship. They will not have to show that they have been persecuted. Until now, these migrants have been living in India either illegally or on long-term visas. Their exact number is unknown.
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