Amidst this hue and cry among different sections of this diverse country we have a Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 which is a one step forward towards the realization of the Maha Upanishad concept “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” i.e. “the world is one family”. Since 1955, we have the Citizenship Act, 1955 but due to the advent of time there is a need of the hour to be moulded as per the demand of the current situations and arising challenging international and national circumstances.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 proposes to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 on two grounds. Firstly, illegal migrants and secondly Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders. Subsequently, the next question which arises in the mind that who are the illegal migrants. The answer to this question is given under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920 which specifically laid down that following persons shall be called as illegal migrants who either:
- enters the country without valid travel documents like passport; or
- enters with valid documents but stay beyond the permitted period of time.
The Government of India through the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 tries to make illegal migrants who are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan will be eligible for citizenship as well as they should be the applicant who must have resided in India during the last 6 years and belongs to the same six religions and three countries which are specified in the Bill as compared to the Citizenship Act, 1955 which provides citizenship by naturalization under section 6 of the Act which says that person must have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 also provides that the registration of the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders may be cancelled if they violate any law.This move of the government is in the larger interest of the people and nation which will reflect our culture and tradition in action as well.
Submitted by- Anusha Rai
