THE CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) BILL 2016 AND SOUTH ASIAN REFUGEES

Citizenship is the one of the basic weapon of human being to live life with dignity in any nation. A person who is citizen of any country is entitled to enjoy civil and political right in sovereign state. Therefore, in order to take benefits of several, social and economic rights a person must seek citizenship of nation in which he is willing to live in. Recently, A new Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, introduced in the Indian parliament proposed easing the path to citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains,Parsis,and Christians fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. In omitting Muslims, Jews, Bahais etc migrants and other south Asian Refugees from this provision, however, the bill has stimulated religious and ethnic tensions in India and South Asian Refugees. This bill gives preference to Hindu refugees over Muslim refugees and other South Asian Refugees migrating in India which is unconstitutional as the preamble of the Indian constitution confirms India as secular state. The most notable criticism of proposed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016,is whole contradictory with Humanitarian refugees policy .one hand the bill provides for an opportunity to a particular community to seek citizenship of India but other hand this bill discriminates & exclude other communities like Muslims, Jews, Bahais etc migrants. In this context the purpose of this paper to enumerate the impacts of the amendment and it’s social and constitutional ramification.