DISENTANGLING THE PROTESTS
The passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has led to protests across the country. Here are the different strands of protest movements, which sometimes intersect and sometimes even clash with each other.
1 ANTI-CAA PROTESTS
This is led by political parties and civil society activists who believe that the Act, by excluding Muslims from the ambit of immigrants eligible for expedited citizenship, undermines the Constitution’s right to equality and secular values.
2 ANTI CAA-NRC PROTESTS
For this constellation of protestors, the concern is that the act, when seen along with the proposed nation-wide National Register of Citizens, will lead to exclusion of minorities and the poor who lack adequate documentation. They cite the Assam example where NRC caused hardship, and believe that while individuals from other religious communities will still have a way back in because of the Act, Muslims will have to live with the burden of proving their citizenship.
3 NORTHEAST PROTESTS
The opposition to the CAA in the Northeast emanates from historic resentment and anger against “outsiders”. While the Act exempts states which require an Inner Line Permit and sixth schedule areas, there is concern - Assam and Tripura that the new law will legitimise older immigrants and cause an influx of new ones. The fact that the cut-off date for immigrants seeking citizenship has been changed from 1971 to 2014 adds to the anxieties.
4 THE UNIVERSITY PROTESTS
While protests in select universities, particularly Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, began as opposition to the CAA-NRC, the police response galvanised other universities and students to rise up in solidarity against what they saw was an attack on the entire community. Protests spread to more than two dozen universities across the country; and thousands of academics across the world engaged with India signed petitions against the govt action.