CAA attempts to divide India on communal lines

APRIL 2020 TOPIC: “Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), enacted by the Parliament, attempts to divide the country on communal lines.” What do you think?

The Citizenship Amendment Act passed by Parliament on 11 December 2019 clearly states that all illegal immigrants who have entered the country before December 2014 having the required documents will be granted Indian citizenship and therefore all the rights by the Indian Constitution and in specific has not mentioned about providing citizenship to some particular communities. Our Constitution clearly states that ours is a secular country and people of all castes and religions are welcome, and are allowed to practise their respective faiths. By not following this section of the Constitution in one way or the other, it can be clearly stated that this Act attempts to divide the country on communal grounds leading to communal discords, riots and unrest.
Senjuti Saibal Bhattacharya (19)
A. C. Patil College of Engineering, Kharghar, Navi Mumbai

India is inhabited by people belonging to different religions, integrating vivid cultures and languages. We are proud of its unity in diversity. The CAA seeks to amend the definition of illegal immigrants for Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist and Christian immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who lived in India without documentation. The Act thus discriminates against Muslims and violates the right to equality enshrined in the Constitution. India is a bouquet of religions; if we pluck one flower from it then it is not good for the nation.
Chanpreet Kaur Bhinder (13)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar

The Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) enacted by Parliament is attempting to divide the country. There have been riots in Delhi as well as other areas. No religion speaks about destroying other religions. It’s purely terrorism. This is destroying our country. At this time we should stand together. Our country shouldn’t be divided. History should not repeat itself.
Jessica Pereira (17)
Mount Carmel Junior College, Pune

As a result of the Citizenship Amendment Act enacted by Parliament, the entire country was divided in two, but not on communal basis: one group supporting the Act and the other one against it. Gujarat is the most supportive region whereas West Bengal is the most protesting region. This division is based on opinion/ideology only and not on communal lines. This is the beauty and strength of India, where different notions of different people coexist. People are diverse and their opinions too. But harmony and tolerance is foremost.
Sweta Raj
Indira Gandhi National Open University, Patna

The CAA is trying to establish Muslims as second class citizens of India by providing preferential treatment to other religious groups. This is against the Constitution’s Article 14, which grants fundamental rights to all citizens. The Parliament cannot reconstruct its basic structure. Educated citizens can provide the required documents easily, but the poor and illiterate will find it difficult to do so even after being true Indian citizens for decades. Secondly, this is a discriminatory step which considers Muslims as inferior while the rest superior. Our country was known all over the world for its democratic policies. This Act takes away this impression of the world about India.
Ayesha Faruqi
Mary Immaculate Girls High School, Kalina, Mumbai

One way or the other this Act attempts to divide the country on communal lines, India is a secular country not a theocracy, while the CAA seeks to amend that the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist and the Christian refugees from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan which were once part of India before 1947, will get Indian citizenship excluding the Muslim community and discriminating against them, which violates the right to equal treatment and has led to one of the biggest controversies in our country, today.
Mariyam N. Ahmad (16)
St Mary’s Convent, Prayagraj

Those from the Muslim minority, and the downtrodden sections of the society will be adversely affected by the Act. People who will not be able to submit their identity documents will be termed outsiders. Apart from this, those immigrants who are Hindu, Muslim, Jain, Parsi, Sikh and Christian will get Indian citizenship on tough conditions whereas Muslim immigrants will be sent back to their countries and won’t get citizenship. The Indian Constitution is always “religion neutral” but the present government has amended it on religious lines to establish a “Hindu rashtra”.
Palakshi Kalra (12)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar

The CAA seems divisive by design but it safeguards the rights of all citizens of India. The decision still upholds India’s position as a secular nation. The Act only allows citizenship rights to religious minorities from neighbouring countries that are deprived of religious freedom and citizenship rights similar to those enjoyed by the majority population of those countries. India does not allow varying civilian rights based of religious practices. Under this law the selected minority will get civil identification, home and growth opportunities which they lack in the country of origin, this is the fundamental point of the proposed law. This Act should not be feared by anyone as it does not take away the rights of any Indian citizen.
Soumya Langalia (11)
Ryan School, Borivali

The Citizenship Amendment Act is a blot on the democracy and Constitution of India. Our Constitution does not allow any sort of differentiation and inequalities based on caste, creed, religion or gender. The Act is totally against the Constitution. It violates not only Article 14, Article 15 A or Article 21, rather it is against its Preamble and basic rights. The present government is targeting Muslims and wants to divide the nation on communal lines, India has the legacy of brotherhood and it will stand up and fight against such fascist acts that want to break India’s spiritual soul.
Rashmo Mehta (14)
St Joseph’s Convent High School, Jethuli, Patna

The Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) is a path to Indian citizenship for illegal migrants of Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi and Christian religious minorities, who fled persecution from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan before 31 December 2014. Muslims from those countries are not given such eligibility. For the first time in India, religion is overtly used as a criterion for citizenship. The Act is widely criticized as discriminating on the basis of religion. OHCHR called it “fundamentally discriminatory” adding that “India’s goal of protecting persecuted groups is welcome”, but this should be done through a non-discriminatory robust national asylum system”.
Sargun Kaur (13)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar

The CAA goes against our Constitution. This law should be opposed. Indirectly the state is discriminating on the basis of religion and people are causing destruction through riots. . The state is following Nazi ideology by building detention camps for those who are not citizens of India. There is nothing wrong if people of different religions live together peacefully. It’s good if the government brings some changes in this law which may make it more secular or may reverse it. It’s better to build hospitals rather than detention camps to save humans and humanity.
Rainy Maheshkar (14)
Agragami Convent School, Wardha

The CAA is made to safeguard the minorities of our neighbouring countries which include Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. These are Muslim countries and the minorities there are non-Muslims. It is fair enough to protect these minorities which are subjected to atrocities, kidnapping, religious persecution and rape. Some people are mixing the CAA with NRC, and are trying to confuse others by telling them that the citizenship of Muslims is in danger because of CAA. While the truth is that the CAA is an Act of providing citizenship and not snatching it from the people who are already in India, despite their religious belonging. Secondly, it provides citizenship not only to Hindus but also to Christians, Sikhs and other minorities from the above nations.
Shivam Uniyal (20)
HNBGU, Srinagar Garhwal

The Citizenship Amendment Act will not take away citizenship of anyone rather it will provide citizenship to persecuted people particularly from three countries — Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It will provide citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christians and Buddhists, i.e., except Muslims. The question is, do we have only three neighbouring countries or only five religions persecuted? Of course, not. The present government is targeting Muslims because it has the RSS ideology and follows the Hindutva agenda!
Rashi Mehta (15)
St Joseph’s Convent High School, Jethuli, Patna