NEW DELHI: The controversy surrounding the contentious citizenship law enacted in 2019 has undoubtedly been one of the biggest challenges faced by the Narendra Modi government during its second term.

Months after assuming office on May 30, the Modi government introduced the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Parliament amid a massive backlash from the opposition parties.
Despite stiff opposition, the government managed to get the bill cleared in both Houses of Parliament. It became a law in December 2019 after President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act grants citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Buddhists and Christians fleeing religious persecution from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and who came to India on or before December 31, 2014. The law, however, excludes Muslims.

What makes the law even more controversial is when it is seen in conjunction with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC). The government had said it will extend the NRC activity, an exercise hitherto specific to Assam, to the rest of the country.
Moreover, Union home minister Amit Shah’s statement that we must “understand the chronology” of CAA and NRC sparked fears.

Many feared that this would result in people from the minority community losing their citizenship status in case they are unable to prove their residential status and sent to detention centres.

The government tried to quell these fears and denied any link between the CAA and NRC. But it was too late.

The issue sparked off massive anti-CAA protests across the country, with some even taking a violent turn.

But it was the months-long Shaheen Bagh protest in the national capital that hogged the national spotlight.

What started as a sit-in protest by a group of around 100 residents turned into one of the largest campsites for anti-CAA protests. For 101 days, hundreds of anti-CAA protesters led by local women blocked a major road at Shaheen Bagh.
It was cleared only the day before nationwide lockdown was imposed in March 2020 to contain Covid-19 spread.

The opposition parties also staged demonstrations demanding a roll back of the legislation, saying that CAA discriminates on religious lines. They alleged that the CAA, along with NRC, intends to target India’s Muslim community and threatens the social fabric of the nation.

The government put up a staunch defence of the law with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah taking the lead.

PM Modi said that his government introduced the CAA to correct “historical” injustices and recalled the Nehru-Liaquat pact to assert that the law fulfills India’s “old promise” to religious minorities in neighbouring countries.

Meanwhile, the rules to the CAA – guidelines on how the legislation will be implemented – are yet to be notified by the Centre.

The pandemic has forced the government put the implementation of CAA on hold. However, activist groups have warned that if the government proceeds with the implementation of CAA-NRC, the protesters will hit the streets again.
At least 10 non-BJP states have passed a resolution against the law and have urged the Union government to revoke it.

The government had recently told Rajya Sabha that it is yet to take a call on the nationwide NRC. With efforts directed at handling the pandemic, the issue has been put into cold storage for now. It remains to be seen whether it takes centrestage again during the remainder of Modi government’s second term.

This story was first appeared on timesofindia.indiatimes.com