Current Question : Citizenship Act is an extension of and commitment to the idea of secularism. Comment (15 Marks/200 words)

Model Answer :

The idea of the CAA was mooted and finally given shape in law to protect people from religious persecution in three neighboring countries — Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. All of them are Islamic states and the increasing radicalisation of society in these countries led to brute religious majoritarianism against minorities — Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. There has been consensus in India that such victims should be given dignity and protection.

The Indian state has never been antithetical to the cause of minorities in our neighborhood, irrespective of the political party in power. Such victims have been accommodated during the Congress government in the past as well. Even the Left parties supported India’s active intervention to protect “refugees” from Bangladesh.

The CAA also corrects the historical mistake committed in the Nehru-Liaquat pact. The CAA is a fulfilment of the historical responsibility to those people whom Partition made stateless. India’s secular democracy has historically been invested with moral force and this has been exhibited by the CAA. Earlier, governments used gradualism to provide protection to the Hindus and other minorities of these states.

The concept of citizenship is not static or stagnant. It is a dynamic process and is intertwined with the nation state. It progressively expands and sometimes, unwillingly, shrinks according to circumstances. The CAA fulfils both the constitutional morality and civilisational ethos historically endowed to us. (Total Words- 227)

(Linkages : CAA and Secularism, CAA and Minorities, CAA and Constitutional Morality)

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