Citizenship Amendment Act
There have been large demonstrations across the country both for and against the Citizenship Amendment Act which was passed last month. The act is said to be discriminatory by some, but is welcomed by others, yet many on either side are unaware of the complete details. The Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 by providing a path to Indian citizenship for the religious minorities, namely Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who faced "persecution or fear of persecution" in their countries and entered India on or before 31 December 2014. The act also relaxes the residence requirement for the naturalisation of these migrants from 11 years to 5 years. This is not the first time the act has been amended. In 1986, it was amended so that only children that had at least one parent that was an Indian citizen could qualify for citizenship. In 2003, it was amended so that no parents of a chil