Why is there anger around India’s proposed #CitizenshipBill?

A bill containing provisions on citizenship and residency rights has sparked protests in India’s northeastern Assam state after it passed the country’s lower house of parliament.

Proposals within the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill crafted by the ruling Bharatiya Janaka Party (BJP) extend residency and citizenship rights to undocumented immigrant Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Christian, Parsis and Buddhists who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before the end of 2014. Provision for Muslim immigrants from those three countries is, however, conspicuously absent. Muslims comprise one-third of Assam’s population.

Some critics say the bill is reflexively anti-Muslim, and that the BJP is trying to shore up Hindu political support before elections due to go ahead in April or May. Meanwhile, Assamese groups are concerned that granting potentially millions of undocumented immigrants citizenship will have a negative impact on Assamese identity and political representation.

We’ll examine the citizenship proposals with our panel of experts and consider their impact both in Assam and across the country. Join the conversation.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Karma Paljor @Karma_Paljor
Editor-in-Chief EastMojo
eastmojo.com

Rana Ayyub @RanaAyyub
Journalist & writer
facebook.com/ranaayyubjournalist

Samujjal Bhattacharya
Chief advisor & spokesperson for the All Assam Students Union
facebook.com/AssamAASU

Swadesh Singh @swadesh171
Former national Vice President of BJYM
swadeshsingh.in

Read more:
Why Assam and other NE states are opposimg citizenship bill – The Times of India
Mass messaging: on Citzenship (Amendment) Bill – The Hindu

What do you think? Record a video comment or leave your thoughts in the comments below.