Seeking citizenship for a total of 4,627 Chakma-Hajong people in Arunachal Pradesh, the apex body of Chakma students from the north-eastern state has submitted a memorandum to Union home minister Amit Shah.
The request was put forth by Arunachal Pradesh Chakma Students Union (APCSU). It was in response to a recent directive by Centre authorizing officials in 13 districts of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Punjab to approve citizenship applications of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan in those districts.
The memorandum was submitted through email. It said that 14,888 Chakma-Hajongs, who are Buddhists and Hindus, migrated to India between 1964 and 1966 from Chittagong Hills Tract (CHT) of then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to escape religious persecution. The memorandum went on to add that they settled in North East Frontier Agency (now Arunachal Pradesh). It further stated that they were settled under a rehabilitation plan, allotted land and provided financial assistance, depending on the size of their families.
Even when they have been staying in Arunachal Pradesh since 1960s, the prospect of Chakma-Hajong community people getting citizenship looks bleak. They are staying in India years before the controversial year of 1971, which had the cutoff date of March 24, 1971 midnight (with regards to NRC in Assam). Despite this, they have not lost hope.
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In January 1996, the Supreme Court of India had directed the Centre to grant citizenships to Chakma-Hajong as per provisions of the Citizenship Act, 1995. In September 2015, the apex court was hearing another petition over the citizenship of Chakma-Hajong people. It had then directed the Centre to process the pending citizenship applications of 4,627 Chakma and Hajongs within three months.
APCSU president Drishya Muni Chakma said in anguish that the apex court’s direction has not been complied with and is getting delayed for one reason or the other.
The submitted memorandum urged the Home Minister to grant citizenship to 4,627 Chakma-Hajongs immediately. It requested the MHA to instruct the Arunachal Pradesh government to allow enrolment of all eligible Chakmas and Hajongs in electoral rolls. The memorandum also asked the central government to include the two communities in central and state welfare schemes.
Drishya Muni Chakma said, “Shah had indicated two years ago that the Chakma-Hajong problem will be resolved before October 2020. We seek his urgent intervention in granting citizenship to 4,627 and also ensure that those who got citizenship are able to enjoy all facilities and rights.”
As per census carried out in 2011, there are 47,471 Chakmas and Hajongs in Arunachal Pradesh. Nearly 90% out of their total population have got citizenship by birth under Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.
Problems faced by Chakma-Hajong
Between 1964 and 1969 around 15000-16000 people belonging to the category of Chakma-Hajong had migrated into the then North-Eastern Frontier Agency, which is now known as Arunachal Pradesh. A total of 14888 of this group of migrant population had settled in Arunachal Pradesh.
Chakma and Hajong are ethnic people who historically lived in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, most of which are located in Bangladesh. Among them, the Chakmas are predominantly Buddhists, while Hajongs are Hindus. Currently, they are found in northeast India, West Bengal, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Chakma-Hajong had fled erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1964-65 and came to India and settled in Arunachal Pradesh. They had to flee Bangladesh as Chakmas lost their land to the development of the Kaptai Dam on the Karnaphuli River, Bangladesh. And, Hajongs faced religious persecution as they were non-Muslims and did not speak Bengali.
In 2015, the Supreme Court directed GOI to grant citizenship to Chakma and Hajongs who had migrated from Bangladesh in 1964-69. While hearing a plea by the Committee for Citizenship Rights of the Chakmas, the order was passed by the Apex Court.
When the central government was discussing about bringing in the CAA, there was a rush of hope and happiness flooding the community. But, a small caveat stripped away their hopes.
Technically due to circumstances of the place of their residence, they do not come under the ambit of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA).
Their main place of residence, Arunachal Pradesh is among the states exempted from the CAA since it has an inner line permit to regulate entry of outsiders.
Currently, Chakmas and Hajongs are citizens by birth as per Section 3(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The eligible portion of their population exercises the adult franchise and vote as citizens of India as they were given voting rights in 2004.
A total of 4,637 pleas of the survivors of migration during 1964-1969 are still pending with the Centre even as some of the applicants have died.
Refugees belonging to Chakma and Hajong did not have citizenship and land rights. They were provided basic amenities by the state government in Arunachal Pradesh. The state government led by Pema Khandu has argued that granting citizenship to such refugees would reduce indigenous tribal communities to a minority and deprive them of opportunities. This disposition of the state government and the ILP in Arunachal Pradesh form two main barriers to obtaining citizenship under CAA.
Provisions of Citizenship Act, 1955 and CAA 2019
Citizenship Act of 1955 provides for the acquisition and determination of Indian citizenship.
Under Citizenship Act, 1955, there are four ways in which Indian citizenship can be acquired: birth, descent, registration and naturalisation. The provisions are described below.
1: By Birth:
Every person born in India on or after 26.01.1950 but before 01.07.1987 is an Indian citizen irrespective of the nationality of his/her parents.
Every person born in India between 01.07.1987 and 02.12.2004 is a citizen of India given either of his/her parents is a citizen of the country at the time of his/her birth.
Every person born in India on or after 3.12.2004 is a citizen of the country given both his/her parents are Indians or at least one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant at the time of birth.
2: By Registration:
Citizenship can also be acquired by registration. Some of the mandatory rules are:
A person of Indian origin who has been a resident of India for 7 years before applying for registration.
A person of Indian origin who is a resident of any country outside undivided India.
A person who is married to an Indian citizen and is ordinarily resident for 7 years before applying for registration.
Minor children of persons who are citizens of India.
3: By Descent:
A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if his/her father was a citizen of India by birth.
A person born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, but before December 3, 2004 if either of his/her parent was a citizen of India by birth.
If a person born outside India or or after December 3, 2004 has to acquire citizenship, his/her parents have to declare that the minor does not hold a passport of another country and his/her birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of birth.
4: By Naturalisation:
A person can acquire citizenship by naturalisation if he/she is ordinarily resident of India for 12 years (throughout 12 months preceding the date of application and 11 years in the aggregate) and fulfils all qualifications in the third schedule of the Citizenship Act.
The Act does not provide for dual citizenship or dual nationality. It only allows citizenship for a person listed under the provisions above ie: by birth, descent, registration or naturalisation.
After 1955, the Citizenship act has been amended four times in 1986, 2003, 2005, and 2015.
Through these amendments, Indian Parliament has narrowed down the wider and universal principles of citizenship based on the fact of birth. Apart from this, Foreigners Act places a heavy burden on the individual to prove that he/she is not a foreigner.
There was a special rider in the 1986 amendment which made the conditions for obtaining citizenship more stringent. Unlike the constitutional provisions of Articles 5-11 in Part II of constitution and the original Citizenship Act that gave citizenship on the principle of jus soli to everyone born in India, the 1986 amendment to Section 3 was less inclusive.
The 2003 amendment made the above condition more stringent, keeping in consideration the infiltration from Bangladesh.
Currently, the law requires that for those born on or after December 4, 2004, in addition to the fact of their own birth, both parents should be Indian citizens or one parent must be Indian citizen and other should not be an illegal migrant.
With these new restrictive amendments, India has almost moved towards the narrow principle of jus sanguinis or blood relationship. This essentially means that an illegal migrant cannot claim citizenship by naturalisation or registration even if he has been a resident of India for seven years.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 proposed to permit members of six communities Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to continue to live in India if they entered India before December 14, 2014.
The CAA also seeks to reduce the requirement for citizenship from 11 years to just 6 years. These migrants were also exempted from the Passport Act and Foreigners Act by two notifications. In Assam, a large number of organizations have been protesting against this Bill as it may grant citizenship to Bangladeshi Hindu illegal migrants.
