Lesson 3 - Debates on Citizenship
In general, citizenship means a
legal membership of the state. The emergence of modern state and its
establishment as the nation-state has added new dimensions to the membership of
a person in a state. Such membership is not only associated with the status of
the person in the state but it also determines the corresponding rights and
responsibilities.
Historical/Theoretical
understanding on Citizenship
Prior to the emergence of modern
states, the membership of a person in a state was attached to his membership of
community and such membership provided them the status of subject. This status
secured them their livelihood by attaching themselves with the resources of the
state and fulfilling the duty of paying tax, military service during war and so
on, in return.
Between 5th to 4th Century BCE in
Athens we can trace the modern ideas of citizenship. First of all, Aristotle in
his book ‘Politics’ envisaged the civic life of the community as ‘being ruled
and rule in turn’. However, it is also important to note that such rights were
very limited in scope and females, slaves and the foreigners were out of its
purview. Although through this idea Aristotle tried to achieve the normative
goal of people’s participation in political decision making, but it was at the
cost of excluding a major proportion of the community.
Greek ideas on citizenship was
further modified and extended under the Roman Empire. The expansion of Roman
Empire resulted in the inclusion of people from different regions and races.
The Greek ideas of limited citizenship can’t be helpful, hence Romanized Greek
scholars like Cicero and Polybius developed an idea of citizenship that was
derived from the territories.
During medieval time, the
conception of citizenship was based on legal protection but the political power
was controlled by religious leader like the Pope of Christian Church and the
Church became the focal point of allegiance for the political community.
Nonetheless, political thinkers like Machiavelli asserted that the active
citizenship is the prime virtue for the Republic that was further affirmed by
the scholars like Rousseau in modern times.
Struggle for Rights and T H
Marshall
Sketching the development of the
idea of citizenship in Britain, Marshall wrote in his book ‘Citizenship and
Social Class (1950)’, that it concluded in three steps. First of all, civil
rights and then political and social rights were achieved. In the first stage
of struggle for rights, equal rights were demanded by the emerging bourgeois
class against the king and his privileges.
However, it is important to note
that all the citizens of state were not given these rights together. Initially
bourgeois class fought and secured these rights from the kings and later labour
class and masses got these rights through their struggle against bourgeois
class in which Marxist movement played a significant role. It is also important
to note that it took more than two hundred years for a major proportion of
state’s population to secure citizenship rights, and women had to wait even
more to be recognized as equal citizens. Hence, it’s obvious that Marshall
defined citizenship as an individual’s full and equal membership in the state.
Citizenship in India
Partition of India and emergence
of two new states (India and Pakistan) was premised upon the identification of
its inhabitants into two different nations and demand for corresponding states
for them. Partition resulted in huge movement of people across the borders. The
obvious consequence was the identification of the citizens and the contestation
to find out the basis of such identification. There was no consensus in the
Constituent Assembly on this issue. One set of thought was of the opinion that
all those who had born within the Indian territory were entitled to citizenship
status while the other group favored a racial-cultural basis of citizenship.
Constitutional Provisions of
Citizenship
Article 5 to 11 of Part II of
Indian constitution discusses the provisions of citizenship in India. At the
commencement of Indian constitution on 26 January 1950 following four
categories of persons recognized as the citizens of India:
1) According to article 5, a
person who had his domicile in India and also fulfilled any one of the three
conditions, viz., if he was born in India; or if either of his parents was born
in India; or if he has been ordinarily resident in India for five years
immediately before the commencement of the Constitution, became a citizen of
India.
2) According to article 6, a person who
migrated to India from Pakistan became an Indian citizen if he or either of his
parents or any of his grandparents was born in undivided India and also
fulfilled any one of the two conditions viz., in case he migrated to India
before July19, 1948, he had been ordinarily resident in India since the date of
his migration; or in case he migrated to India on or after July 19, 1948, he
had been registered as a citizen of India.
3) According to article 7, a
person who migrated to Pakistan from India after March 1, 1947, but later
returned to India for resettlement could become an Indian citizen. For this, he
had to be resident in India for six months preceding the date of his
application for registration.
4) According to article 8, a
person who, or any of whose parents or grandparents, was born in undivided
India but who is ordinarily residing outside India shall become an Indian
citizen if he has been registered as a citizen of India by the diplomatic or
consular representative of India in the country of his residence, whether
before or after he commencement of the Constitution.
In short, these provisions deal
with the citizenship of a) persons domiciled in India; b) persons migrated from
Pakistan; c) persons migrated to Pakistan but later returned; and d) persons of
Indian origin residing outside India.
Legal Provisions Related to
Citizenship
In light of above power, the
Indian constitution enacted he citizenship act 1955 and it has been amended
eight times in 1957, 1960, 1985, 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005 and 2015 since then.
The Citizenship act of 1955 prescribes five ways of acquiring citizenship in
India, viz., birth, descent, registration, naturalization and incorporation of
territory.
1) Acquisition of Citizenship by
birth: a person born in India on or after 26th January 1950 but before 1st July
1987 is a citizen of India by birth irrespective of the nationality of his
parents.
A person born in India on or after 1st July
1987 is considered as a citizen of India only if either of his parents is a
citizen of India at the time of his birth.
2) Acquisition of Citizenship by
Descent: A person born outside India on or after 26th January 1950 but before
10th December 1992 is a citizen of India by descent, if his father was a
citizen of India at the time of his birth.
A person born outside India on or after 10th
December 1992 is considered as a citizen of India if either of his parents is a
citizen of India at the time of his birth.
From 3rd December 2004 onwards, a
person born outside India shall not be a citizen of India by descent, unless
his birth is registered at an Indian consulate within one year of the date of
birth or with the permission of the Central Government, after the expiry of the
said period.
3) Acquisition of Citizenship by
Registration:
a) a person of Indian origin who
is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application
for registration;
b) a person of Indian origin who
is ordinarily resident in any country or place outside undivided India;
c) a person who is married to a
citizen of India and is ordinarily resident in India for seven year before
making an application for registration;
d) minor children of persons who are citizens
of India;
e) a person of full age and
capacity whose parents are registered as citizens of India;
f) a person of full age and capacity who, or
either of his parents, was earlier citizen of independent India, and is
ordinarily resident in India for twelve months immediately before making an
application for registration;
g) a person of full age and capacity who has
been registered as an overseas citizen of India cardholder for five years, and
who is ordinarily resident in India for twelve months immediately before making
an application for registration;
4) Acquisition of Citizenship by
Naturalisation:
a) that he is not a subject or
citizen of any country where citizens of India are prevented from becoming
subjects or citizens of that country by naturalization;
b) that, if he is a citizen of any country, he
undertakes to renounce the citizenship of that country in the event of his
application for Indian citizenship being accepted;
c) that, he has either resided in
India or been in the service of a government in India or partly the one and
partly the other, throughout the period of twelve months immediately preceding
the date of the application;
d) that, during the fourteen
years immediately preceding the said period of twelve months, he has either
resided in India or been in the service of a government in India or partly the
one and partly the other, for periods amounting in the aggregate to not less
than eleven years;
e) that, he is of good character;
f) that, he has an adequate
knowledge of a language specified in the Eighth Schedule to the constitution,
and
g) that, in the event of a
certificate of naturalisation being granted to him, he intends to reside in
India, or to enter into or continue in, service under a government in India or
under an international organization of which India is a member or under a
society, company or body of persons established in India.
5) Acquisition of Citizenship by
Incorporation of Territory: If any foreign territory becomes a part of India,
the government of India specifies the person who among the people of the
territory shall be the citizen of India. Such persons become the citizens of
India from the notified date.
1.B.A Political Science 1st Lesson Important Notes
2.B.A Political Science 2nd Lesson Important Notes
3. B.A Political Science 3rd Lesson Important Notes
4.B.A Political Science 4th Lesson Important Notes
5. B.A. Political Science 5th Lesson Important Notes
Loss of Citizenship
1) By
Renunciation: Any citizen of India of full age and capacity can make a
declaration renouncing his Indian citizenship. Upon the registration of that
declaration, that person ceases to be a citizen of India. However, if such a
declaration is made during a war in which India is engaged, its registration
shall be withheld by the Central government.
2) By
Termination: When an Indian citizen voluntarily (consciously, knowingly and
without duress, undue influence or compulsion) acquires the citizenship of
another country, his Indian citizenship automatically terminates. This
provision, however, does not apply during a war in which India is engaged.
3) By
Deprivation: It is a compulsory termination of Indian citizenship by the
Central government, if:
a) the citizen has obtained the citizenship by fraud;
b) the citizen has shown disloyalty to the constitution of
India;
c) the citizen has unlawfully traded or communicated with
the enemy during a war;
d) the citizen has, within five years after registration or
naturalization, been imprisoned in any country for two years; and
e) the citizen has
been ordinarily resident out India for seven years continuously.
Special Provisions of Citizenship in Assam under Assam
Accord
To identify illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam and
determine their citizenship status following provisions have been added through
Citizenship (amendment) act 1985:
1) All persons of
Indian origin who came to Assam before the 1st January, 1966 from Bangladesh
and who have been ordinarily residents in Assam since the date of their entry
into Assam shall be deemed to be citizens of India as from the 1st January,
1966.
2) Every person of Indian origin who came to Assam on or
after the 1st January, 1966 but before the 25th March, 1971 from Bangladesh and
who has been ordinarily resident in Assam since then the date of his entry into
Assam and who has been detected to be a foreigner shall register himself. Such
a registered person shall be deemed to be a citizen of India for all purposes
as from the date of expiry of a period of ten years from the date of detection
as a foreigner.
Assam Accord and the Question of Identification of
Illegal Immigrants
The special provisions with respect to Assam add a new
category of citizenship in Indian constitution that accepts even illegal
immigrants as legal citizens. It is worth remembering that Assam had been
witnessing a continuous flow of outsiders from rest of India and illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh since the colonial time that continued after independence
and even the formation of Bangladesh. Therefore, a strong anti-outsiders and anti-foreigners movement
has registered a continuous presence in Assam to save the language, culture and
political dominance of local Assamese. To deal with this issue detection,
deletion and deportation of illegal migrants residing in Assam gained
prominence and in 1983 Central government enacted and establish Illegal
Migration (Determination by Tribunal) Act 1983. The same responsibility has
been endowed to Foreigner’s Tribunal Act 1946 for rest of India.
Assam Accord and National Register of Citizens
Assam Accord was signed between the leaders of All Assam
Student Union (AASU) that spearheaded the Assam movement and the then Prime
Minister Rajeev Gandhi to preserve the socio-cultural and political fabric of
the natives of Assam and to identify and deport the illegal Bangladeshi
immigrants from Assam. However, the failure of IMDT tribunal and nullifying of
the act by Supreme Court in 2005 bring this issue to the forefront of political
contestations in the state. During the last Assembly elections and the General
elections this was the prime electoral plank of the right-wing parties like the
BJP and AASU. BJP promised to update the National Register of Citizens 1951 in
the state to identify the illegal citizens.
Recently the tribunal to perform the exercise released the
final list of citizens that excluded around 19 Lakhs people from the NRC list.
It has been believed that a major proportion of the excluded population would
be Muslims. Surprisingly, the number of the illegal citizens was far less than
claimed by the political outfits and the bunch of them constitutes Hindus not
Muslims. The current dispensation at the Centre that is also the ruling party
in the Assam has asserted that the Hindus excluded from the NRC list will be
provided citizenship while the Muslims will be deported. It may lead to
introduction of citizenship on the basis of religious affiliation. Moreover,
many states like Haryana, Uttrakhand also proposing to prepare NRC in the
state. That may turn whole population into suspect citizens need to be verified
through NRC. Though there is nothing wrong in implementing NRC in whole country
but the question is what normative value we are looking to achieve through this
exercise. If it is only to make our citizenship more exclusionary then it
requires some valid justification and wider consensus.
4.B.A Political Science Hons. History Lesson 4th Important Notes Part 2
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