Amelia Charlotte :
Much has been read and said about the recent Citizenship amendment act which was passed by the Indian Parliament flagging concerns for neighbouring countries of India including Bangladesh. Do we really have to worry about this enactment which Indian Parliament made? The answer is an overwhelming No. In real terms the number of Bangladeshi people seeking citizenship in India is abysmally low. What we have between both countries is, due to porous nature of border, there are floating populations both sides of the border moving from one side to other due to multifarious reasons.
The people living near international border between Bangladesh and India have relations across border and some of them are crossing international boundary illegally to meet their relatives, while some are engaged in illegal trade and cattle smuggling and so on and so forth. However, when it comes to seeking permanent citizenship in India, there is no statistics available today as how many people really want to become Indian citizen. For an average Bangladeshi sustenance in India is a big factor. Bangladesh, due to its stupendous economic strides, is offering more employment scope than India. The number of minority population, particularly Hindus is not interested to settle in India. The hullabaloo in Bangladesh of the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act therefore is unnecessary and instead would be counterproductive for Bangladesh.
The enactment which was passed by Indian Parliament including the Upper House Rajya Sabha and Lower House Lok Sabha has the support of ruling NDA constituents. As in all democratic setups opposition parties in India rejected the new law calling it controversial. However it is interesting to note that opposition parties in India including the main opposition party Congress was toying with such as enactment some years back but could not do so due to domestic compulsions at that time. The law passed is, therefore aimed to accrue brownie points to the ruling dispensation in India at a time when opposition parties are disarrayed. The law therefore has more internal ramifications within India than to countries in India’s neighbourhood.
Bangladesh is unnecessarily becoming a whipping boy of the law. It is also said that the law is more West Bengal centric as ruling BJP is aiming to dislodge outrageous political enemy Mamata Banerjee in the forthcoming assembly election in the state of West Bengal. There have been tremendous strides in bilateral relations in the recent past between Indian State of Tripura and Bangladesh after new government was formed in Tripura. The new citizenship law is to suit internal political interests of the ruling BJP.
The right of citizenship has been a contentious issue throughout the world. Western European countries have enacted stricter border management to throttle attempts of refugee influx from war torn Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. These people escaping conflicts in their own countries are paying huge amount of money to unscrupulous human traffickers to smuggle them to countries like UK, Germany, Italy and France. Scores of people have perished in choppy seas and fallen to the bullets of border guards, scores of stories remain unreported.
Even Turkey has put restrictions on influx of refugees from Syria. These people though belong to similar ethnicity and religion and Turkish government due to fear of domestic fallout is declining to accept Syrian refugees on their soil. The only country who is offering ultra sympathetic consideration to refugee influx in the world is Bangladesh. Despite multifarious domestic compulsions, Bangladesh has accepted more than 12 lakh hapless refugees from Myanmar who are escaping brutal suppression by the Myanmarese military junta.
It may be recalled that even oil rich Gulf countries have not expressed willingness for stay to a handful of Rohingyas who managed to flee to these countries by using Bangladeshi travel documents. These handfuls of Rohingyas who managed to reach countries like Saudi Arabia were then forcefully expelled and sent back to Bangladesh.
-2-
India is not a signatory to either the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. It does not have a national policy on refugees. All refugees are classed as ‘illegal migrants’. While India has been willing to host refugees, its traditional position is that such refugees must return to their home countries after the situation returns to normal. According to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, India hosts refugees in excess of 4,56,000, with 2, 00,000 from ‘non-neighboring’ countries hosted via the UNHCR.
In 2015 the government legalized such refugees, granting them long-term visas. They also announced that Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to ‘minority communities’ would be exempted from the requirements of the Passport (entry into India) Act 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946. Specially mentioned were ‘Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists’, who had been ‘compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution’. Eligibility for the exemption was made contingent on a migrant having arrived in India by 31st December 2014.
According to the Indian government, Section 5 and 6 of its existing Citizenship Act offer a ‘legal process of acquiring Indian citizenship by any foreigner of any category’ without limit on numbers or religion. Under these provisions, hundreds of Muslims have applied and been granted Indian citizenship in the ‘last few years’, according to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.
CAA and Bangladesh
Bangladesh is being unwisely carried away by uproar in India due to the law which is purely India’s own concern. As Bangladesh is the process of graduating to middle income country by 2030 all its socio-economic indicators are towards positive projectile. Bangladesh is targeted to archive GDP growth of over 8% during 2020-21 which is the highest in the world.
The employment creation and human life standard indices of Bangladesh are also highest of entire South Asian region. The average salary of a skilled worker in Bangladesh is also the highest among the region. Therefore, Bangladesh would be capable to cater to employment needs of its citizens and rather would be requiring manpower to run its economy from neighbouring countries including India by 2030. Therefore, instead of Bangladeshis seeking citizenship in India, it would be Indians who would be interested to travel to Bangladesh for better income and prosperity.
As religious harmony in Bangladesh is one of the best in the region, no minority community member would be interested to seek citizenship in India. The Hindu community in Bangladesh has assimilated well in Bangladeshi society and is proud to be part of own Bangladeshi identity. There would not be any takers in Bangladesh of the offer of Indian citizenship.
The uproar in India about CAA is purely domestic and some of the anti-liberation parties and outfits in Bangladesh are unnecessarily burning its midnight oil and paying heed to the issue. The need of the time is to maintain communal harmony in the society and not allow opportunistic elements to exploit situation citing situation in a neighbouring country to create political instability.
(Amelia Charlotte, freelance writer, research fellow, University of Sydney)
Much has been read and said about the recent Citizenship amendment act which was passed by the Indian Parliament flagging concerns for neighbouring countries of India including Bangladesh. Do we really have to worry about this enactment which Indian Parliament made? The answer is an overwhelming No. In real terms the number of Bangladeshi people seeking citizenship in India is abysmally low. What we have between both countries is, due to porous nature of border, there are floating populations both sides of the border moving from one side to other due to multifarious reasons.
The people living near international border between Bangladesh and India have relations across border and some of them are crossing international boundary illegally to meet their relatives, while some are engaged in illegal trade and cattle smuggling and so on and so forth. However, when it comes to seeking permanent citizenship in India, there is no statistics available today as how many people really want to become Indian citizen. For an average Bangladeshi sustenance in India is a big factor. Bangladesh, due to its stupendous economic strides, is offering more employment scope than India. The number of minority population, particularly Hindus is not interested to settle in India. The hullabaloo in Bangladesh of the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act therefore is unnecessary and instead would be counterproductive for Bangladesh.
The enactment which was passed by Indian Parliament including the Upper House Rajya Sabha and Lower House Lok Sabha has the support of ruling NDA constituents. As in all democratic setups opposition parties in India rejected the new law calling it controversial. However it is interesting to note that opposition parties in India including the main opposition party Congress was toying with such as enactment some years back but could not do so due to domestic compulsions at that time. The law passed is, therefore aimed to accrue brownie points to the ruling dispensation in India at a time when opposition parties are disarrayed. The law therefore has more internal ramifications within India than to countries in India’s neighbourhood.
Bangladesh is unnecessarily becoming a whipping boy of the law. It is also said that the law is more West Bengal centric as ruling BJP is aiming to dislodge outrageous political enemy Mamata Banerjee in the forthcoming assembly election in the state of West Bengal. There have been tremendous strides in bilateral relations in the recent past between Indian State of Tripura and Bangladesh after new government was formed in Tripura. The new citizenship law is to suit internal political interests of the ruling BJP.
The right of citizenship has been a contentious issue throughout the world. Western European countries have enacted stricter border management to throttle attempts of refugee influx from war torn Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. These people escaping conflicts in their own countries are paying huge amount of money to unscrupulous human traffickers to smuggle them to countries like UK, Germany, Italy and France. Scores of people have perished in choppy seas and fallen to the bullets of border guards, scores of stories remain unreported.
Even Turkey has put restrictions on influx of refugees from Syria. These people though belong to similar ethnicity and religion and Turkish government due to fear of domestic fallout is declining to accept Syrian refugees on their soil. The only country who is offering ultra sympathetic consideration to refugee influx in the world is Bangladesh. Despite multifarious domestic compulsions, Bangladesh has accepted more than 12 lakh hapless refugees from Myanmar who are escaping brutal suppression by the Myanmarese military junta.
It may be recalled that even oil rich Gulf countries have not expressed willingness for stay to a handful of Rohingyas who managed to flee to these countries by using Bangladeshi travel documents. These handfuls of Rohingyas who managed to reach countries like Saudi Arabia were then forcefully expelled and sent back to Bangladesh.
-2-
India is not a signatory to either the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. It does not have a national policy on refugees. All refugees are classed as ‘illegal migrants’. While India has been willing to host refugees, its traditional position is that such refugees must return to their home countries after the situation returns to normal. According to the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, India hosts refugees in excess of 4,56,000, with 2, 00,000 from ‘non-neighboring’ countries hosted via the UNHCR.
In 2015 the government legalized such refugees, granting them long-term visas. They also announced that Bangladeshi and Pakistani nationals belonging to ‘minority communities’ would be exempted from the requirements of the Passport (entry into India) Act 1920 and the Foreigners Act, 1946. Specially mentioned were ‘Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists’, who had been ‘compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution’. Eligibility for the exemption was made contingent on a migrant having arrived in India by 31st December 2014.
According to the Indian government, Section 5 and 6 of its existing Citizenship Act offer a ‘legal process of acquiring Indian citizenship by any foreigner of any category’ without limit on numbers or religion. Under these provisions, hundreds of Muslims have applied and been granted Indian citizenship in the ‘last few years’, according to the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs.
CAA and Bangladesh
Bangladesh is being unwisely carried away by uproar in India due to the law which is purely India’s own concern. As Bangladesh is the process of graduating to middle income country by 2030 all its socio-economic indicators are towards positive projectile. Bangladesh is targeted to archive GDP growth of over 8% during 2020-21 which is the highest in the world.
The employment creation and human life standard indices of Bangladesh are also highest of entire South Asian region. The average salary of a skilled worker in Bangladesh is also the highest among the region. Therefore, Bangladesh would be capable to cater to employment needs of its citizens and rather would be requiring manpower to run its economy from neighbouring countries including India by 2030. Therefore, instead of Bangladeshis seeking citizenship in India, it would be Indians who would be interested to travel to Bangladesh for better income and prosperity.
As religious harmony in Bangladesh is one of the best in the region, no minority community member would be interested to seek citizenship in India. The Hindu community in Bangladesh has assimilated well in Bangladeshi society and is proud to be part of own Bangladeshi identity. There would not be any takers in Bangladesh of the offer of Indian citizenship.
The uproar in India about CAA is purely domestic and some of the anti-liberation parties and outfits in Bangladesh are unnecessarily burning its midnight oil and paying heed to the issue. The need of the time is to maintain communal harmony in the society and not allow opportunistic elements to exploit situation citing situation in a neighbouring country to create political instability.
(Amelia Charlotte, freelance writer, research fellow, University of Sydney)
