Citizenship Bill a win-win for Modi, but is depriving millions of sleep

This will be the second attempt by the Modi administration to amend citizenship law. In January, the legislation was passed in the lower house of parliament but lapsed as the upper house didn’t take i

India’s parliament is set to approve legislation preventing Muslim migrants from neighboring countries from receiving citizenship — the next step in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s hardline Hindu nationalist program and one that’s seen to go against the nation’s secular constitution.

The controversial citizenship bill has sparked protests and fear around India, with lawyers working overtime to help millions at risk of being left stateless in the world’s largest democracy.

The Citizenship Amendment Bill is listed to come before India’s Parliament for approval on Monday. The proposed changes will allow citizenship Bill for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who illegally migrated to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It excludes Muslims and immigrants from India’s non-Muslim majority neighbors.

If passed as expected, the move threatens the secular foundation of the world’s second-most populous nation and its constitution that treats all religions equally. As for Modi, it’s a third major move out of his right wing playbook since retaining power earlier this year that adversely affects the country’s Muslim minority population.

On Aug. 5 India scrapped nearly seven decades of autonomy in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir. Just three weeks later in the northeastern state of Assam some 1.9 million people, mostly Muslims, faced the risk of losing their Indian citizenship as Modi’s government seeks to enforce a National Register of Citizens to weed out illegal migrants. In November, Hindus won the Supreme Court case over a religious site disputed for centuries in northern city of Ayodhya. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party had promised a grand temple there..