Actually, this is not even about religious refugees. India is not fast-tracking refugee status/citizenship to persecuted pagans and followers of indigenous religions everywhere in the world (although that is a very good idea). CAA is simply about the (illegal) partition of India. https://twitter.com/AartiTikoo/status/1221699802091573248

Most people seem to be confused about CAA. Even advocates. The issue with CAA becomes crystal clear when one sees the nature of the OCI (overseas citizenship of India) that is available to foreign citizens of Indian descent. Put simply, the CAA extends this to some more people.

Many European countries have routes to citizenship that are similar to India’s OCI. Ultimately, it comes down to “Jus Sanguinis”: citizenship by blood descent, that is recognized by many countries (especially in Europe). So this EU parliament’s condemnation of CAA is very absurd.

India’s OCI status is available to anybody who can prove Indian descent, like the descendants of indentured labour in Fiji or Surinam (this was announced in 2017). But the OCI has a very peculiar clause, that it is not permitted to the descendants of people from Pakistan .

Why is this exception to Pakistanis in OCI? For example, Germany recognizes the blood descent of descendants of Germans around the world, but it doesn’t bar people from a specific place, say Poland. But India has no choice here. Due to the peculiar history of Partition of India.

Pakistan was part of India, this territory was intimately tied to Indian history, civilization and ethos. So at any time, this territory can be reclaimed, similar to how India claimed Goa from the Portuguese, saying that the citizens of Goa are Indians, by descent and blood.

Would that be a good thing if India reclaims the territory of Pakistan? Everybody in the world should honestly ask this question. I would argue that no, this is a very bad thing. It is better to be stuck with a divided India, and Pakistan as a sovereign state recognized by India.

India cannot give OCI status to Pakistanis because of the simple reason that it amounts to delegitimizing the very existence of Pakistan. So every refugee from Pakistan, who might have been living in India for decades, cannot even get the OCI card, unlike people from USA or Fiji!

What the CAA does, in a very precise manner, is that it extends the status of a subset of people originating from Pakistan (or Bangladesh, its offshoot) who have been living in India since 2014, to a status on par with an OCI cardholder, towards the route to Indian citizenship.

The question to ask here is, what are the subset of people from Pakistan who are awarded Indian citizenship, and would that pave the way to delegitimizing the existence of Pakistan at a future date (should an Indian government decide to take such an action). The answer is no.

The exception to Muslims is a very carefully crafted clause, that is necessary here, because the existence of Pakistan as an independent and sovereign country is predicted on the Muslim demographic in those regions, which it was argued, constituted a different nation of people.

So India cannot give bulk citizenship to Muslims from Pakistan. It means delegitimizing the sovereignty of Pakistan. However it can give citizenship to Pakistani Muslims on an individual basis, like Mr. @AdnanSamiLive.

Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan can be recognized in bulk.

It is sad that Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan (some Christians too) were stuck in a hostile land and barred from Indian citizenship (or even OCI card), although they are “Indians by blood” just like their counterparts in Goa prior to 1961. Now finally they are accepted.