Culture and society: On upholding Section 6A of the Citizenship Act
Supreme Court of India verdict on citizenship law for Assam helps avoid fresh problems
The majority has rejected the notion that the provision is unconstitutional on the ground that it treats Assam differentially from the rest of the country. It has noted that the citizenship provisions in the Constitution referred to ‘citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution’ and Parliament was not deprived of the power to introduce provisions on citizenship for a different category of people from a different date. In his main opinion, speaking for himself and two other judges, Justice Surya Kant has acknowledged the petitioners’ “demographic anxiety”, but did not believe that the idea of fraternity in the Constitution was threatened by a mere change in demography. It is not a misplaced fear when he says accepting the argument that demographic change could lead to an erosion of the cultural rights of a section of society may open the floodgates for similar challenges to undermine inter-State migration in the guise of protecting indigenous culture. At a time when the exercise to finalise a National Register of Citizens for Assam is in limbo — 19 lakh people have been identified as non-citizens, but there have been no further developments — any decision invalidating Section 6A would have created fresh complications.