Amend the Citizenship Act to Safeguard Every Citizen

One question is deeply troubling millions of Indians today: if the Government itself has issued me a passport, voter identity card, Aadhaar, PAN card, ration card, birth certificate and several other official documents, why should I still be uncertain about my citizenship? These documents are accepted by the State for voting, taxation, banking, education, employment, welfare schemes, travel, property transactions and countless other public purposes. Yet, when citizenship itself comes under scrutiny, the law does not clearly define their evidentiary value. In practice, technical objections, procedural irregularities and documentation gaps often become the basis for prolonged litigation. Although legal remedies exist, they frequently require citizens to approach the High Courts and, where necessary, the Supreme Court, an option that is financially and practically beyond the reach of millions of poor families living in villages and remote areas. Justice that remains inaccessible to ordinary citizens cannot be regarded as meaningful justice.

The real issue, in my view, is not the absence of documents but the absence of a comprehensive statutory framework governing citizenship documentation. Parliament must undertake a comprehensive amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955 to remove this uncertainty once and for all. The amended law should clearly specify the government issued documents that may be relied upon to establish citizenship, define the evidentiary value of each category of document, prescribe when individual documents or prescribed combinations of documents shall constitute sufficient proof, and establish uniform procedures applicable across the country. Citizens should never be left vulnerable to changing administrative interpretations or ambiguity in the law.

Unfortunately, instead of removing this uncertainty and strengthening public confidence, the present Union Government has, through its approach to citizenship, including the Citizenship Amendment Act, repeated discussions on citizenship verification and public statements made by senior B.J.P leaders, contributed to widespread anxiety among large sections of society. A responsible government should reassure citizens by providing legal certainty, not leave them vulnerable to fear, confusion and conflicting interpretations of the law. After nearly eight decades of Independence, no genuine Indian citizen should have to live with uncertainty about his or her citizenship because of an inadequate legal framework.

This is the moment for constitutional leadership. Every Member of Parliament, every Member of the Legislative Assembly and every State Government has a constitutional responsibility to protect the rights of genuine citizens. They must rise above political considerations and collectively demand a comprehensive amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955. India needs a transparent, uniform and humane citizenship framework that restores public confidence, upholds constitutional values and guarantees legal certainty for every genuine Indian citizen.

M.K. Faizy
National President
Social Democratic Party of India.