Sectarian Citizenship and the Marginalized in the New India

This article discusses the citizenship legislation in India in light of its increasing violation of citizens’ rights, growing fascist politics, and strengthening alliance with contemporary transnational capital. More specifically, the article examines India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019 along with the attempts to implement a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC) by 2021 and elaborates upon the moves by the Indian state around the passing of the CAA. In so doing, the author aims to reveal a new phase in the assertion of the extreme right-wing agenda which seeks to make India into a Hindu nation. The article also places the controversial CAA and NRIC within the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and examines the impact of the pandemic on India’s poor, migrants and marginalized. Finally, the article discusses the suppression of voices against the Citizenship Act, and the continuing resistance to it led by women, students, intellectuals, activists and others.