| Summary/Abstract |
On 9 December 2019, the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, passed a Citizenship Amendment Bill that makes it easier for religious minorities – enumerated as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists – in the three neighbouring states of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to acquire Indian citizenship. The frequent recourse to particular interpretations of historical events – of the Partition, the war of 1971, and the recent abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir – during the daylong parliamentary debate made it clear that these interpretations of the past have influenced the making of policies that aim to affect the future of religious minorities across South Asia.
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