US, UN express concern over India’s religion-based citizenship law By Reuters

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government and the United Nations expressed concern on Tuesday over a controversial religion-based citizenship law in India, which the U.N. called “fundamentally discriminatory in nature.”

Human rights advocates have criticized the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, which the Indian government pledged to implement on Monday. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say it discriminates against Muslims.

Just weeks before India’s elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government pushed to implement the law, which makes it easier for non-Muslim refugees from three South Asian nations to obtain Indian citizenship with a Muslim majority: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Human rights groups point out that the law excludes Muslim minority groups such as Shiite Muslims from those countries, while also excluding neighboring countries where Muslims are a minority, such as the Rohingya in Myanmar.

“As we stated in 2019, we are concerned that India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) is fundamentally discriminatory in nature and violates India’s international human rights obligations,” said a spokesperson for the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Affairs. The rights told Reuters.

He added that the office is studying whether the rules implementing the law comply with international human rights law.

The United States has also reported reservations.

“We are concerned about the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act on March 11. We are closely monitoring how this law will be implemented,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters separately.

“Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment before the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles,” the State Department spokesperson added in an email.

Activists and rights advocates say the law, combined with a proposed national register of citizens, could discriminate against India’s 200 million Muslims, the world’s third-largest Muslim population. Some fear the government could strip citizenship from undocumented Muslims in some border states.

Modi’s government failed to implement the law after its passage in 2019 as protests and sectarian violence erupted in New Delhi and elsewhere. Dozens dead and hundreds injured during days of clashes.

The Indian government denies that the law is anti-Muslim and says it was needed to help minorities facing persecution in neighboring Muslim-majority nations. He called previous protests politically motivated.

The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reactions from the State Department and the United Nations Human Rights Office.

Human rights groups denounce mistreatment of Muslims under Modi, who became prime minister in 2014. In addition to this law, they also point to the 2019 revocation of the special status of Muslim-majority Kashmir, the demolition of Muslim properties in the name of removing illegal constructions and the ban on wearing of hijab in classrooms in Karnataka when the BJP was in power in that state.

The Modi government denies abuses of minorities and says its policies aim to benefit all Indians.