New Delhi, March 26: The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) expressing concern over the Indian BJP Government’s notification of rules to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), has saidthat no one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief.
The CAA, which was passed by BJP government in December 2019, provides a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck highlighted that the CAA establishes a religious requirement for asylum seekers in India, excluding Muslims from the Act.
He emphasized that if the law were truly aimed at protecting persecuted religious minorities, it would include Rohingya Muslims from Burma, Ahmadiyyas from Pakistan, or Hazara Shi’a from Afghanistan, among others.
Protests against the CAA erupted in several parts of India after its passage and the BJP government launched violent crackdown against the protestors mostly on Muslims.
The critics said that the CAA is part of an effort to create a religious test for Indian citizenship and could lead to the widespread disenfranchisement of Indian Muslims.
The CAA rules were issued on March 11, 2024, paving the way for the Modi Government to start granting Indian nationality to non-Muslim migrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
However, the CAA has been met with widespread criticism, including from human rights organizations like Amnesty International, which calls for the immediate repeal of the law due to its exclusionary and discriminatory structure. agencies