“Discriminatory In Nature”: UN, US Reacts To CAA Implementation In India
Just weeks before the Lok Sabha election, the Narendra Modi government implemented the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 on Monday. Apart from the protests within the country, the issue has gained attention globally.
Expressing concern over the implementation, the United Nations has called the legislation “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”. The Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said that the act discriminates against Muslims.
While speaking to Reuters, a spokesperson of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that as they stated earlier in 2019, they are concerned that the enactment is fundamentally discriminatory in nature and “in breach of India’s international human rights obligations”.
He also added that the office was studying whether the law’s implementation rules comply with international human rights law.
During his visit to Pakistan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in an interview with Dawn newspaper said that there is a “risk of statelessness for two million Muslims excluded by the divisive Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed by the Indian Parliament.” He also expressed his concern over the rising discrimination against minorities in India.
CAA enactment will make it easier for non-Muslim refugees to get Indian citizenship from three Muslim-majority South Asian nations: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Rights Groups have come up highlighting the major flaw of the law that it leaves out Muslim minority groups like Shia Muslims from those above-stated countries. It also excludes neighboring countries where Muslims are a minority like the Rohingyas in Myanmar.
The United States of America has also expressed its concern regarding the act. The US Department spokesperson said to Reuters that they are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. “Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles,” he added.
The PM Modi government was unable to implement the law in 2019 due to widespread protests and sectarian violence that broke out in the national capital and several other parts of the country. Activists and rights groups have emphasised that the law combined with a proposed national register of citizens could discriminate against India’s 200 million Muslims. Some even feared that the government would make use of the act to remove the citizenship of the Muslims without documents.
However, the Indian embassy in Washington has not responded to the request for comment from the State Department so far.
