NEW DELHI: Amnesty hitting out at the Narendra Modi-led Indian government has called the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act a discriminatory law that goes against the constitutional values of equality and international human rights.
The Indian government on the other day announced rules to implement the anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), weeks ahead of the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha elections. The controversial law passed in December 2019 by Modi’s government allowed Indian citizenship for non-Muslim refugees from India’s neighbouring countries.
Following the Modi govt’s notification, Amnesty India in a series of posts on X said, “The Citizenship Amendment Act is a discriminatory law that goes against the constitutional values of equality and international human rights law,” it said.
The human rights body said CAA stands in violation of the right to equality before the law and right to non-discrimination, as guaranteed under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
“The (Indian) government in 2019 responded to peaceful anti-CAA protests with arbitrary detention under draconian laws and excessive force. We urge the authorities to respect the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful association and assembly while responding to peaceful protests,” Amnesty India said in another post.
Notably, the CAA, paving the way for granting citizenship to undocumented migrants including Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, has been widely criticized for excluding Muslims. Critics argue that the law is evidence that Modi’s govt is trying to reshape the country into a Hindu state and marginalize its 200 million Muslims.
