A senator from the United States expressed concern over the Indian government’s publication of procedures for implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act. He emphasised that as the relationship between the United States and India improves, collaboration must be based on common ideals, including the safeguarding of human rights regardless of religious affiliation.
The Indian government has implemented the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019, which allows non-Muslim illegal migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to get citizenship if they arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Furthermore, the government made a statement assuring Indian Muslims that the CAA would not affect their citizenship status and was unrelated to their group, which has the same rights as Hindus.
Senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement, “I am deeply concerned by the Indian government’s decision to notify its controversial Citizenship Amendment Act, particularly the law’s potential ramifications on India’s Muslim community. Making matters worse is the fact that it is being pushed during the holy month of Ramadan.”
“As the US-India relationship deepens, it is critically important that our cooperation is based on our shared values of protecting the human rights of all persons, regardless of religion,” he said.
The US State Department voiced concern last week over the CAA notification, emphasising that core democratic values include respect for religious freedom and fair legal treatment for all communities.
India has criticised the US State Department’s condemnation of the CAA, calling it “misinformed and unwarranted.”
The Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective (HinduPACT) and the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation have published comments in support of the CAA.
They emphasised that the Act grants surged citizenship to persecuted minorities, including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Parsis from neighbouring nations. They said that the CAA demonstrates India’s commitment to safeguarding individuals and families from religious persecution, which aligns with global humanitarian ideals.
Ajay Shah, founder and co-convenor of HinduPACT, said, “The CAA does not impact any citizen of India. The characterization of this law as being non-secular is unfounded. The Hindu minority is discriminated against and decimated in India’s neighborhoods. As Americans, we are disappointed that instead of standing for American values and the human rights of the persecuted, our government has chosen to oppose this humanitarian effort.”
Deepti Mahajan, co-convenor of HinduPACT, expressed disbelief at the lack of concern for the situation of young girls from Pakistan’s Hindu, Sikh, and Christian minority populations.
“According to the UN Human Rights Commission, the BBC and APPG report that on average, 1,000 girls a year, as little as 10 years old, get abducted, converted, and become victims of sex slavery and forced marriages in Pakistan. Instead of calling out the government of Pakistan for its complicity in this ongoing heartbreaking act, the State Department seeks to criticise the Government of India’s effort to help these innocent victims,” she said.
The Global Hindu Heritage Foundation’s V. S. Naipaul said, “The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 addresses the plight of minorities who are facing brutalities, persecution, forced conversion, murders, rapes, and all kinds of atrocities in our neighbouring Islamic countries, where the idea of secularism, peace, and humanity just cannot survive.”
