CAA: India rejects the US ‘concerns’, says it’s an internal matter

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Strongly defending the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 as India’s “internal matter,” New Delhi on Friday rejected the USA’s comments on its implementation as misplaced, misinformed, and unwarranted.

Those who have a limited understanding of India’s pluralistic traditions should not attempt to lecture us, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said
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New Delhi asserted its strong position after Washington expressed concerns over the notification of the Act. “We are concerned about the notification of the CAA on March 11. We are ‘closely monitoring’ how this act will be implemented,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was quoted as saying, when asked if the CAA would affect religious freedom in India.

“Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles in India,” Jaiswal said.

“The act grants a safe haven to persecuted minorities belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Jain, and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh who entered India on or before 31st December 2014. The CAA is about giving citizenship, not about taking away citizenship. So this must be underlined. It addresses the issue of statelessness, provides human dignity, and supports human rights,” the MEA spokesperson said.

The Constitution of India guarantees freedom of religion to all its citizens and there is no ground for any concern for minorities, he said.

“Vote bank politics should not determine views about a laudable initiative to help those in distress. Lectures by those who have a limited understanding of India’s pluralistic traditions and the region’s post-Partition history are best not attempted. Partners and well-wishers of India should welcome the intent with which this step has been taken,” Jaiswal said.

The new law–cleared by Parliament in 2019 but its implementation was delayed because of the pandemic–is meant to ease the citizenship process for undocumented non-Muslim migrants (from six communities) who fled to India because of their religious persecution in Muslim-majority Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh on or before December 31, 2014.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah clarified that the law is meant to help minorities in those countries facing religious persecution. He said Muslims from these, and other nations, can still apply for citizenship under existing laws
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The government also said the CAA did not mean Indian Muslims’ rights would be rescinded or scrapped. India’s estimated 18 crore Muslims will have “equal rights as any other citizen.”

Also, the law only reduces the waiting period for application of citizenship – to qualifying individuals – from 11 years to five, the government said.