- Monday, April 29, 2024
Democratic leader Ben Cardin’s words marked the second time that the US has expressed worries about the Narendra Modi government’s Citizenship Amendment Act.
By: Shubham Ghosh
DAYS after the US expressed concerns over the Indian government’s implementation of the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and New Delhi strongly repudiating charges that the law is discriminatory, an American senator has spoken over the issue in a worried tone, saying while ties between the two democracies deepen, it is important that the cooperation is based on shared values of protecting universal human rights, irrespective of the religion.
“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,” senator Ben Cardin, chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement.
The Democratic leader added, “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.”
Read: India rejects US concerns over CAA, calls its remark ‘misplaced, misinformed’
Last week, the Narendra Modi government implemented the CAA, a law it passed in 2019 but could not implement in face of protests and the Covid-19 pandemic that followed, paving way for the grant of citizenship to persecuted non-Muslim migrants from other South Asian nations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014.
Read: No question of rolling back CAA, thunders India home minister Amit Shah
While allegations surfaced that the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party of India, was aiming to strip citizenship of the country’s Muslims, the government said in a press statement to say that Indian Muslims need not worry as the CAA will not impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the community which enjoys equal rights as Hindus.
Last week, the US state department had expressed concern over the notifying of India’s CAA law and said that respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles.
India had sharply rebuked the US for its criticism of the CAA and said it is “misinformed and unwarranted.” In separate statements, the Hindu Policy Research and Advocacy Collective (HinduPACT) and the Global Hindu Heritage Foundation supported the CAA.
The legislation provides expedited citizenship to persecuted Hindu, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and Parsi minorities from India’s neighbouring countries. It underscores India’s dedication to safeguarding individuals and families against religious persecution, resonating with global humanitarian principles, they said.
“The CAA does not impact any citizen of India. The characterisation of this law as being non-secular is unfounded. Hindu minority is discriminated against and decimated in India’s neighbourhood. 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,” said Ajay Shah, founder and co-convenor of HinduPACT.
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.”
(With PTI inputs)
