USCIRF calls for sanctions against India’s home minister over controversial citizenship bill

• USCIRF claims the proposed legislation introduces a religious test for citizenship.
• The CAB enshrines a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that specifically excludes Muslims: USCIRF.
• The bill seeks to amend the 1955 law to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis facing persecution in other countries.

(Karachi) A US religious freedom commission has called for sanctions against Indian Home Minister Amit Shah and other leaders after the government passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) in the lower house (Lok Sabha). The commission claimed that the proposed legislation introduces a religious test for citizenship.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by the bill which was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The controversial Citizenship Bill would now be moved in the Rajya Sabha today before becoming a law to provide Indian nationality to Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains and Buddhists fleeing persecution in other countries.

https://twitter.com/USCIRF/status/1204140167159779328

"If the CAB passes in both Houses of Parliament, the US government should consider sanctions against the Home Minister and other principal leadership," the USCIRF said.

The USCIRF stated, "The CAB enshrines a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that specifically excludes Muslims, setting a legal criterion for citizenship based on religion. The CAB is a dangerous turn in the wrong direction; it runs counter to India's rich history of secular pluralism and the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law regardless of faith.”

"In conjunction with the ongoing National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in Assam and nationwide NRC that the Home Minister seeks to propose, the USCIRF fears that the Indian government is creating a religious test for Indian citizenship that would strip citizenship from millions of Muslims."

On December 9, 2019, India’s Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill which will grant citizenship to religious minorities that migrated to India from neighbouring countries. However, the bill has excluded those belonging to the Muslim community flaring protests in the country, local media reported.

The CAB has been approved amid concerns from various politicians, human rights organizations and the Muslim communities and is seen as a violation to India’s secular constitution.

When the bill was tabled in the lower house, legislatures from the opposition lodged a protest and criticized the Modi government of being biased over the matter.

The bill seeks to amend the 1955 law to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis facing persecution in other countries but it does not include the Muslim community that has been in majority in India.