Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Citizenship Amendment Bill in India's lower house on Monday amid raucous debate. Opposition parties stood against the proposed law that would, for the first time, create a legal pathway to grant Indian nationality on the basis of religion.
The bill was originally introduced in 2016 during the Modi government's first term but lapsed after protests and an alliance partner's withdrawal.
If the bill is passed by the upper house, citizenship will be granted to select groups — including Hindus, Christians and Sikhs — who moved from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before 2015 and who have lived in India for at least six years.
Since news of the bill has broken, hundreds have taken to the streets in India in protest.
Former president of the Indian Congress party, Rahul Gandhi, called the bill an attack on the Indian constitution. "Anyone who supports it is attacking and attempting to destroy the foundation of our nation," said Gandhi on Tuesday.
In a statement issued, the USCIRF stated that it was "deeply troubled" by the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha. It called the bill "a dangerous turn in the wrong direction", reported Scroll.in.
"It runs counter to India’s rich history of secular pluralism and the Indian Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law regardless of faith,” the statement added.
The statement maintained that implementing a register documenting India's citizens would "strip citizenship from millions of Muslims".
However, the Indian home minister refuted claims that the bill is anti-Muslim. “We will have to differentiate between intruders and refugees,” he was quoted as saying by Scroll.in.
'Regret inaccurate and unwarranted comments'
Responding to the USCIRF's statement, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said: "We regret the inaccurate and unwarranted comments made by USCIRF on #CAB. They have chosen to be guided by their prejudices and biases on a matter on which they have little knowledge and no locus standi."
In a tweet, Kumar attached a statement by the ministry which said USCIRF's statement was "neither accurate nor warranted".
"The Bill provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities already in India from certain contiguous countries. It seeks to address their current difficulties and meet their basic human rights.
"Such an initiative should be welcomed, not criticised by who are genuinely committed to religious freedom," the statement read.
It added that the CAB does not affect the "existing avenues available to all communities interested in seeking citizenship from doing so".
The statement, attributed to Kumar, claimed the "recent record of granting such citizenship would bear out the Government of India's objectivity in that regard".
"Neither the CAB nor the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process seeks to strip citizenship from any Indian citizen of any faith. Suggestions to that effect are motivated and unjustified."
He said every nation, including the US, has the right to "enumerate and validate its citizenry" and to "exercise this prerogative through various policies".
Kumar added that USCIRF's position was "not surprising given its past record".
"It is, however, regrettable that the body has chosen to be guided only by its prejudices and biases on a maThe lower house of the Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha) has passed a controversial bill to grant citizenship to religious minorities from neighbouring countries.
After a marathon 12-hour session, 311 members of parliament on Monday voted in favour of the measure despite concerns the bill violates the spirit of India's secular constitution. Eighty voted against .
The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) seeks to amend 1955 law to grant citizenship to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis facing persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan - but excludes Muslims.
Activists and some opposition parties have said the proposed law is discriminatory, in what critics say is a fresh attempt to sideline the nearly 200-million-strong Muslim minority.
Shashi Tharoor, whose Congress party has decided to oppose the bill, called it a "fundamentally unconstitutional" piece of legislation.
As expected, the bill passed easily in the lower house where the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) enjoys a majority. It will now go the upper house (Rajya Sabha), where the BJP lacks a majority. Any bill needs to be ratified by both houses of Parliament to become law.
India's cabinet approved the draft law on Wednesday triggering protests in the country's northeast region, which fears tens of thousands of Hindus from neighbouring Bangladesh would gain citizenship.
The CAB was first introduced in 2016 by the BJP government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi but was withdrawn after an alliance partner withdrew support and protests flared in India's remote and ethnically diverse northeast region.
Giving Indian citizenship to "Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs escaping persecution" was part of the manifesto of the BJP ahead of a general election in May 2019 that the nationalist party swept.
Amid backlash, the BJP has promised to exclude parts of the northeast from the purview of the bill but that has failed to assuage fears in the region that has historically seen the arrival of undocumented immigrants.
An influential student group, North East Students' Organisation, has announced an 11-hour shutdown on Tuesday against the proposed bill, while Assam-based All Assam Students' Union has threatened to launch "vigorous mass agitation" against the bill.
Last month, India's Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah announced that his Hindu nationalist government will implement a nationwide count of citizens, amid concerns the exercise could be used to target Muslims.
A similar exercise carried out in Assam state called as National Register of Citizens (NRC) excluded nearly two million from the citizenship list.
tter on which it clearly has little knowledge and no locus standi."
