The United States said it is concerned about the notification of the Citizenship Amendment Act’s (CAA) rules in India. The US is closely monitoring the act’s implementation.
“We are concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11,” said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller during his daily briefing with reporters.
“We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles,” Miller added. The Biden administration’s statement came against the backdrop of Hindu American groups welcoming the rollout of CAA.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government on March 11 implemented CAA, the law that paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants or better known as persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who entered India before December 31, 2014. The development came four years after Parliament passed the law in December 2019.
Critics of the CAA argued that by excluding Muslims from its purview and linking citizenship to religious identity, the law undermines the secular principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
Amid protests by opposition parties, the government issued a press statement reiterating that Indian Muslims need not worry as the CAA will not affect their citizenship status and assured that it has no bearing on the community, which enjoys equal rights as their Hindu counterparts.
The BJP-led central government has consistently maintained that the CAA is primarily aimed at granting citizenship and reassured that no citizen of the country will lose their citizenship as a result of this legislation.
In an interview with news agency ANI on Thursday, March 15, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that CAA will never be taken back and the BJP-led government will never compromise with it. “This is our sovereign right to ensure Indian citizenship in our country, we will never compromise on it and CAA will never be taken back,” the senior BJP leader said in an interview with ANI.
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