According to a US study, “the CAA may violate certain articles of the Indian Constitution as it threatens Muslims’ rights.”
The US Congress’s research arm released a study this year that criticized the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), arguing that it could be in violation of several sections of the Indian Constitution.
The US Congress’s independent research arm released the findings.
Notably, the Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended by the CAA, which went into effect in March of this year. According to a short Congressional Research Service (CRS) analysis, “the CAA’s key provisions—allowing immigrants of six religions from three countries a path to citizenship while excluding Muslims—may violate certain Articles of the Indian Constitution.”
In order to help Congressmen make educated judgments, the US Congress’ independent research arm, CRS, compiles reports on topics of importance to them. Reports from CRS are not regarded as an official record of the Congress’s opinions.
View the whole report here.
government of India claims CAA is only humanitarian
The goal of the CAA, according to the Indian government and its supporters, is only humanitarian. India has also refuted the criticism leveled at the CAA and said that opinions on a “laudable initiative” to assist people in need should not be influenced by “vote-bank politics”.
The article said that opponents of the legislation caution that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are pursuing an anti-Muslim, Hindu majoritarian agenda that endangers India’s formal secular identity and breaches international human rights responsibilities.
Also Read: Amit Shah attacks Opposition, saying legislation does not violate Constitution and CAA would never be pulled back.
The three-page paper said that “the CAA may threaten the rights of India’s large Muslim minority of approximately 200 million people in tandem with a National Register of Citizens (NRC) planned by the federal government.”
In 2019, US officials conveyed “true concern.”
Members of Congress are informed by the CRS report that in 2019, the chief US diplomat in the area voiced “genuine concern” about “India’s trajectory” and that problems like the CAA “do not detract from India’s ability… to stand with us in trying to promote, again, this free and open Indo-Pacific.”
According to the report, “Several members of Congress have expressed related concerns, including in the 118th Congress, where House Resolution 542 would condemn violations of international religious freedom and human rights violations in India, and Senate Resolution 424, which calls for New Delhi to amend “discriminatory” laws like the CAA and seeks “a swift end to the persecution of, and violence against, religious minorities and human rights defenders in India.”
De Fence Minister: “No one can halt its implementation.”
Union Defense Minister Rajnath Singh supported the CAA and said that no one could block its implementation at a West Bengal election rally. According to him, the CAA is legislation that grants Indian citizenship to those who have been forcibly removed from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan due to religious beliefs, rather than taking away anyone’s citizenship.
The Center put the CAA into effect in March, announcing the regulations four years after Parliament enacted the legislation. The CAA allows illegal non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014, to expedite the process of becoming citizens.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Randhir Jaiswal has emphasized that “the CAA is about giving citizenship, not about taking it away.” It protects human rights, upholds human dignity, and deals with the problem of statelessness.” Jaiswal went on to say that the legislation is an internal Indian concern.
