image source, getty
Hindus in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will be entitled to Indian citizenship.
The Indian government has begun formal procedures to amend the Nationality and Citizenship Act, which is controversial as it is anti-Muslim.
The amendment allows followers of minority religions in neighboring countries, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, to obtain Indian citizenship.
The Indian government said that it seeks with this amendment to “confront the persecution” to which these minorities are exposed.
When the citizenship law was passed in the Indian Parliament in 2019, it faced massive protests and sparked demonstrations in which dozens were killed, and many were arrested.
According to the Indian Ministry of Interior, ratification of the law was delayed at the time due to the unrest that the country witnessed, but the government is currently moving towards this step.
Indian Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday on his social media account that Prime Minister Narendra Modi
“He once again committed and fulfilled his commitments to the legislators of our Indian Constitution to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian minorities living in those countries.”
Amending the citizenship law is one of the most prominent electoral pledges of Modi and the ruling nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, in preparation for the general elections expected this year.
The current law, which has been in effect for 64 years, prevents any illegal immigrant from obtaining Indian citizenship.
However, the new amendment allows this matter on the condition that migrants prove that they arrived in India from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh before the end of 2014.
The Indian government has not announced the effective date of the new amendment.
Critics of the amendment believe that it is selective and goes beyond the principle of secularism in the constitution, which prohibits discrimination between people because of their religion.
The new amendment does not include Muslims who feel religious persecution and live as minorities in other neighboring countries, such as Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Rohingya refugees are also not allowed to enter the country from neighboring Myanmar.
There is a fear that the entry into force of the new amendment in conjunction with the new Citizens Census Law could lead to the persecution of more than 200 million Indian Muslims.
Indians who live near the borders with neighboring countries are concerned about the influx of refugees into their areas due to the amendment to the immigration law.
The Indian opposition accused the government of trying to exploit voters’ feelings before the expected general elections.
Elections are expected to be held next month or the following at the discretion of the government, which seeks to remain in power for a third term.
The leader of the National Congress Party, Mamata Banerjee, said, “After continuous postponements for 4 years, the activation of the legal amendment comes two or three days before the announcement of the election date, which makes it clear that the reasons are political.”
“The time taken to push the amendment to the Citizenship Law is another example of the Prime Minister’s outright lying,” the party’s media officer, Jairam Ramesh, wrote on social media.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.bbc.com