Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government on Monday announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that excludes Muslims, weeks before the Hindu nationalist leader seeks a third term.
Citizenship Amendment Act provides fast-track path to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan , with a Hindu majority, before December 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who constitute the majority in the three countries.
The amendment was approved by India’s Parliament in 2019, but the government of Narendra Modi delayed its implementation after deadly protests erupted in the capital, New Delhi, and elsewhere. Dozens of people were killed during the days of clashes.
Nationwide protests in 2019 drew people of all faiths who said the law undermined India’s foundations as a secular nation. Muslims were particularly worried that the government could use the law, combined with a proposed National Register of Citizens, to marginalize them.
The National Register of Citizens is part of the Modi government’s efforts to identify and weed out people it says have entered India illegally. The registry has only been implemented in the northeastern state of Assam, and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has promised to roll out a similar citizenship verification program across the country. country.
Mr. Modi’s government defended the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act as a humanitarian gesture. He argues that the amendment only aims to extend citizenship to religious minorities fleeing persecution and would not be used against Indian citizens.
“These rules will now allow minorities persecuted on religious grounds in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire citizenship of our country,” Interior Minister Amit Shah wrote on X.
India’s main opposition Congress party questioned the announcement, saying “the timing just before the elections is obviously designed to polarize the elections.”
Rights watchdog Amnesty India in a statement called the law “discriminatory” and said it “goes against the constitutional values of equality and international human rights laws.” of the person “. He said the law “legitimizes discrimination based on religion” and is “exclusive in its structure and intent.”
India is home to 200 million Muslims, who constitute a significant minority group in a country of more than 1.4 billion people. They are scattered across almost all parts of India and have been the target of a series of attacks that took place during Narendra Modi’s first takeover in 2014.
Critics say Prime Minister Modi’s blatant silence on anti-Muslim violence has emboldened some of his most extremist supporters and enabled more hate speech against Muslims.
Mr. Modi is increasingly blending religion and politics in a formula that has deeply resonated with India’s majority Hindu population. In January, he opened a Hindu temple on the site of a demolished mosque in the northern city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, honoring his party’s Hindu nationalist commitment.
Most polls suggest Mr Modi will win a majority in the general election, which is expected to take place by May.