NRC+CAA may affect Muslims in India: US report
December 27, 2019 08:59
The amended Citizenship law along with a National Register of Citizens being planned by the Narendra Modi government "may affect the status" of Muslim minority in India, a report by the Congressional Research Service has said.
The December 18 report also said that for the first time in independent India's history, a religious criterion has been added to the country's naturalization process.
The CRS is an independent research wing of the US Congress which prepares reports periodically on issues of domestic and global importance for the lawmakers to take informed decision. These are not considered as official reports of the US Congress.
"In tandem with a National Register of Citizens planned by the federal government, the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) may affect the status of India's large Muslim minority of roughly 200 million," said the CRS in its first ever report on the amended Citizenship law.
According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, non-Muslim refugees who came to India till December 31, 2014, to escape religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship.
"India's Citizenship Act of 1955 prohibited illegal immigrants from becoming citizens. Among numerous amendments to the act since 1955, none contained a religious aspect," the CRS said in its two-page report.
The CRS claims that the amendment'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 particular Articles 14 and 15.
-- PTI
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