Pakistan denounced the Indian government decision to enact the divisive 2019 citizenship bill on Thursday, claiming that the legislation discriminatory nature “further exposes the sinister agenda” of the Modi administration.
Weeks before Prime Minister Modi seeks an unprecedented third term for his Hindu nationalist administration, India started on Monday to enforce the contentious law labeled as discriminatory against Muslims.
Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who moved to Hindu-majority India because of religious “persecution from Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan before December 31, 2014” are granted Indian nationality under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
After the legislation was passed in December 2019 amid demonstrations and sectarian violence in New Delhi and other places, the Modi administration chose not to enforce it.
Days of fighting resulted in hundreds of injuries and many fatalities.
At a weekly press briefing, Mumtaz Zehra Baloch, the spokeswoman for the Foreign Office, stated, “Yes, we have seen the reports on notification of certain news pursuant to the Indian Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 and the ugly debate that is currently taking place in India with regards to Muslims, minorities, and immigrants.”
The spokesman claimed that laws and related regulations are inherently discriminatory since they separate people based only on their religious beliefs.
She claimed that the erroneous belief that minorities are being oppressed in the Muslim nations in the area and the pretense that India provides a safe haven for minorities are the foundations of these laws and regulations.
“Muslims and other religious and social minorities, including Dalits, are being victimized politically, economically, and socially as a result of the growing Hindutva movement under the BJP government.”
“The discriminatory steps further expose the sinister agenda of transforming India into a Hindu Rashtra,” the FO official continued.
In the run-up to India’s national elections, the spokesman also cited a statement by a group of UN Special Rapporteurs calling for remedial measures to defend human rights and against assaults against minorities.
In a similar spirit, the FO spokeswoman stated that India’s international responsibilities have been violated and that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has likewise referred to this Act and its provisions as inherently discriminatory.
“In light of this, we implore India to take action to safeguard its own minorities, particularly Muslims, who are facing a great deal of hardship due to the rise of Hindutva in the country and the threat it poses to both Indian society and the wider region,” spokeswoman Baloch continued.
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