New Dehli - March 12, 2024: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced the official implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) today, sparking renewed worries about its discriminatory nature and potential violation of fundamental rights.
Critics, including human rights organization Amnesty India, have consistently condemned the CAA for excluding Muslim migrants from its scope while offering a pathway to citizenship for undocumented Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. This selective approach is viewed as a direct contradiction to India's constitutional promise of equality and the international legal framework upholding non-discrimination.
Amnesty India emphasizes that the CAA violates the right to equality before the law and the right to non-discrimination, enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
Concerns also linger regarding the government's response to the 2019 anti-CAA protests. Amnesty India specifically condemns the use of arbitrary detention under harsh legislation and excessive force employed by authorities in quelling those demonstrations.
The organization urges the government to respect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association in the face of potential future protests surrounding the CAA implementation.
This development reignites the debate on the CAA's contentious provisions and its potential impact on the delicate social fabric of India.
