International Hindu groups welcome CAA implementation

Hindu groups across countries like US, UK and Canada have welcomed the implementation of CAA, calling it a win for Human Rights.

Drawing similarities between India’s Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) with Lautenberg Amendment for religious refugees in the United States, the Hindu American Foundation said it was a long overdue path to citizenship for some of the most marginalized displaced populations in South Asia.

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by Parliament in December 2019, allows the central government to confer citizenship upon non-Muslim migrants who fled religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and arrived in India before December 31, 2014.

Stressing the importance of the CAA, the foundation in a statement said that the act provides amnesty and a fast-track to citizenship for certain refugees already in India who fled religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, prior to December 31, 2014. 

“India’s Citizenship Amendment Act is long overdue and necessary. It protects some of the most vulnerable refugees in India, granting them the human rights they were denied in their home country, and the clear and expedited path to citizenship needed for them to begin rebuilding their lives,” said Hindu American Foundation (HAF) executive director Suhag Shukla.

HAF further stated that CAA does not alter the rights of any Indian citizen nor does it establish any religious test for general immigration or exclude Muslims from immigrating to India, as is sometimes wrongly said and reported.

“CAA mirrors the long-established Lautenberg Amendment in the US, in place since 1990, which has provided a clear immigration path for persons fleeing a select group of nations where religious persecution is rampant,” she said.

“I’m proud to see both the oldest and largest secular democracies in the world — the US and India — be a beacon of hope by extending a pathway to freedom and a new life to those who have suffered gross human rights violations simply because of their religion,” Shukla said.

This is a big win for human rights for the persecuted religious minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, said Pushpita Prasad of Coalition of Hindus of North America(CoHNA).

"The government's decision to offer Indian citizenship to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan is a commendable move... India, as a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and various other international conventions, has an obligation to provide asylum to persecuted individuals regardless of their religion," the Hindu Forum Canada said in a statement.

“A reminder - CAA has NO impact on existing Indian citizens of any faith. It simply fast-tracks the Indian citizenship process for approximately 31,000 religious minorities who fled Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan in the face of extreme and systemic persecution,” Prasad said.

“For instance, each year in Pakistan alone 1000+ minor girls from minority communities are kidnapped, forcibly converted and 'married' to their abductors, with support from police and judicial authorities. As a result, petrified families with young kids have been fleeing to India for basic safety,” Prasad noted.

London-based Hindu advocacy group said, “This is a reflection of India's commitment to religious freedom and equality, integral to its secular fabric.”

Meanwhile, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) condemned and expressed serious concerns over the announcement by India to implement CAA, which it called "discriminatory".

“The law is a flagrant manifestation of discriminatory intent, designed with the explicit purpose of discriminating, dispossessing, and disenfranchising Indian Muslims. Its insidious aim becomes glaringly apparent when considered alongside the proposed nationwide National Register of Citizens,” said Mohammed Jawad, IAMC president.