India grants citizenship to first batch of 14 refugees under controversial law
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Hindu majority India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, with 200 million people.
PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI – India granted citizenship on May 15 to a first batch of 14 people under a controversial law that has been criticised for discriminating against Muslims, midway through a general election in which religious divisions have taken centre stage.
The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) grants citizenship to Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to India from Muslim-majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec 31, 2014, because of religious persecution.
Enacted in 2019, the law was not immediately implemented due to strong protests and sectarian violence in New Delhi and other places that resulted in the death of scores of people.
India implemented the Act in March, weeks before the ongoing polls in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a rare third consecutive term. Both deny the CAA is anti-Muslim.
Four phases of the seven-phase election have concluded and votes will be counted on June 4.
On May 15, the recipients were administered the oath of allegiance and granted citizenship after their documents were verified, the Home Ministry said in a statement, without elaborating on their identities.
Hindu-majority India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, with 200 million people.
Rights and opposition groups have criticised Mr Modi’s government and BJP, saying they target the minority community and systematically discriminate against them to further the party’s core Hindu revivalist ideology.
Mr Modi and BJP deny the accusation and say they work for the welfare of all communities.
They have also said the citizenship law only makes it easy for non-Muslim refugees to get a dignified life and is meant to grant citizenship, not take it away from anyone.
Muslim refugees, they said, can apply under regular rules governing citizenship.
“This is like being reborn,” Mr Harish Kumar, a Hindu refugee from Pakistan living in Delhi for more than a decade, told news agency ANI after getting his citizenship on May 15.
“If a person doesn’t have rights, then what is the point, (now) we can go forward in education and jobs.”
India began voting on April 19 in the seven-phase election, for which Mr Modi launched his campaign by showcasing his economic record, governance and popularity.
But he changed tack after the first phase to accuse the main opposition Congress party of being pro-Muslim, and the issue has gained prominence since.
Analysts say this is likely aimed at firing up BJP’s Hindu nationalist base, after a low turnout in the first phase sparked doubts that the party and its allies could win the landslide that they sought. REUTERS
