India shows US body mirror over its CAB criticism, says 'neither accurate, not warranted'

Asserting that a US federal commission's critical comments on the Citizenship Amendment Bill are not accurate, India on Tuesday said the American body on international religious freedom has chosen to be guided only by its biases on a matter on which it has no locus standi. In a statement issued on Monday, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) alleged that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill enshrines a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that specifically excludes Muslims, setting a legal criterion for citizenship based on religion.

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom's statement on the bill is neither accurate nor warranted, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. Neither the Citizenship Amendment Bill nor the NRC process seeks to strip citizenship from any Indian citizen of any faith, he said. "The position articulated by USCIRF is not surprising given its past record. It is, however, regrettable that the body has chosen to be guided only by its prejudices and biases on a matter on which it clearly has little knowledge and no locus standi," Kumar said.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019

Most opposition parties like Congress, CPI (M), most north-eastern parties, AIMIM, Trinamool Congress have openly revolted against the bill, calling it unconstitutional and against India's secularity. Opposition leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Saugata Roy, N K Premchandran, Gaurav Gogoi, Shashi Tharoor, and Assaduddin Owaisi opposed the introduction of the bill in the Lok Sabha, which seeks to give citizenship to non-Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan escaping religious persecution there, saying it was violative of various provisions of the Constitution, including move to grant citizenship on the basis of religion.

The tabling of the emotive bill comes even as there were protests and incidents of violence in Northeastern states with most of the student unions and regional political parties opposing it, saying it will nullify the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985, which fixed March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for deportation of all illegal immigrants irrespective of religion. The BJP-led NDA government had introduced the bill in its previous tenure and got Lok Sabha's approval. But it did not introduce it in Rajya Sabha, apparently due to vehement protests in the Northeast and lack of majority in the House.

(With PTI inputs)