Washington: A US federal panel has sought to highlight its opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) a few days before US President Donald Trump arrives on his India visit.
In a factsheet, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has argued that the CAA represents a significant downward trend in religious freedom in India.
The factsheet also recalled USCIRF’s latest annual report which had a eight-page note on the state of religious freedom in India. The report asked the US Government to press New Delhi into permitting its delegation to visit the country. It also wants to work with the Indian Government to “ebb the flow of hate crimes targeting religious minorities” and sought the prosecution of media personalities, religious leaders and government officials who did so.
One of the USCIRF Commissioners is Indian-origin civil rights lawyer Arunima Bhargava who criticised New Delhi’s lockdown of Kashmir while deposing before the Human Rights Commission of the US Congress (Tom Lantos Panel) in November last year.
The observations are significant as they come three days before the arrival of President Donald Trump and are amplified by similar concerns that were conveyed to the government by U.S. Congressmen Ami Bera and George Holding, who met Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla on Wednesday.
“Hindutva political rhetoric questions the legitimacy of Muslims’ Indian citizenship and perpetuates the further marginalization of this faith community. The BJP Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, for example, promised in 2005 to cleanse India of other religions, calling this the ‘century of Hindutva’,” said the USCIRF.
The document also cited extensively from concerns expressed by the U.N. reports and observations that have described the controversial CAA as biased against the minority Muslim community of India.
USCIRF members are nominated by various branches of the US Congress to report on threats to religious freedom and to make foreign policy recommendations for the US President, US Secretary of State and the US Congress. The USCIRF does not usually issue factsheets such as the one issued yesterday but it has frequently critically commented on CAA and the NRC in Assam.
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