The United States on Thursday said it is "concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in India and is closely monitoring its implementation."
State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller, speaking at his daily briefing, said: “We are concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11.”
“We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles,” Miller said in response to a question.
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The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government on Monday, March 11, made the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019, a reality by notifying rules for it, a move that came four years after the contentious law was passed in Parliament.
The implementation of CAA paves the way for citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, allowing the Modi government to now start granting Indian nationality to persecuted non-Muslim migrants -- Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians -- from the three countries.
Implementing the controversial CAA, rules of which were notified days ahead of the expected announcement of the Lok Sabha election 2024 dates, was a major poll promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last Lok Sabha. The passage of CAA in Parliament in December 2019 had sparked massive protests in parts of the country.
Amid criticism that the CAA 'targets Muslims', the government came out with a press statement to say that Indian Muslims need not worry as the CAA will not impact their citizenship and has nothing to do with the community which enjoys equal rights as their Hindu counterparts.
The central government has maintained that the CAA is about granting citizenship and that no citizen of the country will lose citizenship.
