Home Minister Amit Shah has addressed queries regarding the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), a subject of contention, highlighting its intention to provide citizenship to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who settled in India before December 31, 2014. As debates ensue over the exclusion of Muslims from the CAA’s provisions, Shah emphasizes that areas now outside of India were partitioned due to Muslim majorities and that it’s a moral and constitutional duty to shelter those who endured religious persecution and were once part of a united India, known as Akhand Bharat.
Shah presented statistics to demonstrate the decline of Hindu populations in Pakistan and Bangladesh since Partition and the steep reduction of Hindu and Sikh communities in Afghanistan, asserting the necessity of India’s responsibility for these displaced groups. He also noted the possibility for Muslims to apply for Indian citizenship through the Constitution’s existing provisions, clarifying that CAA offers a targeted solution for particular minorities without valid documents while also acknowledging that a majority of affected individuals possess necessary papers for the process.
In contrast to the Indian government’s affirmation of the CAA as a measure to protect oppressed minorities without impacting Indian Muslims, international reaction has emerged, including from the United States, which voiced concerns about the law’s implementation and monitoring, underlining the importance of religious freedom and equal treatment under the law. In reply to this international critique, Hindu American groups have shown support for the CAA. Meanwhile, Pakistan has criticized the CAA as ‘discriminatory in nature,’ accusing it of being grounded in false assumptions regarding minority persecution in neighboring Muslim countries and warning against the continued marginalization of minorities within India.