US commission seeks sanctions against India’s Amit Shah over controversial citizenship bill

A federal US commission has sought sanctions against Indian Home Minister Amit Shah and other key leaders if the controversial citizenship bill with the “religious criterion" is passed by both houses of parliament, reports NDTV.

The commission described the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill as a “dangerous turn in the wrong direction”.

The Lok Sabha passed the bill, which seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Muslim-majority Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there, a little past midnight on Monday.

According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan - which are declared Islamic nations - till December 31, 2014 and facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship.

In a statement issued on Monday, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom or USCIRF alleged that the bill enshrines a pathway to citizenship for immigrants that specifically excludes Muslims, setting a legal criterion for citizenship based on religion.

It claimed that the bill runs counter to India's rich history of secular pluralism and the Indian constitution, which guarantees equality before the law regardless of faith.

The USCIRF said that it was deeply troubled over the passage of the bill in Lok Sabha.

"If the CAB passes in both houses of Parliament, the US government should consider sanctions against Home Minister Amit Shah and other principal leadership," the commission suggested.

Amit Shah on Monday introduced the bill in Lok Sabha, where it was passed with 311 members favouring it and 80 voting against it. It will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha for its nod.

Shah while introducing the bill had made it clear that people belonging to any religion should not have any fear under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government as he asserted that the bill will give relief to those minorities who have been living a painful life after facing persecution in three neighbouring countries.

Shah asserted that the bill has the "endorsement of 130 crore Indian citizens" and rejected suggestions that the measure is anti-Muslims, saying it will give rights to persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

However, the bill has been opposed by the Congress, Trinamool Congress and other Opposition parties.