India’s CAA termed ‘Bigoted’ & ‘Discriminatory’ Internationally

Soon after the Indian govt. notified the implementation of the Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) last week, anti-CAA protests began in Assam and Tripura. The govt. deployed security forces who carried out flag marches in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and other Muslim-majority areas, but there was hardly a murmur there. An old clip of lawyer Abhinav Chandrachud, son of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, explaining the flip side of the law started going viral. Three CMs – Mamata Banerjee from Bengal, Pinarayi Vijayan from Kerala, and MK Stalin from Tamil Nadu – announced they will not implement the law in their states. Amnesty International, the US State Dept., and United Nations (UN) raised concerns, terming the law ‘fundamentally discriminatory in nature’ and ‘a breach of India’s international human rights obligations.’ Articles  against CAA appeared in newspapers around the world, calling out the law for leaving out Muslims and for its timing, by which it is believed BJP is trying to polarize India before the General Elections. Home Minister Amit Shah has taken a confrontational position, challenging Mamta, Stalin, and Vijayan, saying, ‘They cannot deny CAA in their states. It is a Central law according to Article 11 of the Constitution.’ In an interview, Shah said, ‘Ask foreign media, do they have Triple Talaq, Muslim Personal law, provisions like Article 370 in their country.’ Meanwhile, Sikhs and Hindus, who supposedly benefit from the law, protested against opposition alliance INDIA and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal for raising the Muslim question. Meanwhile, Manjeet Singh Lamba, the head of the Sikh and Hindu community in Afghanistan, says close to 200 Sikh and Hindu families are expected to return to the country in the next month (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 11, Story 1).