India rejects US concern over citizenship law as ‘misplaced, unwarranted’
Al Jazeera
Response follows US State Department saying it will ‘closely monitor’ the implementation of the religion-based law.
India has rejected comments by a United States official raising concern over the implementation of a religion-based citizenship law as “misplaced, misinformed and unwarranted”.
On Monday, just weeks before the general election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government announced rules to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which makes getting Indian citizenship easier for non-Muslim refugees from three Muslim-majority South Asian nations: Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The move sparked sporadic protests with critics, including Muslims groups and opposition parties, saying the law discriminates against Muslims and undermines India’s secular constitution.
