USCIRF Releases New Factsheet On India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act

Washington, DC – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today released the following new factsheet on India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act:

India Factsheet – In December 2019, the Indian Parliament passed into law the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). This law provides a fast track to Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Quickly after the CAA’s passage, large scale protests broke out across India with the government instituting a violent crackdown against the protestors. In conjunction with a proposed nation-wide National Register of Citizens, there are fears that this law is part of an effort to create a religious test for Indian citizenship and could lead to the widespread disenfranchisement of Indian Muslims. This factsheet provides an overview of the CAA and explains why it represents a significant downward turn in religious freedom in India.

In its 2019 Annual Report, USCIRF placed India on its Tier 2 list.