Modi Law and Minister Asiri

This news has been read 29243 times!

The Citizenship Law of India was passed in 1955, and the Indian Parliament, at the instigation of the right-wing (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi government, recently made an amendment to it so that religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan could, in particular, obtain Indian citizenship, provided they were Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists , Zoroastrians and Christians.

The law did not include Muslims, since they represent the majority in these countries. Asylum was limited to those who entered India before Dec 31, 2014, and were facing ‘religious persecution’ in their countries of origin.

The law did not include the minorities from countries such as Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Nepal and Bhutan. The Tibetan refugees from China were also excluded from the law, although they were a major concern of the central government.

The law came in implementation of the promise made to voters by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2014 elections. Immediately after passing the law, it faced widespread criticism in India and abroad for violating the secular Indian Constitution that promises equality.

More than 1,000 Indian scientists and researchers have signed a document opposing the law. The United States’ Committee on International Religious Freedom also criticized the amendment, for the belief of several parties that it legitimizes religious discrimination.

Criticism developed into bloody protests that included several Indian states, especially those with a Muslim majority, or those that would be affected more than others by naturalization of migrants.

The Indian Constitution, which came into force in the 1950s was distinguished by its secularism and it prohibited illegal immigrants from obtaining Indian citizenship.

India has more than 200,000 refugees but the ruling party has come to consider India a Hindu state, not a secular one, and seemed to be working on this basis, fearing the increasing number of Muslims.

India has been preceded by other countries in its racial or religious extremism, including Israel, and we in Kuwait have preceded many countries in refusing to grant state citizenship to non-Muslims even if he/she were the greatest, most honorable, purest and most beneficial human being to humanity on planet earth.

Therefore, we saw how all the voices of extremist religious parties were silent on denouncing India’s decision, or even trying to show its support for the bloody demonstrations that took place in many Indian cities, in protest against the law, perhaps because they are preoccupied with the issue of toppling Ghadeer Asiri from the Ministry of Social Affairs, for very trivial reasons, but the fact is that some of them are terrified of arrival of the person who ‘cannot be trusted’ to monitor the business and money of charities.

By Ahmad alsarraf
e-mail [email protected]

This news has been read 29243 times!