US Rebuked for CAA Remarks

Unwarranted remarks on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by the United States (US) State Department spokesman Mathew Miller have invited sharp rebuke from India. Mathew Miller, while reacting to the notification of the CAA, has said that the US was concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on March 11 and is closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. He further added that respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has termed these remarks on CAA by the US as misplaced, misinformed and unwarranted. It has said that CAA implementation is the internal matter of India. MEA has stressed that the Indian constitution guarantees freedom of religion to all its citizens. MEA spokesperson  Randhir Jaiswal while rejecting the US positioning on CAA and questioning its rationale  on meddling in the internal affairs of India has underlined that there are no grounds for any concern or treatment of minorities. Vote bank politics should not determine views about a laudable initiative to help those in distress. Lectures by those who have a limited understanding of India’s pluralistic traditions and the region’s post-partition history are best not attempted. Partners and well-wishers of India should welcome the intent with which this step has been taken. Putting things in perspective the MEA spokesman has said that the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 is an internal matter of India and is in keeping with India’s inclusive traditions and a long-standing commitment to human rights. The act grants a safe haven to persecuted minorities belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist,  Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have entered India on or before 31st December 2014. CAA addresses the issue of statelessness, provides human dignity, and supports human rights. The US seems to have deliberately missed the realities that have given birth to the CAA. In the aftermath of the partition of India there has been wholesale persecution of minorities in the Indian neighbourhood leaving the people homeless and hapless. Biden administration of the US that pursues the left of the centre political views has missed the bus on CAA. Its stand on CAA is hypocritical. He must be made to remember that the US materialised the Lautenberg Amendment to the Foreign Operations Act of 1990 relaxing the provisions for a section of religious minorities persecuted in the erstwhile USSR and Vietnam. So that they get refugee status and live a life of dignity. Not only that  in 2003,the Specter Amendment enabled another  provision allowing the categorisation of religious minorities in Iran facing genocidal crimes. It is akin to  the CAA that relaxes the  threshold of evidence to establish the refugee status. It does not stop here.US has been the foremost supporter of  Israel recognising the Jewish right to return in totality to their homeland. And it has to be underlined that the US recognises that when Israel has no official religion. No doubt the state in Israel is recognised as Jewish. It becomes abundantly clear that the US does not internalise the conditions that has prompted India to put CAA in place. The Rising Kashmir has argued in its previous editorial on the CAA that in order to  address the injustices meted out to the people who were rendered as refugees for no fault of theirs after the partition of India must be delivered justice. These hapless people have been caught in theocratic states that do not recognise the value of human rights and democracy besides the right to equality. Instead of indulging in giving unwanted statements on the implementation of CAA being a mature democracy, the US must appreciate that people marginalised from many decades have been brought into the mainstream and allowed to live as dignified citizens and above all humans.