Members of European Parliament are set to debate six resolutions on the citizenship law on Wednesday 29 January, from which five are opposing the bill, and one backs the legislation itself but calls for a probe into “excessive use of force by security forces” against protesters.
On the other hand, India rejects such outside concerns. India is more than capable of handling its own matters and any outside meddling in its affairs is inappropriate and uncalled-for, India’s VP has said as the European Parliament prepares to debate India’s citizenship law.
Indian Parliament, in December 2019, passed an act called the Citizen Amendment Act or simply CAA, which aimed at fast-tracking the naturalization of non-muslim immigrants from the three main countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This has created an uncertainty in Indian Muslims who consider the act as anti-Muslim because it leads to their deliberate marginalization in the country.
Opposition parties and the Muslim population have rejected the Act, calling it to be unconstitutional and against the secular nature of the country. Since then the country is engulfed in a series of protests which are handled by the brute force of the government, thus exacerbating the crisis.
Many outside countries including Pakistan, China and the US have raised concerned over the new citizenship law. But India has remained adamant and is busy in furthering the fascist agenda of the BJP government under the leadership of Narendra Modi (notorious for Gujrat pogrom).
"Jinnah is winning": Shashi Tharoor attacks centre over #CitizenshipLaw.https://t.co/DJpykGMQi4 pic.twitter.com/dth0So73Pf
— NDTV (@ndtv) January 26, 2020
The latest addition in the objectors is the European Parliament which is going to debate over the CAA with most of the motions against the Act. The relentless efforts of PM Imran Khan to highlight the true face of fascist India at the global level bore fruit. Raising voice against the grave human rights violations in Kashmir and India by the revocation of Article 35A and 370 and the Passage of CAA respectively has awakened the global community.
EU Parliament is all set to oppose both these new developments in India as the majority of the members are against these acts. The vote in the EU parliament is a diplomatic offensive against India that comes ahead of the Modi’s visit to Brussels for India -EU summit in March 2020.
Read more: Jinnah was Right & Gandhi was Wrong: Indian politician blasts over CAA
Vice President Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu dismissed all attempts by foreign powers to lecture New Delhi on its own internal policy, at an event on Monday. Calling such efforts “totally uncalled for and unwarranted,” Naidu said that misconceptions about the bill are rooted in “inadequate knowledge and insufficient understanding” of the law.
Indian actor @NaseerudinShah has said it’s a good omen students have stood up against injustice. Referring to torture of students protesting against the #citizenshiplaw, Shah said the way they have put up resistance is surprising. He praised @deepikapadukone for raising voice. pic.twitter.com/vnIc3oa57M
— 24 News HD (@24NewsHD) January 21, 2020
Naidu said that many in the West had not given the nascent democracy much of a chance back in 1947, when India gained independence from Britain, adding that the Indian nation has proved sceptics wrong.
“While we are capable of addressing our internal matters as evidenced over the last 70 years, let others do so in their respective domains”
In an apparent swipe at critics of the way the PM Narendra Modi’s government has handled the mass protests that gripped the country after the citizenship amendment law (CAA) was passed in December, Naidu said that there is enough “space” within the Indian democracy for “expressing differences and dissents whenever warranted.”
Read more: Naseeruddin Shah blasts BJP, calls Anupam Kher a ‘clown’ and ‘sychophantic’
Though Naidu did not name those who have been poking their noses in India’s affairs, the rebuke was likely aimed at the European Parliament, one of the key EU bodies representing people living in the bloc’s 28 member-states.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leads a protest march against #CitizenshipAct, in Darjeeling.
Watch LIVE: https://t.co/hMlRpgrUU6 and NDTV 24×7 #CitizenshipLaw #CAA https://t.co/TdYwqn2fGj
— NDTV (@ndtv) January 22, 2020
India is not a ‘theocratic’ state like Pakistan & America, defence minister claims.
One of the resolutions, that has enlisted the support of the 751-member body’s 559 members, describes the law as an “in the way citizenship will be determined in India and is set to create the largest statelessness crisis in the world and cause immense human suffering.”
Read more: Show us your Birth Certificate: Prove You’re Indian: Kashyap blasts at Modi
New Delhi has repeatedly denied allegations that the law is discriminatory towards Muslims, insisting that it is purely humanitarian in nature and fast-tracks citizenship to oppressed minorities from three neighbouring Muslim-majority countries.
Meanwhile, the European Commission’s delegation to India appeared to distance itself from what is expected to become a heated MEP debate.