New Delhi, India – In a move that has sparked controversy and criticism, India has introduced rules to implement a citizenship bill that excludes Muslims. The new regulations, announced by the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, come ahead of the country’s general election, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is seeking a rare third term in power.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act aims to provide expedited citizenship to immigrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, on the condition that they are not Muslim. The law targets religious minorities facing persecution on the grounds of their faith, such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians.
Although initially passed by India’s parliament in 2019, the bill remained inactive until the new rules were officially notified. Prime Minister Modi, known for his Hindu nationalist stance, has faced backlash from opposition parties, who argue that the legislation undermines the rights of India’s large Muslim population.
Critics of the bill accuse Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of pushing a Hindu nationalist agenda that marginalizes the Muslim community in India, a diverse nation of 1.3 billion people. The BJP, rooted in India’s Hindu right-wing movement, has been criticized for promoting the idea of India as a Hindu nation.
Since coming to power nearly a decade ago, Modi’s leadership has raised concerns about the erosion of India’s secular and democratic principles. Minorities in the country have expressed feelings of persecution under the BJP’s policies, with dissent against the government often met with censorship and punishment.
The announcement of the new citizenship rules follows recent incidents of mosque demolitions in Uttarakhand state and Delhi, leading to social unrest and local curfews. Additionally, in January, Modi inaugurated a grand Hindu temple at a site where a mosque was destroyed by Hindu extremists over three decades ago, further exacerbating religious tensions in the country.
As India grapples with growing religious divisions and concerns over the rights of its minority populations, the implementation of the controversial citizenship bill raises questions about the future of secularism and democracy in the world’s largest democracy.