UN calls India's Citizenship Bill 'fundamentally discriminatory'

United Nation : Amid protests over the passage of Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Assam, the Human Rights office at the United Nations has expressed concern over the controversial bill and called it “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”.

“We are concerned that the new #CitizenshipAmendmentAct is fundamentally discriminatory in nature. Goal of protecting persecuted groups is welcomed, but the new law does not extend protection to Muslims, incl. minority sects,” the UN body tweeted Friday.

The UN body for human rights said in a statement, “The amended law would appear to undermine the commitment to equality before the law enshrined in India’s constitution and India’s obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, to which Indian is a State party, which prohibit discrimination based on racial, ethnic or religious grounds. Although India’s broader naturalization laws remain in place, these amendments will have a discriminatory effect on people’s access to nationality.”

The Bill, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha on December, seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains and Parsis – it leaves out Muslims – who entered the country from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan until December 31, 2014.

Following the passage of the bill, violent protests have been reported in several parts, majorly in North East region of the nation. Japan PM Shinzo Abe has also postponed his trip to India for Indo-Japan Summit.