BACKGROUND

In 2019, the Indian Government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which fast tracks citizenship for religiously persecuted minorities (Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis) from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, and provides them a lifeline to escape gross human rights violations, restore their dignity and practice their religion without fear of rape, conversion or death.

Women and marginalized communities from these minority religions have paid a particularly heavy toll. Over 1000 Hindu and Christian girls are forcibly converted and married off each year, while blasphemy laws are used to target religious minorities and subject them to unprecedented abuse. From rapes and forced conversion to being segregated to menial jobs without any prospects of economic advancement, these communities live in constant fear of persecution and social isolation. These minorities face an existential threat, a fact that was recognized by twenty US senators in a letter to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in July 2020, urging him to provide emergency refugee protection to Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan.

The dominant narrative has spun a humanitarian law into a “anti-Muslim” and “anti-Dalit” law, resulting in significant misinformation, confusion and outright Hinduphobia in the mainstream. Many Hindu Americans and Indian Americans have faced attacks and questions about CAA and have been unable to defend their stances or providing a counter voice. Rather than lauding the efforts of helping religiously persecuted minorities, many South Asian and other organizations have completely ignored the human rights of these minorities and relegated them to the fringes of social justice and equity.

What are the key provisions of the CAA? How has geo-political history and the politics of persecution shaped the current environment? But, most importantly, does CAA help or hurt?

Listen to the voices and experiences of survivors from these persecuted communities. As global citizens and humanitarians, it is our collective responsibility to help these victims and take action to prevent false propaganda that gags their voices.

WHAT HAS HAPPENED SINCE THE CAA WAS PASSED?

Despite hyperbolic propaganda of impending genocide, the government of India has taken a slow, deliberate and lawful process for the  implementation of the CAA which is very similar to the Lautenberg Amendment in the United states. 

Where was the CAA stuck all these years? This article explains.

The law has now been implemented and has been well received by various sections of Indian society (see articles here, here, and here).

CAA provides a lifeline to religiously persecuted minorities.