The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) on Wednesday expressed concern over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), saying it could result in the “wide-scale disenfranchisement” of Muslims in the country, Reported by NDTV.

Washington: A top Hindu-American organization has reportedly accused a US commission on international religious freedom of conducting hearings that carry out misinformation about the intent and impact of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act .

The new citizenship law passed by the parliament in December 2019 offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. After the enactment of the law, protests erupted across the country over fears that the CAA may marginalise the minority Muslim community.

Members of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) along with an invited panel of experts convened a hearing mainly focused on CAA and the Rohingya Muslims issue in Myanmar to help develop policy recommendations for the US government in response to the issues.

“It’s deeply troubling to see US governmental bodies, such as the USCIRF hold hearings that perpetuate misinformation about the intent and impact of India’s Citizenship Amendment Act,” Hindu American Foundation (HAF) Managing Director Samir Kalra said.

“Tragically, lost in all the false and misleading propaganda are the real victims that the CAA intended to help – the religiously persecuted refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who are stuck in legal limbo and living on the margins of Indian society,” he said.

“I am not sure how Prof Varshney arrived on this conclusion,” Ms Vashisht said. “CAA has no provision of rendering anybody stateless. It gives citizenship to persecuted minorities of three neighboring countries. Nationwide NRC does not exist so to assume anything about that is merely fertile imagination.”

Image Source: NDTV