New Delhi, January 26: With the debate over Citizenship Amendment Act gaining political momentum, above 150 lawmakers of the European Union have drafted a five-page resolution against it and called CAA a dangerous shift, which is all 'set to create the largest statelessness crisis in the world'. Adding more, the EU lawmakers are of the opinion that the latest CAA to determine citizenship in India would cause 'immense human suffering'.

According to various media reports, the lawmakers have accused the Narendra Modi government of discrimination and harassment. They view that the ruling dispensation is 'prosecuting national and religious minorities and silencing any opposition, human rights groups... and journalists critical of the government'. The lawmakers insisting the EU to consider to 'bring strong human rights clause with an effective implementation and suspension mechanism' during any trade agreement with India. CAA, NRC Cover Up For Escaping Questions on Unemployment, Finds India Today's Mood of the Nation Poll. 

Expressing deep concern, the resolution states, as NDTV quoted, "India has created the legal grounds to strip millions of Muslims of the fundamental right of equal access to citizenship; is concerned that the CAA could be used, along with the National Register of Citizens, to render many Muslim citizens stateless."

It also pointed out the CAA violates India's international obligations on citizenship and the Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Even United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called the CAA 'fundamentally discriminatory', which EU lawmakers pointed out. Republic Day 2020: Tricolour Unfurled at Shaheen Bagh, Epicentre of Anti-CAA Protests. 

The five-page resolution draft is set to be tabled during the plenary session of the European Parliament starting in Brussels next week. Previously, the EU lawmakers had expressed their solidarity with January 7 protests and urged the Indian government not to criminalise the protests, but negotiate with the protesters.

It is to be known that the resolution comes days after Economist Intelligence Unit ranked India 10 places lower in the Democracy Index. In their ranking, they have mentioned citizenship law and the restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir, whose special status under Article 370 was scrapped on August 5, 2019. EIU Democracy Index 2019: India Plunges by 10 Spots to 51st Rank Due to Shrinking Civil Liberties. 

Fearing that along with the NRC, CAA will be used to target Muslims, EU lawmakers mentioned the situation in Jammu and Kashmir and asked EU and its member states to promote the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions in that region. As per the latest CAA, Indian government would provide citizenship for non-Muslim minorities from Muslim-majority countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, provided they fled their country due to religious persecution and entered India before 2015.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 26, 2020 09:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).