ISLAMABAD – The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) ofthe Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned theviolence and loss of life in the wake of peaceful protests against therecently enacted discriminatory Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 (CAB) bythe Indian government.
It noted that Muslims all over the India as well as cross sections ofIndian society have categorically rejected the CAB as a biased,discriminatory and diversionary act, which goes against the Indianconstitution, said a press release issued by the Commission here on Monday.
While sharing the concerns expressed by the OIC on these developments, theIPHRC welcomed and echoed the assertions of the Office of the UN HighCommissioner for Human Rights that the Indian CAB 2019 is “fundamentallydiscriminatory in nature”, which is not only violator of equality beforelaw, enshrined in its own Constitution, but also incompatible with therelevant international human rights covenants, which obligate countries toensure that all measures governing migration are based on equality andnon-discrimination, and applies to all people regardless of their race,religion, national origin or other status.
The Commission highlighted that the ‘Global Compact for Safe, Orderly andRegular Migration’ also commits the countries to ‘protect the safety,dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms of all migrants, regardlessof their migratory status, at all times, and to combat xenophobia, racismand discrimination towards all migrants’.
However, the new citizenship amendment bill, restricts the access of Muslimmigrants to citizenship, which is inherently violative of internationalhuman rights obligations, it added.
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Recalling the series of other discriminatory actions, which includerevoking the special status of the Muslim-majority State of Indian OccupiedKashmir, discriminatory screening of Muslims from National Register ofCitizens in Assam, and open plans to build a Hindu temple at the site ofCenturies old Babri Mosque, the IPHRC regretted that these actions reflecta consistent pattern of the bigoted far-right Hindutva policies that aim tosubjugate Muslims in India.
The Commission urged the international community and the UN to pressurizethe Indian Government to (a) repeal the discriminatory clauses of itsCitizenship Amendment Act 2019 (b) abide by relevant international normsand standards in dealing with the ongoing peaceful assembly and protestsand (c) ensure protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms ofall its minorities in accordance with the international human rightsobligations.
