Minister Puri is wrong – CAA has played no role in helping Afghan Hindus and Sikhs come to India

The Taliban’s lightning advance and capture of Afghanistan has had a curious impact on India’s domestic politics as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has highlighted the terror group’s policies to shore up support for itself.

In the spotlight has been the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by the Modi government in 2019 which, for the first time ever, introduced a religious criterion for Indian citizenship. The new law allows undocumented migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to apply for Indian citizenship, even if they had entered India illegally – just as long as they aren’t Muslims.

Moreover, only India’s Muslim-majority neighbours are included in the ambit of the law. Tamils fleeing persecution in Sri Lanka are not covered by the CAA. Neither are anti-army protestors or members of the Rohingya community from Myanmar.

The CAA had been greeted by enormous protests across India, which lasted for several weeks.

Since the Taliban victory, BJP supporters have claimed that the enactment of the CAA has been vindicated since it allows the entry to India of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, who fear for their futures under the rule of the extremist group.

Most prominent among those making this claim was Union minister Hardeep Puri, who said in a tweet on Sunday, “Recent developments in our…

Read more