Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019: US commission seeks sanctions against Amit Shah
A US federal commission on international religious freedom has said Washington should consider sanctioning Home Minister Amit Shah and other senior Indian leaders if both Houses of Parliament pass the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, calling the measure a “dangerous turn in the wrong direction”.
The commission’s statement
In a statement issued on Monday, the commission, known as USCIRF, said it was deeply troubled that the Lok Sabha had passed the Bill, introduced by Shah, because of its religious criterion. It alleged that the Bill creates a route to citizenship for immigrants that specifically leaves out Muslims, making religion a legal test for citizenship. The commission said the Bill ran against India’s tradition of secular pluralism and against the Constitution’s guarantee of equality before the law irrespective of faith.
What the Bill proposes
The Lok Sabha passed the Bill shortly after midnight on Monday, with 311 members in favour and 80 against, and it now goes to the Rajya Sabha. It would grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan up to December 31, 2014 after facing religious persecution, instead of treating them as illegal immigrants. Introducing it, Shah said people of any religion had no reason to fear under the Modi government and that the law would bring relief to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries.
India’s stand on USCIRF
Since the time of the UPA government, India has maintained that it does not accept a third country’s views or reports on its internal affairs. On that basis, it has for more than a decade refused visas to USCIRF officials seeking to assess religious freedom in the country on the ground.
What happened next
Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in December 2019.
See also: Election news
Originally published on 10 December 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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