US concerned about implications of India's new citizenship law: Sam Brownback

WASHINGTON: The US is concerned about the implications of the citizenship law in India, a top American diplomat responsible for monitoring international religious freedom has said and expressed hope that the government will abide by its constitutional commitments.

The contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, passed by the Lok Sabha on Monday and the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, provides for granting citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"One of India's great strengths is its Constitution. As a fellow democracy, we respect India's institutions, but are concerned about the implications of the CAB bill. We hope the government will abide by its constitutional commitments, including on religious freedom," Sam Brownback, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, tweeted on Friday.


Brownback's remarks come ahead of the 2+2 ministerial dialogue between India and the US. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are scheduled to arrive at Washington DC next week for the second 2+2 talks with their American counterparts -- Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper -- on December 18.

Meanwhile, at a Congressional briefing organised by the Indian American Muslim Council, Emgage Action and the Hindus for Human Rights, Gregory Stanton of Genocide Watch expressed concern on Thursday over the human rights situation in Kashmir and Assam.

Stanton is known for creating the famous "Ten Stages of Genocide" as a presentation to the US Department of State when he worked there in 1996. He also drafted the UN Security Council resolutions that created the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda and the Burundi Commission of Inquiry.

The Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi has said the new law provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities already in India from certain contiguous countries.

It asserted that every nation has the right to enumerate and validate its citizenry, and to exercise the prerogative through various policies.

Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and parts of Arunachal Pradesh have been witnessing large-scale protests with thousands of people hitting the streets defying prohibitory orders to demand scrapping of the contentious law.