The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has slammed The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for filing an intervention application in the Supreme Court of India against the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
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The contentious move by the UN body implied that it wanted to be made a party in the existing petitions against the CAA. The message was conveyed to India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva, Switzerland.
On Tuesday, the MEA spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar, reiterated that CAA is an internal affair of India and that no foreign party has any locus standi on issues related to India’s sovereignty.
He informed, “Our Permanent Mission in Geneva was informed yesterday evening by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle Bachelet) that her office had filed an intervention application in the Supreme Court of India in respect to the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act.”
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Kumar said, “It (CAA) is reflective of our long-standing national commitment with respect to human rights issues arising from the tragedy of the Partition of India.”
He added, “India is a democratic country governed by the rule of law. We all have the utmost respect for and full trust in our independent judiciary. We are confident that our sound and legally sustainable position will be vindicated by the Supreme Court. ”
While the OHCHR had earlier alleged that CAA was “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”, nothing can possibly be further from the truth.
CAA does not strip anyone, let alone Indian Muslims of their citizenship rights. The humanitarian law aims to fast track the citizenship process of religious persecuted minorities from three neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have come to India as refugees before December 31, 2014.