India announces steps to implement a citizenship law that excludes Muslims

By SHEIKH SAALIQ
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that excludes Muslims, weeks before the Hindu nationalist leader seeks a third term in office. The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations. The law was approved in 2019, but Modi’s government had held off with its implementation after deadly protests broke out in capital New Delhi and elsewhere. Scores were killed during days of clashes. Minority Muslims in India worry the government could use the law to further marginalize them.