India Enacts Anti-Muslim Citizenship Law Ahead of Election

India has enacted a controversial citizenship law that makes it easier for non-Muslims who have moved to India to become citizens. Under the law, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jains and Parsis who moved to India before 2015 from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh would become eligible for citizenship. The law excludes Muslim immigrants. The bill’s passage in 2019 sparked deadly protests, but the law was not implemented until now, just ahead of a major election as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a third term. Amnesty International criticized the law, saying it is “a discriminatory law that goes against the constitutional values of equality and international human rights law.”