CAA, NRC raised during hearing on global religious persecution

Washington: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register for Citizens (NRC) found mention at a congressional hearing, on ending global religious persecution.

The hearing was jointly held by the United States House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations and Oversights and Reform Committee and the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. It dealt with experiences in a range of countries and topics including Nigeria, Uganda, Egypt, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and the United States.

India was also specifically mentioned during the hearing. Francisco Bencosme of Amnesty International who was one of the four witnesses said: “The country this past year tops the world in the number of internet shutdowns”. Mr. Bencosme specialises on advocacy in the Asia Pacific region.

The other three witnesses heard were, Rachel Deitch of the American Humanist Association, Rushan Abbas of the Campaign for Uyghurs and Jeremy Barker of the Religious Freedom Institute.

Mr. Bencosme told the lawmakers that the CAA was “completely oblivious to the nature and scale of persecution faced by minorities” and NRC process “stands to create the biggest statelessness crisis in the world, causing immense human suffering.”

Mentioning the raids against Amnesty India Mr. Bencosme said that state-friendly media had been “weaponised” against Amnesty India to portray the organisation as having violated India’s sovereignty and as posing a threat to the country.

Treatment of Uyghurs by the Chinese government including the incarceration of Uyghurs in detention camps was also extensively discussed during the hearing.