UN experts seek anti-caa protesters’ release

NEW DELHI: The Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has asked India to immediately release activists arrested for protesting against the new Citizenship (Amendment) Act , or CAA.

“These defenders, many of them students, appear to have been arrested simply because they exercised their right to denounce and protest against the CAA, and their arrest seems clearly designed to send a chilling message to India’s vibrant civil society that criticism of government policies will not be tolerated,” OHCHR said in a statement. In December, parliament passed a law to fast-track grant of Indian citizenship to six religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan — Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis, Christians.

A large number of groups and political parties termed the law discriminatory as it left out the Muslims, triggering nationwide protests since last November.

In February, communal rioting erupted over CAA in Delhi in which 53 people were killed.

The OHCHR statement also mentioned the case of pregnant student activist Safoora Zargar, who was released on bail on June 23. It said – “…Zargar was detained for over two months having allegedly been kept in conditions equating to solitary confinement, denied regular contact with her family and legal representative. She was granted bail on June 23, on humanitarian grounds.” “Authorities should immediately release all human rights defenders who are being held in pre-trial detention without sufficient evidence, often simply on the basis of speeches they made criticising the discriminatory nature of the CAA.”

BJP MP Rakesh Sinha said: “CAA is law under Indian Constitution and provides relief to victims of religious majoritarianism in Pak Bangladesh and Afghanistan. I condemn the statement as unwise and against the international customs.”