EU Parliament shouldn't take actions over democratically elected laws: Official source

The EU Parliament should not take actions that call into question the rights and authority of democratically elected legislatures, official PTI sources said on Sunday ahead of a vote on a resolution against the new citizenship law. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is a matter entirely internal to India and the law was adopted through democratic means after a public debate in both houses of Parliament, they said.

"We hope the sponsors and supporters of the draft will engage with us to get a full and accurate assessment of the facts before they proceed further," said a source. 

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EU Parliament to debate CAA

The European Parliament is set to debate and vote on a resolution tabled by some of its members against India's Citizenship Amendment Act, which it says marks a “dangerous shift” in the country's citizenship regime. The resolution, tabled by the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) Group in the Parliament earlier this week, is set to be debated next Wednesday and voted on the day after.

It makes a reference to the Charter of the United Nations, Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as well as the India-EU Strategic Partnership Joint Action Plan signed in November 2005, and to the EU-India Thematic Dialogue on Human Rights as it urges the Indian authorities to "engage constructively" with those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and consider their demands to repeal the "discriminatory CAA".

"The CAA marks a dangerous shift in the way citizenship will be determined in India and is set to create the largest statelessness crisis in the world and cause immense human suffering," it notes. "Instead of addressing the concerns, offering corrective action, calling for security forces to act with restraint and ensuring accountability, many government leaders have been engaging in efforts to discredit, rebuke and threaten the protesters," the resolution states.

The CAA came into force last December amid protests in India and around the world. The Modi government has stressed that the new Act does not deny any citizenship rights but has been brought in to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries and provide them citizenship.

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(With PTI inputs)