EU vote on draft resolution of Citizenship Amendment Act postponed

Voting in the European Union (EU) Parliament on draft resolution of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) been postponed to March, government sources confirmed on Thursday. The 30-minute debate ended with most MEPs positive or netural towards India, few negative and only one Pakistan-origin British MEP strongly negative.

In a diplomatic victory for India, it was decided that there will be no voting on the European resolution on CAA. Six political groups of members of the European Parliament had moved a joint resolution against India's new citizenship law, calling it discriminatory.

Sources informed that friends of India prevailed over those of Pakistan in the European Parliament on Wednesday. "Strenuous efforts of outgoing British MEP Shaffaq Mohammad to have a resolution passed by the European Parliament against India on the penultimate day before Brexit was defeated," a source said.

The Indian government has been maintaining that CAA is an internal matter to India and was adopted following a due process through democratic means. "We expect that our perspectives in this matter will be understood by all objective and fair-minded MEPs," the sources added.

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Resolution against CAA in European Union

A total of six resolutions were tabled by political blocs within the EU across ideological lines. The resolution was against India's new citizenship law, alleging that it marks a “dangerous shift” in the country's citizenship regime. The resolutions urge the Indian authorities to "engage constructively" with those protesting against the law 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," according to the GUE/NGL resolution.

"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," it added.

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