Bangladeshi, Pakistani media slam India on Citizenship Amendment Act  

In the light of protests erupting across India against the Citizenship Amendment Act, media in Bangladesh and Pakistan, the countries mentioned in the Act have been vocal about the contentious legislation. Other international organisations which have spoken against it include UN and US Commission on International Religious Freedom.

The Daily Star’s editorial on December 12 says that the majority of BJP in parliament was misused to validate communal politics in India. It adds that the Act discriminates against Muslims and encourages migration of Hindus from Bangladesh. It also points out that secularism is at risk in India and draws parallel to 1977 when the principle of secularism was removed from Bangladesh’s constitution under Ziaur Rahman.

Kumkum Chadha, in her opinion for The Independent on December 15 talks about how Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen cancelled his trip to New Delhi on Wednesday (December 11) just ahead of the passing of the Bill in Rajya Sabha. It quotes Momen in his interviews to Bangladeshi media that Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments on religious persecution of minorities in Bangladesh were ‘unwarranted and untrue’ and that Bangladesh was an example of communal harmony.

Also read | Meghalaya CM unhappy, Shah says Citizenship Act will be tweaked

Taslima Yasmin, in her opinion piece on December 14, in The Daily Star also refers to the threat to India’s secularism. The article refers to Home Minister Amit Shah’s comments in Lok Sabha while introducing the Bill that the proposed Bill would give relief to the persecuted religious minorities who were living a ‘painful life’ in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The writer expresses angst over the fact that a friendly neighbour like Bangladesh was equated with countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Barkha Dutt, in her opinion for The Daily Observer on December 15, says that the Citizenship Act without the NRC is ‘politically pointless’ and both together would alter the fundamental nature of the Indian nation.

It was also reported that Bangladesh has chosen to not comment about CAA as it was India’s internal matter. But the editorial in The Daily Star points out that the consequences of the legislation would definitely cross borders which India would not be able to ignore.

Also read | Beleaguered Mamata in a spot as citizenship bill protests singes Bengal

Asad Rahim Khan, in his piece for the Pakistani newspaper The Dawn, proceeds to systemically elaborate and reason as to why Indian MP Shashi Tharoor’s comments on CAA that the legislation would reduce India to a ‘Hindutva version of Pakistan’ are justified. The piece titled ‘Creation myths’ proceeds to say that the left in India has not stood its ground. It also adds that the legislation is a reflection of a country that is remaking its institutions by externalising its demons.

Aijaz Zaka Syed, in his opinion for The News International, another Pakistani paper questions the silence of Indian Muslim organisations against the CAA. It also calls for the need to build a connection with India’s non-Muslim population in an effort to control the overarching hand of the Sangh Parivar.

Also read | Citizenship Act protest: 5 trains set afire, 7 rescheduled in Bengal