World full of examples on fast-tracking of citizenship: Jaishankar on CAA criticism

New Delhi, March 17

Amid criticism of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) from the US and other parts of the globe, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said it is important to put it in the context of the Partition, and underlined that there are a “number of examples” in which many countries have fast-tracked citizenship.

During an interaction at a conclave on Saturday, he also responded to questions on an Indian national, facing charges in a murder-for-hire plot to kill a Khalistani separatist on American soil and US Ambassador Eric Garcetti’s remarks a day earlier on its impact on US-India ties.

“You keep using India and Canada seamlessly, I would draw a line there, for a variety of reasons. Most notably that all said and done, American politics has not given that kind of space to violent extremist views and activities which Canada has done. So, I don’t think it’s fair to the US, to lump them together. I would distinguish between the two,” Jaishankar said.

The relations between India and Canada saw bitterness last year over allegations linked with the killing of Khalistani separatist and designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June in the Canadian city of Surrey. India denied the allegation as “absurd and motivated”.

Jaishankar also responded to criticisms surrounding the CAA from Washington and other parts of the world.

The US on Thursday said it is concerned about the notification of CAA in India and is closely monitoring its implementation.

“Look, I am not questioning the imperfections or otherwise of their democracy or their principles or lack of it. I am questioning their understanding of our history. If you hear comments from many parts of the world, it is as if the Partition of India never happened, there were no consequential problems which the CAA is supposed to address,” Jaishankar said.

So, if you take a problem and “remove all the historical context from it, sanitise it and make it into a political correctness” argument, and say, ‘I have principles and don’t you have principles’, “I have principles too, and one of them is obligation to people who were let down at the time of Partition. And, I think, the Home Minister spoke very eloquently on it yesterday”, he added.

Garcetti in response to a question on CAA during a panel discussion at the conclave on Friday, had said the principles of religious freedom and of equality under the law is a cornerstone of democracy.