The nation is already in turmoil because of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Amid severe protest and law and order issues, a total of 140 petitions have already been filed in the Apex court against CAA, and today, The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has also moved the Supreme Court of India against the CAA.
This information has been given to India by the High Commissioner of UNHRC. There has been a strong objection from India to this step of UNHRC. Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, has said: “India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva was informed on Monday evening by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle Bachelet), that her Office had filed an Intervention Application in the Supreme Court of India“. He also stated that “it is an internal matter of India concerning sovereign rights of Indian Parliament to make laws.”
Kumar added that “We strongly believe that no foreign party has any locus standi on issues of India’s sovereignty”.
In its application, the UNHRC said that the ‘international human rights body‘ criticizes the CAA. It has been said that questions arise on the justification and impartiality of the CAA. The CAA is also a big question on the test of equality for all under the law. The 12-page application filed by the UNHRC states that “CAA questions India’s broad human rights obligations and commitment to international commitments.”
In December also UN human rights had tweeted:
#India: We are concerned that the new #CitizenshipAmendmentAct is fundamentally discriminatory in nature. Goal of protecting persecuted groups is welcomed, but new law does not extend protection to Muslims, incl. minority sects: https://t.co/ziCNTWvxc2#FightRacism #CABProtests pic.twitter.com/apWbEqpDOZ
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) December 13, 2019
“We all have full confidence in our independent judiciary,” said Kumar. He added that the Citizenship Amendment Act is an internal matter of India and is the sovereign right of the Indian Parliament to make laws.
“We firmly believe that no foreign power has any control over issues related to the sovereignty of India. We stand firm that the CAA is constitutionally valid and complies with all the requirements of our constitutional values. This is the result of our longstanding national commitment to human rights issues arising after the tragedy of the Partition of India.”
India is a democratic country where there is rule of law. We all have full confidence in our independent judiciary. We are very confident that our strong legal side will be proved right on this issue in the Supreme Court,” he said.