India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims. Here’s what to know

By SHEIKH SAALIQ
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — India has implemented a citizenship law that excludes migrants who are Muslims, a minority community whose concerns have heightened under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government. The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations. The law was approved in 2019, but Modi’s government postponed its implementation after deadly protests. The law doesn’t affect members of the minority Muslim community who already are citizens, but they worry the government could use the law to further marginalize them.