Washington
Democratic Presidential nominee and former US Vice President, Joe Biden, wants India to take necessary steps to restore the rights of Kashmiris and expressed disappointment over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam.
A policy paper —‘Joe Biden’s agenda for Muslim American community’ — posted recently on his campaign website, said, these measures (the CAA and NRC) are inconsistent with the country’s long tradition of secularism and with sustaining a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy.
A group of Hindu Americans has reached out to the Biden campaign, expressing resentment to the language used against India and urged it to reconsider the views. The group has also sought a similar policy paper on Hindu Americans. The Biden campaign did not respond to questions. Observing that Mr Biden understands the pain Muslim-Americans feel towards what is happening in Muslim-majority countries and countries with significant Muslim populations, the policy paper clubbed together Kashmir and Assam in India with the forced detention of over a million Uyghur Muslims in western China, and discrimination and atrocities against Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority. In Kashmir, the Indian government should take all necessary steps to restore rights of all the people of Kashmir. Restrictions on dissent, such as preventing peaceful protests or shutting or slowing down the internet, weaken democracy.
Joe Biden has been disappointed by the measures that the government of India has taken with the implementation and aftermath of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act into law, the policy paper said.—KMS
