India is poised to advance its secular constitutional framework ahead of elections, a move critics say aligns with a broader nationalist agenda. The government led by Narendra Modi has directed the deployment of a new Citizenship Act, frequently described as a law with strong Muslim minority implications. Enacted two years ago, it was put on hold after widespread protests and deadly clashes, but it has resurfaced as Modi seeks a third term in a campaign that many see as echoing anti-Muslim sentiments meant to appease a large Hindu majority.
The law, drafted with a humanitarian veneer yet a troubling core, would grant Indian citizenship to illegal immigrants from several religious minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jainists, and Christians, arriving from three Muslim-majority countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It relaxes the requirement for long-term residence by accepting arrivals before 2015 as a basis for urgent documentation. If framed as protection for persecuted minorities, it is notable that it excludes Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, Ahmadis from Pakistan, and Hazara from Afghanistan. Muslims are excluded by assertion that they do not constitute a minority in need of state protection according to Modi’s framing.
Amnesty International argues that the new law legitimizes religious discrimination and undermines constitutional equality and international human rights norms. Some states that are not governed by Modi’s party have signaled they will not implement the measure. It represents a nationwide scale challenge because India’s Muslim population, numbering about 200 million and among the world’s largest, is spread across the country. The law has also fueling nationalist, localist, and indigenous rhetoric, modern euphemisms that mask classic xenophobia.
Persecution and punishment
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, emblematic of Hindu nationalist politics, has nudged secular principles aside over the past decade in the world’s largest democracy. Minorities report increased persecution and penalties for dissent. Muslims, in particular, have borne the brunt. Just weeks earlier, two mosques were demolished in New Delhi and Uttarakhand, events that amplified communal tensions. Earlier that year, a temple inauguration occurred on the site of a mosque that had stood for centuries before nationalist activists razed it. Confrontations around food and religious symbols have led to violence, property destruction, and boycotts—some observers already describe the situation as a kind of cultural or ethnic cleansing in practice, if not in law.
The implications are serious, with analysts arguing that government silence and ministerial rhetoric embolden acts against religious minorities. Interior ministry officials have labeled Muslim refugees as threats to national security, and there are fears that the nationwide expansion of a National Registry of Citizens could expel those lacking proper documents. Although currently functioning in Assam, plans remain to extend it across the country, heightening anxieties among Muslim communities about their status and future in the nation.
Police and paramilitary forces have moved into the northeast of New Delhi amid protests sparked by the law’s implementation, protests that quickly spread to other states. The fatalities have exceeded a hundred, with thousands detained in the aftermath. International advisories from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom cautioned travelers about security conditions during the period, and leaders from other nations briefly adjusted their engagements with India. While the current political cycle continues, observers worry about the recurrence of social upheavals and the long-term impact on India’s famed pluralism and democratic fabric.
Analysts say Modi’s policy signals heighten the risk of further social strains. Government voices have described refugees and migrants in harsh terms, while discussions around the registry resurface fears among minorities about potential exclusion and surveillance. The broader question remains whether the country’s legal and constitutional guarantees can coexist with a political climate that prizes majority dominance and rapid, top-down policy shifts. The coming years will test how India navigates its diverse identity against a backdrop of nationalism and global scrutiny, with potential reverberations for regional stability and international perceptions of one of the world’s oldest democracies. (Amnesty International) (Human Rights Watch) (United Nations reports) (Various regional observers).