LONDON: Britain has urged restraint by all parties in India after violence left tens dead and hundreds injured. A new citizenship law, which critics have warned further marginalises the country’s 200 million Muslims, has increased tensions in the country between Hindu hardliners and Muslims protesting against the Hindu-first policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Foreign Office Minister Nigel Adams said the British High Commission in New Delhi and its diplomatic network across India are “monitoring closely” the recent violence and developments around citizenship law.
Labour accused India of behaving “like a state with no regard for human rights and the rule of law or the freedom of religion”, adding that it must “face the consequences of its behaviour”.
Responding to an urgent question, Adams told the Commons: “The events in Delhi last week were very concerning and the situation is still tense. The death of one protester is one too many. We urge restraint from all parties and trust the Indian government will address concerns of people of all religions in India.
“We also condemn any incidents of violence, persecution or targeting of people based on religion or belief, wherever it happens in the world.”
Shadow Foreign Office minister Khalid Mahmood highlighted the “sickening violence against Muslims” in recent weeks, adding: “The Citizenship (Amendment) Act enables documented migrants from neighbouring countries to seek Indian citizenship provided they meet one condition — they’re not Muslim.
“This is the first such law that has been passed in India since its independence. Next will come a national register of citizens. Undocumented Muslim migrants will automatically be excluded, held in concentration camps and identified for deportation. Through these laws, Prime Minister Modi is turning a hateful nationalistic slogan into brutality.”
Mahmood said more than 40 people have been killed in New Delhi by “mobs” who are “attacking Muslim homes and families”, adding that the Indian police have been “looking on passively”.
He added: “If India behaves like this, like a state with no regard for human rights and the rule of law or the freedom of religion, it must urgently be made to face the consequences of its behaviour.”
Labour’s Tanmanjeet Singh Dehsi (Slough) said: “We must learn from history, not be fooled by those whose insidious aim is to divide society, hell-bent on killing and destroying religious places, all in the name of religion.”
He added: “So I ask the minister what message has he given to his Indian counterparts that persecution of Indian Muslims, many of whom have been peacefully protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), is utterly intolerable and that the police cannot just stand idly by, or worse still be complicit, as is alleged by many victims and social activists — and that the perpetrators must feel the full force of the law?”
Adams replied: “It is absolutely essential we speak up where we believe abuses have taken place and when protest crosses the line into illegality. As I have mentioned, the government needs to act within all domestic laws and international laws to make sure they are enforced.”
He added that the Government is “constantly talking” to the Indian government about their concerns with the CAA. The SNP’s David Linden (Glasgow East) said: “One of the things we saw when Prime Minister Modi welcomed Donald Trump a couple of weeks ago was the two of them embracing each other in scrambling to do a trade agreement.
“What reassurances in the scramble for a post-Brexit trade deal can the minister give me that we won’t be doing the same and that we’ll be raising these cases at the highest levels of government and not ignoring human rights when it comes to doing trade deals?”
Adams replied: “Whilst trade is absolutely vital for our economy and future prosperity, this in no way compromises the United Kingdom’s commitment to holding human rights at the core of our foreign policy and I can guarantee, Mr Linden, we will not persuade trade to the exclusion of human rights.”
