After a US federal commission on international religious freedom called for American sanctions against Home Minister Amit Shah and other principal leadership, in case the Citizenship Amendment Bill is passed by the Parliament, India has responded.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar took to Twitter, calling the statement by the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) "inaccurate" and "unwarranted".
"They have chosen to be guided by their prejudices and biases on a matter on which they have little knowledge and no locus standi," he wrote on Twitter.
"The Bill provides expedited consideration for Indian citizenship to persecuted religious minorities already in India from certain contiguous countries. It seeks to address their current difficulties and meet their basic human rights. Such an initiative should be welcomed, not criticised by those who are genuinely committed to religious freedom," the statement said.
"Neither CAB nor the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process seeks to strip citizenship from any Indian citizen of any faith," the MEA said.
The statement added that the USCIRF's position was "unsurprising given its past record".
Earlier, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom had said, "If the CAB passes in both houses of parliament, the United States government should consider sanctions against the Home Minister and other principal leadership."
The Commission had said that it was "deeply troubled" by the passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha.
"USCIRF is 'deeply troubled' by the passage of the CAB, originally introduced by Home Minister Shah, in the Lok Sabha given the religion criterion in the bill," it added.
(With inputs from agencies)