The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has voiced concern over the Indian government’s notification of rules to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), saying no one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief.

“The problematic CAA establishes a religious requirement for asylum seekers in India fleeing neighbouring countries,” USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck said in a statement on Monday.

Schneck said that while CAA provides a fast track to citizenship for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, the law explicitly ‘excludes Muslims’.

“If the law were truly aimed at protecting persecuted religious minorities, it would include Rohingya Muslims from Burma, Ahmadiyya Muslims from Pakistan, or Hazara Shi’a from Afghanistan, among others. No one should be denied citizenship based on religion or belief,” he further claimed.

India’s Home Ministry says Muslims from these countries are also free to apply for Indian citizenship under the existing laws.

Rules for implementation of the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) were notified earlier this month.

India in the past has also dismissed USCIRF’s locus standi to comment on India’s human rights record.