Senators Di Natale and Faruqi: To move-That the Senate-
(a) notes the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Act in India on 10 December 2019, which legalised the granting of Indian citizenship based on religion but specifically excluded muslims;
(b) expresses deep concern that the Indian Government has created the legal grounds to strip millions of muslims of the fundamental right of equal access to citizenship;
(c) is further concerned that the Citizenship Amendment Act could be used, along with India's National Register of Citizens, to render many muslim citizens of India stateless;
(d) further notes that there have been widespread protests in India against the Citizenship Amendment Act, and that the Indian Government's response has been to impose curfews, shutdown internet services, use violence and force and detain and allegedly torture human rights activists;
(e) expresses solidarity with the community, students, academics, authors, artists, lawyers and many others who have been at the forefront of the movement against the Citizenship Amendment Act in India and across the world; and
(f) urges the Australian Government to call on the Indian Government to:
(i) revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act,
(ii) stop the criminalisation of protests, and
(iii) treat all of its citizens equally.
