Response to LA Times "How India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims"

This letter is in response to The Los Angeles Times column "How India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims" by Sheikh Saliq on March 17, 2024, Page A 2.

Re How India’s new citizenship law excludes Muslims by Sheikh Saliq

Los Angeles Times March 17, 2024, Page A 2.

Dear Editor

Contrary to Saliq’s anti-CAA rhetoric, there is public support for it by India’s Muslim and Christian communities. www.cohna.org/caa/ Of note, India’s CAA excludes Muslims because they are not persecuted in Muslim countries. I appreciate you noticing this important facet of CAA. Second, just like US Lautenberg Amendment, India's CAA laws are also a huge win for basic human rights and provide a lifeline for persecuted minorities to escape gross human rights violations, to restore their dignity, and ability to practice their religion without fear of rape, conversion, or death. https://www.livemint.com/news/world/eam-jaishankar-caa-us-lautenberg-jackson-vanik-amendment-iran-jews-matthew-miller-eric-garcetti-us-india-ties-11710648538517.html

In Pakistan, each year, over 1000 minor girls from the Hindu, Christian, and Sikh communities are kidnapped, forcibly converted, and “married” off to their abductors, with support from police, and judicial authorities. Let's stand with these persecuted religious minorities. https://www.amazon.com/Blasphemy-Memoir-Sentenced-Death-Water/dp/1613748892

Geeta Sikand

Irvine, CA