NEW DELHI, March 15: Comments by the United States expressing concern about Indias implementation of a contentious citizenship law based on religion are "misplaced, misinformed, and unwarranted", the foreign ministry of the South Asian nation said on Friday.
Indias move this week sparked sporadic protests, with critics, including Muslims groups and opposition parties, saying the law was discriminatory and undermined the countrys secular constitution.
In a statement, the US State Department said it was "concerned" about the notification of the law, citing "respect for religious freedom and equal treatment" as a fundamental democratic principle.
"We are of the view that it is misplaced, misinformed, and unwarranted," Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for Indias Foreign Ministry, said on Friday, in response to the US statement.
"Lectures by those who have a limited understanding of Indias pluralistic traditions and the regions post-partition history are best not attempted," he added. The reference was to the colonial-era division of the subcontinent at the time of independence from Britain in 1947.
There were no grounds for concern about the treatment of minorities, Jaiswal said, adding, "Votebank politics should not determine views about a laudable initiative to help those in distress."
The Indian law provides a fast-track for citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who have fled to India from neighbouring countries .—REUTERS
