Graffiti seen in Seelampur, New Delhi, during a protest against the new Citizenship Amendment Act, on December 17, 2019. (Photo: Reuters)

The fallout of India's Citizenship Amendment Act, a controversial new law dealing with naturalisation of illegal immigrants which critics say is anti-Muslim, isn't limited to angry protests at home.

The world has been watching.

The amended Citizenship Act offers citizenship to illegal immigrants who are Pakistani, Afghan and Bangladeshi nationals, but fled their home countries to escape religious persecution.

This law does not cover Muslim nationals of these countries, including those belonging to minority communities such as Ahmadis, who aren't recognised as Muslims in Pakistan.

The targeted beneficiaries of the Citizenship Amendment Act are those living in India illegally and belonging to six minority communities -- Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian -- from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The government has pointed out that the law won't take citizenship away from Indians, denied the charge that it is anti-Muslim, and promised to protect locals' rights in the Northeast, where there are fears of a threat to their social and cultural identity.

However, the Citizenship Amendment Act has drawn a flood of criticism, not least from neighbours covered by it.

Pakistan's Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has repeatedly excoriated the legislation.

The Pakistan National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution this week asking India to revoke "discriminatory" clauses in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which it said was against bilateral agreements.

India hit back, saying it was "laughable" that a body "that has itself passed discriminatory legislation against religious minorities, should point fingers at others".

Bangladesh's ministers for home and foreign affairs cancelled visits to India last week as protests of the legislation began in the Northeast. Bangladesh home minister AK Abdul Momen said the policy could weaken India's character as a secular nation and rejected his Indian counterpart Amit Shah's assertion of persecution of minorities in Bangladesh.

Momen said he cancelled his visit due to commitments back home. India's Ministry of External Affairs pointed that out as it assured the public that there was no link between his decision and the passing of the citizenship law by Parliament. It also said Shah had referred to persecution under military rule, not the current Bangladesh government.

Afghanistan's envoy to India said in an interview with India Today TV that his country respected minorities, including Sikhs.

BEYOND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee leading a protest against the citizenship law in Kolkata, West Bengal, on December 17, 2019. (Photo: Reuters)

When the citizenship bill was being debated in Parliament, a federal US commission on international religious freedom decried what it saw as "a dangerous turn in the wrong direction". And, it said the Trump administration should consider sanctions against Home Minister Amit Shah "and other principal leadership" if Parliament approved the bill.

India's response was to point out that the panel's comments were "neither accurate nor warranted" and say that its policy should be welcomed by those "genuinely committed to religious freedom".

The United Nation's human rights office, meanwhile, worries that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act is "fundamentally discriminatory".

A UN official said recently said persecuted groups should be protected through an asylum system that applies equally to all concerned, irrespective of religion, race or nationality.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan cancelled an annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Guwahati, Assam, in the wake of protests in the Northeast.

More recently, the police crackdown on students at Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University led to protests at some of the world's most prestigious universities, such as Harvard and Oxford.

Inputs from PTI