Rupa Huq joined a group of UK Opposition MPs for a meeting in the House of Commons complex in London this week to debate the implications of India's new Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA).
"Shocking to hear about restrictions on the liberty of Muslims in India," said Huq, the British Bangladeshi Labour Party MP representing the Ealing Central and Acton constituency in west London.
The CAA came into force in India last December amid protests in India and around the world. While critics view it as an attack on India's secular Constitution, the Indian government has said the Act has been brought in to protect the oppressed minorities of neighbouring countries, including Bangladesh, by offering them Indian citizenship. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is on the record as saying that the issue is an "internal matter" for India but has dubbed it an unnecessary step.
During the London meeting, Huq also raised the question of how Indians living in the UK and other countries are likely to be impacted by the new legislation. In response, Indian lawyer Gautam Bhatia told the gathering that the new legislation gives the Indian government more powers to cancel the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI).
The event in the Parliament building, hosted by east London Labour MP Stephen Timms, went on to express solidarity with numerous protests and demonstrations organised by diaspora groups over the past few weeks and months in the UK.
“I have been struck by the diversity of the people who are protesting against these measures in India in my constituency. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs are all coming together,” said Timms, who said he has written to the UK Foreign Office and Indian High Commission in London expressing his concerns around the human rights implications of CAA.
The MPs told the gathering, organised by the Ambedkar International Mission (UK) and South Asia Solidarity Group, that they would table an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons for the CAA and NRC/NPR to be discussed on the floor of the House of Commons. An EDM is a method used by British MPs to draw Parliament’s attention to a particular issue.
The groups behind the event and a number of other UK-wide diaspora groups also announced plans for a so-called "National Demonstration Against Fascism in India" rally on Jan 25, a day before India's Republic Day on Jan 26. The rally is set to begin outside Downing Street before marching up to the Indian High Commission in London.