Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in India The amendment, while seeking to open India’s doors to the persecuted groups mentioned above, excludes Muslims from its ambit. For instance, Ahmadiyas and Shias fleeing persecution in Pakistan, and Hazaras fleeing Afghanistan, have been left out. As have Rohingyas from Myanmar. The Tamils of Sri Lanka have also been excluded. This selective application is in contravention of international law, in particular the right to nationality ‘without distinction as to race, colour, or national or ethnic origin’ (Article 5, CERD), and against India’s Constitution which guarantees equality before the law (Article 14) and does not permit discrimination on any ground (Article 15). The amendment has been challenged in court by 140 parties. On other occasions too, Muslim refugees have been completely ignored by the national government while making any ‘humanitarian considerations’. Home Minister Rajnath Singh declared in September 2018 that all Rohingya in India were ‘illegal immigrants’ who were to be deported on account of being a threat to national security. This is a direct violation of non-refoulement, a fundamental principle of international law.43 A week later, the Indian Supreme Court refused to intervene in a plea by seven Rohingya Muslims to stop their deportation to Myanmar. The subsequent announcement of a systematic biometric data collection exercise at the state level stoked fears among the Rohingya that the government intended to follow through with its threat.44 A second round of deportations followed in January 2019, and hundreds of Rohingya have begun returning to Bangladesh on their own. India’s treatment of the Rohingya has come under particular criticism by international bodies. Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director at Human Rights Watch, reckons that the Indian government views the Rohingya ‘from a single obsessive prism—that they’re Muslim.’45 43 ‘Obtain Particulars of Rohingya for Deportation, Rajnath Singh Tells States,’ The Indian Express, September 27, 2018, https://indianexpress.com/ article/india/obtain-particulars-of-rohingya-for-deportation-rajnath-singh-tellsstates-5377088/. 44 ‘Govt Tells States to Collect Biometrics of Rohingyas,’ Hindustan Times, October 1, 2018, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/govt-tellsstates-to-collect-biometrics-of-rohingyas/story-PyRqA1jw9JbPfQivAMo4rJ. html 45 Sadanand Dhume, ‘Fear of Islam Leads India to Snub Refugees,’ The Wall 55