UN Chief Antonio Guterres expresses concern over CAA, says risk of statelessness for two million Muslims

Just a week ahead of US President Donald Trump's visit to New Delhi, United Nation's Secretary General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern for the Muslims in India.

Before concluding his Pakistan visit on Wednesday, the UN chief in an interview to Pakistani newspaper Dawn commented on India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act, which fast-tracks citizenship of persecuted religious minorities of its three neighbouring Islamic theocracies.

The Dawn quoted Guterres as saying that there was a "risk of statelessness for two million Muslims excluded by the divisive Citizenship (Amendment) Act passed by the Indian Parliament."

Guterres also told Dawn that he was personally concerned about the rising discrimination against the minorities in India. The newspaper claimed that the UN chief said: "All the reports, including two by the UN High Commissioner, in the international media, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and recent fact-finding reports on Kashmir released in New Delhi, regarding torture, sexual abuse and incarceration of children as young as seven by the Indian military", played an important role in "clarifying exactly what is happening" in Kashmir and "it is essential that these reports are taken seriously".

with inputs from IANS