India’s top court refuses to halt citizenship law

India’s Supreme Court has refused to put on hold a controversial new citizenship law, offered by the prime minister Narendra Modi, as part of his government’s nationalist program.
The country has been torn by deadly protests followed by curfew since December, when the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed. The law allows citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians who illegally migrated to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It, however, does not allow citizenship for Muslims.
Many petitioners urged the court to postpone the implementation of the law. Instead of suspending the law, the Supreme Court asked the government to respond within a month to the 143 petitions challenging the law’s validity.
The decision sparked anger, with critics warning that the government should demonstrate willingness to seek a judicial closure in the matter.
“We believe that the matter will be heard by a constitutional bench which will finally take a call. But we must remember that justice delayed is justice denied. A speedy resolution is the need of the hour”, a Congress spokesperson said.