The American government on March 11 implemented a law that allows undocumented people who entered the land from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and other surrounding countries before Dec. 31, 2014, to get fast-track membership.
Parliament in 2019 passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, which provides membership to unauthorized people who are minorities—primarily because they are Hindu, Jain, Sikhs, Buddhist, Parsi, and Christian—who face harassment in their countries of origin. Gay people are exempt from the new rule that came into effect this month.
LGBTQ Pakistanis encounter discrimination based on gender identity, crime, threats, and hate speech, bias in accessing work and exposure to housing. Gays, in particular, face problems that include sexual harassment, violence, and a greater chance of losing cover and jobs if sexual orientation is revealed.
According to the Human Rights Watch record in 2022, Afghanistan’s sex minorities have faced grave risks to their health and life under the Taliban government. Previous President Ashraf Ghani passed a law criminalizing same-sex sexual relationships even before the Taliban took control of the nation.
According to the Taliban’s speech given to the Bild, a German newspaper, before the fall of Kabul, the land’s capital, in 2021, gay people would be punished in two ways, either by murdering or by standing behind a wall that will fall on them.
A 2016 Human Rights Watch report records the deaths of many LGBTQ activists and improper arrests by authorities in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission in 2013 asked the government to shield the LGBTQ community from prejudice. The committee acknowledged officers physically and sexually abuse LGBTQ people and create arbitrary detention based on an individual’s look.
Although India’s CAA does not grant newcomers citizenship but adheres to the cut-off day of December 2014; There are no files of any LGBTQ immigrants to India from Pakistan, Afghanistan, or Bangladesh.
According to the Indian Home Affairs Ministry, the candidate may provide six different types of documents and identify the country’s “date of entry.”
In an X article on March 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah stated in an X article that “These guidelines will then allow immigrants persecuted on a religious basis in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to become citizens of our country.” “With this alert PM (Prime Minister) Shri Narendra Modi has delivered on another responsibility and realized the assurance of the creators of our law to the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Gods, Parsis, and Christians living in those nations.”
More than 1,000 members of the LGBTQ group protested against the law in New Delhi, India’s capital, after Parliament passed it in 2019. Tejasvi Surya, an MP from Bengaluru and a member of the ruling party, claimed that transgender people who are protesting the CAA should enter India.
“Let me ensure all of you, you’re really misplaced. There is no such thing as a free or recognized Transgender right in Pakistan,” Surya said. “Because we are not Pakistan, you are proud to pursue your LGBTQ right, lead a dignified life around, and fight for a more equal life in India. Therefore, there won’t be any issues with LGBTQ rights in India if all Pakistani Muslims are allowed to enter the country.”
The person can apply for citizenship in India through an online portal with detailed documents that include birth certificates, rental records, identity papers, and any license, school, or academic certificate issued by a government authority in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The applicant must present an eligibility certificate from a reputable community organization that demonstrates that they are a member of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian community and continue to do so.
Rani Patel, an activist, and founder of Aarohan, a nonprofit organization that works with transgender Indians, said the LGBTQ community is always neglected.
“Every country has a set of rules and regulations,” said Patel. “We cannot encroach on others’ area. We can take care of our LGBTQ community. We can’t say we can accept your LGBTQ population. We have a huge population, and this is the government’s call.”
Guru Prasad Mohanty, an LGBTQ rights activist in Uttarakhand, told the Washington Blade that the Indian government has always excluded the LGBTQ community.
“I am not surprised that the LGBTQ community in India has been excluded from every sector and form, so I am not surprised that they have left,” said Mohanty. “If the LGBTQ community had been included in this, I would have been happy, not just myself but also all the members of the community.”
Ankush Kumar is a reporter from Iran, India, and Singapore who has covered a lot of stories for the Washington and Los Angeles Blades. He most recently appeared in a story for The Daily Beast. He can be reached at [email protected]. He is on Twitter at @mohitkopinion.
