The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is aclear violation of the Constitution of India and international human rights,said Amnesty International to US lawmakers.

"CAA legitimizes discrimination on the basis of religion," it further said. The remarks were made by Francisco Bencosme, Amnesty International Asia Pacific Advocacy Manager.

Benscome was giving testimony before theHouse Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global HumanRights and International Organizations and House Oversight and ReformSubcommittee when he made the statement.

CAA was passed by the Parliament inDecember 2019 and this offers citizenship to non-Muslim persecuted religiousminorities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

The Act has been severely opposed acrossthe state and so far a number of people have lost their lives in the anti-CAAmovement. The Ministry of External Affairs has been repeatedly saying that "CAAis an integral matter of India and it has been adopted through due process and democraticmeans."

CAA has also been opposed at the international level by various organizations and individuals.