The entire nation has been dispersed into two categories – one that wants the welfare of Indians and another, that also wants the welfare of India. Exactly, none of the Indians actually want to wake up to a series of violence and casualty. However, when the instrument of dissent faces repeated rounds of suppression, and the world’s largest democracy is under threat, people will come forward to question any such decision or Act, like the Citizenship Amendment Act; which has taken the entire country by storm.
Various states and regions have expressed strong disapproval to this Act, that is outrightly discriminatory and evidently unsecular. It can potentially disturb the demographic distribution of Northeastern states, that have been subjected to immense illegal infiltration. Now, this the amendment will authorise the inclusion of every person irrespective of their documentation, which nullifies the NRC completely. So, the announcement that NRC will be implemented in every state, is nothing but futile and leading to anxiety and harassment of people.
Also, the Act is primarily made with the intention to help the refugees who have been persecuted in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, on religious and other grounds, but there are so many ambiguities associated with this.
No reason has been specified as to why only Muslims are not included in this. One vague argument that Muslims can go to other Islamic states is completely void and lacks logic
Back in August this year, the centre carried out NRC in Assam and the results were miserably flawed. This will be further intensified when it is linked with CAA because if a Muslim and a Hindu are excluded from NRC, CAA will only help the latter to restore his or her citizenship, while the other will be sent to detention camps.
This will be a high level of injustice, because even those Muslims, who have been here since 1971, but could not make it to NRC, will lose everything, but many illegal infiltrators or immigrants of other religions will continue to enjoy their citizenship under the tag of ‘persecuted’.
Most importantly, those who are supporting CAA, do not have a basic understanding of what is going to happen to those who will not be accepted by India. A very popular word is ‘deport’ them. Deport to where? How? Deportation is not a mere activity of trespassing, and two or more countries must have a bilateral treaty signed, to carry out any sort of deportation, and India has not entered into any such agreement with any of the neighbouring countries.
In that case, those who are excluded will be sent to detention camps. So what benefit are we going to draw from this? How can building numerous detention camps add anything good to the country?
While it is said that the Muslims of this country will remain unaffected, the question is, what if they are excluded in subsequent NRCs that are scheduled for every state in India?
The biggest issue is if CAA has to be implemented in all other states it must be preceded by NRC. As far as West Bengal or Northeastern states are concerned, the parameter was to present documents associated with 1971. However, in other states, this factor would not be valid because the refugees primarily came and settled in the Eastern part.
So, how has the centre planned to execute the process henceforth? The reality is if the government wants to stop such cross border activities, then the plan of action must be different. Migration from Bangladesh has been mainly due to economic reasons and not religious. This will further continue because of CAA, even though the clause is restricted to 2014.
The national capital will have to get smarter about this, beginning with proper border fencing and tackling corruption in border forces and border district authorities. The government should focus on this area first but the priorities are completely misplaced!
Massive violence broke out in West Bengal following the protest in the northeastern states, primarily in Assam, a few days ago. At present, the condition is really critical as trains, buses and other vehicles have been set on fire, a rampant vandalisation has been going on, potentially causing a great deal of inconvenience to people.
The state government has taken some drastic steps like deploying police force in the affected districts, and by disrupting internet services so that any kind of online instigation can be stopped. It is expected that the situation will be brought under control within the next few days.
The question here is, why is this happening across the nation? Why, at this point in time, when the country’s economy is fumbling, was such a disputed bill presented and passed in the parliament? Was it not necessary for the government to analyse the aftermath carefully before taking any such step? Why have university students been targeted?
Why, in spite of carrying out peaceful protests, the students of Jamia University had to face violent attacks from the police? And how many more voices can be repressed? How many more doctored videos can be circulated? And above all, why is every policy and Act that is passed always full of loopholes that drastically impacts people?
The government must now answer these issues properly. Also, strict measures are expected again, and any kind of violent activity that causes harm to people and properties should be condemned. A democracy cannot be based on the grounds of discrimination. If that happens it will no longer be a democracy.