The country is burning. There is supposedly a clash of religious ideology and a communal divide. But here’s the deal – I don’t think the BJP-RSS argument has that much ideological depth, it is just a case of clear calculated vote bank politics. But the mobilising of the people, or should I say the bhakts, has been done on communal grounds.
So if you are a bhakt immersed in saffron, and are in full support of the virtues of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), then this is a direct invitation to you to defend your virtuous Act, come counter my arguments:
Why I Think The CAA Is Nothing But A Ploy To Achieve A Hindu Rashtra
I’m going to straight-up begin by calling out the hypocrisy of the BJP and its facade of providing ‘social service’ to the marginalised, to unsuccessfully veil their real agenda of a Hindu Rashtra.
Case in point 1- India does not ratify the refugee convention on the grounds of domestic security and threat to its resources. The CAA is nothing but opening the floodgates to everyone except Muslims. If the migrant rights were the cause of concern for the BJP, then they would ratify the refugee convention. But very evidently, they just want to do it on their terms to systematically deprive one specific section.
Case in point 2– If the Act was seeking to protect citizens of pre-partitioned India, as it says, then how does the inclusion of Afghanistan come into play? And if we are including neighbouring countries, then why not Sri Lanka, where the Tamils have faced systematic oppression, or Myanmar, where the Rohingyas face a serious threat.
The exclusion of the Rohingya Muslims makes it very very clear that the persecuted minority is not who the BJP is concerned about, but only specifically the non-muslim vote bank.
The BJP argument for not including Muslims was that a) they will hardly get exploited in an Islamic majoritarian state and b) If they seek asylum, they can go to other Muslim dominated countries. But so can the Christians and the Buddhists?
It is a clear case of customising their vote bank to suit their RSS agenda and keep themselves in power because obviously, the newly formed citizens of India will be forever indebted to them.
Just a while back, wasn’t the NRC a serious matter of concern, for kicking out residents who did not have any ancestral proof to prove their residency? And now, when these non-muslim immigrants don’t even have to produce any documents to claim citizenship, and the Muslim citizens have to, aren’t we looking at a pan India NRC situation? A clear as day ploy to eliminate the Muslim populace.
The political climate today stinks of Islamophobia. I would make a joke of myself if I even began to quote the constitution, but it is becoming clearer by the minute, that secularism in India is dying a quick death.
If you are A Muslim in this country, I could not imagine the agonising fear of constantly anticipating the worse. And if you are a Hindu, going about your daily activities, concerned, but not exactly worried, as nothing affects you, the centre loves you and you are safe by virtue of your religion; then I have only one thing to say to you. The Nazis were not just the ones who put the Jews into the gas chambers, but all the others too, who stood by and watched and did nothing.
And to you bhakts, if you could justify this Act going beyond vote bank politics, and factually reassure us, that as Amit Shah claims “Muslims have nothing to worry about” then we are listening.