On 9th December 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha and became an act on 12th December. This Act seeks to give Indian citizenship to illegal refugees of certain communities coming from the following countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The communities eligible for citizenship under this act are Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Jain, Buddhist and Christian. This bill has been vehemently opposed by many, especially the youth of our country as it does not give citizenship to oppressed migrants from the Muslim community. Thus, the Bill is seen as divisive and communal and is seen as a direct threat to the secular virtues of the Indian Constitution.
Opposition to the Act was shown by widespread demonstrations at campuses across India. In Delhi, students of universities like Jamia Millia Islamia and Delhi University took to the streets in huge processions. These largely peaceful demonstrations and rallies were met with extreme and occasionally brutal police actions. Innocent, unarmed protesters were treated as criminals and subjected to shocking violence. Similarly, the Shaheen Bagh protests started on 14th December 2019 when 10 to 15 local women began to blockade Kalindi Kunj Road bordering the Muslim-dominated neighbourhood of Shaheen Bagh. More locals joined and it became a continuous sit-in protest.
However, things took a turn for the worse on the 23rd of February 2020 when anti-CAA and pro-CAA protesters allegedly clashed in North-East Delhi. The clash was one of the scariest communal riots the city had witnessed in many decades. More than 50 people were killed and hundreds went missing. Houses were burned down, businesses were looted, families were driven out of their ancestral homes and schools were closed. The environment in the city turned into one of fear, uncertainty, bitterness and mistrust. Because of all this, CBSE had to take the difficult decision of postponing the ongoing Board Exams for classes 10th and 12th in the riot-hit areas.
As a student, I can only imagine the distress and the trauma that the youth of India are going through. I am sure that they are feeling disillusioned. Those whose Board exams got postponed must be feeling angry, dejected and frustrated by the circumstances. The youth are invested in their country and the constitutional ideals that they have imbibed throughout their student life. They perceive those ideals to be threatened by the recent turn of events where neighbors have turned on each other and lifetime friends have turned into sworn enemies.
Violence has life-changing consequences, ranging from the sudden death of a loved one or loss of a treasured possession to mental trauma. There are mainly two types of disasters: natural and man-made (riots in this case), and both leave a mass of psychologically affected human beings. Repeated exposure to similar situations has proved to cause major personality changes in children and teenagers. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an extremely common condition in such cases where the person often expresses rage and feel betrayed. More outcomes are the feeling of rebelliousness, dropping out of school and drug use. They may feel a sense of guilt over the incident and will have impulses to blame themselves or self-harm.
If mental health professionals provide help in time to those affected by means of group therapy, behavioural modification and positive psychotherapy, then the effects would be less felt and danger of self-harm or irrational impulses would be diminished. The youth themselves can start maintaining gratitude journals. A gratitude journal is a diary of things for which one is grateful. It is usually used to record and reminisce all the positive moments in one’s life. Another method is meditation. Research shows that meditation helps to lower depression and anxiety levels and calms the mind. Of course, seeking help from outside friends and family, like a therapist, is also highly recommended. A therapist or a counsellor helps you open up about your true feelings, helps you become more self-aware so that you can overcome any emotional hurdle.
The youth are the future of a country and as a society, we need to nurture and protect them. Educational institutions, mental health professionals and family units should recognise not only the brilliant strength, but also the gentle frailty of their mind.