Who is an Indian citizen?
“According to the Indian Citizenship Law, a person is an Indian citizen if he/she settled in India when the Constituent Assembly adopted the Constitution on 26 November 1949 or if he/she had been in India for at least five years until that date. For those who are born after the adoption of Constitution, the Indian Citizenship Act 1955 grants citizenship based on the birth date: (i) Anyone born between 26 January 1950 and 1 July 1987 is a citizen by birth; (ii) A person born between 1 July 1987 and 3 December 2004 is a citizen by birth if either of his parents is a citizen at that time; (iii) Those born on or after 3 December 2004 is a citizen if both of the parents are citizens of India at the time, or if one parent is a citizen and the other is not an illegal migrant (an outsider who entered India without authentic documents or stayed beyond the allowed time period).”
Well, the above-mentioned points are not my opinion, our law says so. Living in the largest democracy of the world, I can still see and observe the different confusions and misconception among the people and the administration regarding the identification of being Indian. We have come a long way from our independence in 1947 and after all these years of post-independence, we do not have any one particular identity card or document that will be considered valid throughout India! Quite bizarre, isn’t it? However, this has become the disconsolate and harsh reality.
If you all are wondering or you have no idea what I am talking about, then let me tell you – I am trying to highlight the alarming consequences of the NRC in Assam, India. However, before writing anything, let’s see what the NRC actually is.
The NRC (National Register of Citizens) is basically a legal and authorized document that includes names of all the genuine and authentic citizens of India which was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India. Just after the publication of the second and final draft of the NRC, the issue got politicised, where the current government defended and the opposition opposed.
Let me make one thing clear: the Citizenship Amendment Bill and the NRC are not the same thing. The latter is nothing but a legal list of all those who settled down in Assam up until midnight of March 24, 1971, during the Bangladesh-India separation.
Have you ever thought why the issue is an alarming one? Why does it matter and why it is being used as election propaganda? Well, Assam is a state which currently harbours some major and sensitive international boundaries, and for this reason, the state has been suffering a lot from the illegal and unauthorized immigration and settlement. Most of the time, Assam has been a victim of communal violence, including those beyond Hindu-Muslim issues, and this time also it’s no different.
Last year, the NRC was scheduled to listen to the urges of around 40 lakh people in August and September, just imagine! How would you react if someone separates your family members and sends them to Bangladesh? On what proper basis the government and the administration are looking after the NRC criteria?
For your knowledge (I am not shocked though), the current government has come up with an amendment which will grant citizenship only to Hindu migrants from Bangladesh. What about the others or the non-Hindus? Well, the question is why is law and order being mixed up with religion all the time? Article 14 of the Indian Constitution guarantees the right to equality, then why is the bill giving preference for citizenship based on caste and religion? Apparently, around 4,007,708 people were excluded from a list of a total 32,991,384 applicants!
Recently, our home minister Amit Shah stated that the Hindu refugees in will not face any problems due to the NRC. The defending government also saying that the NRC will look after the rights of different religious minorities like Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Christians or Buddhists from other countries, who have taken shelter in India to protect their religion and themselves will be given citizenship in India. Are we missing something? Yes, we are, and I know you can see the discrimination clearly here.
Believe me or not, if you observe and understand the current situation of the NRC implementation correctly, then you will discover the fact that it can lead to some of the worst law and order problems in India. Moreover, according to the NRC, those left out will not be allowed to buy land or a house in India and this will affect the multi-cultural diversity of Northeast India. I am not asking to give shelter to each and everyone, because that will impact density of population, but I am just trying to throw some light to the discrimination and the fascist propaganda.
People are resorting to suicide because of the fear of becoming homeless. How pathetic is this situation? Why doesn’t the administration find a solution for what should be considered institutional murders?
Why can’t we live in a place which is beyond any religion or caste or community? Why must we always face communal discrimination, even with the food delivery? Each and every day, the possibility of communal riots and cases of intolerance are growing in number. Is it just for the sake of saying that we claim to live in the largest democracy of the world?!
It’s time to find out the answers…