The age-long plot of socio-religious disputes in India has remained trivial throughout ages, but today, political intervention seems to have shaken the grounds of value. The country is now set ablaze following the built-up rage from the past. The slowdown of the economy, the downfall of the rupee, vast unemployment and now the entire base of a country; its citizenship, is obstructed with a question mark.
The Citizenship Bill, which has now become an Act, is being resisted and protested against by millions across the nation, considering the implications it may pose when viewed through the window of NRC (National Register of Citizens).
The CAA is not a stand-alone item and is of utmost importance through the context of NRC. Why is this stunt a threat to the future of India? To put across in simple terms, the Citizenship Amendment Bill was put forth stating that, all illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan & Afghanistan will be given Indian citizenship as long as they are not Muslims.
And when the National Register of Citizens (NRC) will be implemented throughout India, those who are not able to produce proofs of their ancestral existence in the country will not be considered as an Indian citizen. Thus, here comes the implication: the Citizenship Act will come into the picture and escalate the non-Muslims towards citizenship of India, because they are privileged to have not been born as a Muslim.
If the intention of the government was to grant citizenship to people facing religious atrocities in neighbouring countries, then why are countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar excluded from the ‘well-planned’ list of countries where Muslims face religious atrocities? Moreover, policy-making and drafting hasn’t been transparent and is quite unclear in the future context. Issues of unemployment, education and health have been left unattended and unnecessary marginalization of societal sections is been given more importance.
This entire blatant violation of the constitution is being screened off and the promise of equality and a secular and democratic state is put under test. Secularism and democracy are the two sides of a coin. What puts the Indian secularism at stake today has to do with its democracy, with every neglected voice of the citizens and with every episode of political crisis.
Using religion as a marker to carry out any law violates the secular promise made to us. We, as residents of this historically tolerant nation, cannot come to terms with the current plight. Seven decades down the line, we as a nation pledged to uphold the legitimacy of the largest constitution of the world; Bharatiya Samvidhan or the Indian Constitution. But, the political ringmasters today are on a quest to fabricate their own new constitution.
The ideology of those in power today is not unknown to many. The vision of wiping out the green from our tricolour has always been under the veil, no matter how much reassurance is put forward as an escape out of being accountable. The marginalisation of a particular minority has flickered in history as the Gujarat Riots, renaming of cities, gowrakshaks (cow-protectors), Ayodhya verdict and many more.
The voice of the people is being ignored and put down in a nation which is administered ‘for the people.’ Not in any way is it viable to abuse and harm the people through internet shutdowns, brutality and unlawful methods. Students have been killed during protests due to police brutality and this can only be termed as nothing but murder for voicing our dissent.
The state sponsored violence cannot be justified or ignored by imposing Section 144 of IPC. The government needs to stand accountable and responsible to any question from its people and more so, to its educated lot, the students, as openly as it advocates religious differences.
We rejected a communal state during partition and took pride in hosting people from every background as Indians. Today, it’s time to stand again as Indians and protect our nation from bigotry.