Bhala Chandra Shadangi
The declared objective of the recent amendment to the Citizenship Act is to provide citizenship to people forced to seek shelter in India owing to religious persecution or fear of persecution in their home countries, primarily Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
From both the purpose of the Act given in the statement and the proviso added, it is clear that this amendment is discriminatory as it seeks to keep Muslims migrants out of the ambit of acquiring citizenship in India. It also violates Article 14 of the constitution by defining citizenship on the basis of religion.
Though the amendment speaks about giving citizenship to non-Muslim communities along with the Hindus, BJP’s 2014 election manifesto rather crudely states: “India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus and they shall be welcome to seek refuge here.” Such a statement mimics the policy of only one other country, Israel — which sees itself as a sanctuary for Jews who are given an automatic right to enter the country and earn citizenship.
The Amendment lacks basis in historical factors or in religious persecution in neighbouring countries. Afghanistan has been added only because it is a Muslim majority country. Neither was it part of the British Empire. There are several countries in India’s neighbourhood, such as Myanmar, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, where minorities are facing persecution; these countries were also part of the British Indian Empire in the past.
In Myanmar, the Rohingya Muslims are victims of one of the most heinous religious cleansing. Over a million have been thrown out of that country, of whom more than six lakh are living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Similarly in Sri Lanka, minorities, including Tamils, are facing discrimination and persecution. Even the Shia and Ahmadiyya residing in Pakistan are complaining about discrimination and persecution. But surprisingly the communal heart of the BJP government cannot feel the plight of these Muslims.
The amended Citizenship Act is against the letter and spirit of the Constitution, as it discriminates people solely on the basis of religion.
There is strong opposition to the amended Act in the North-East. Widespread protests and violence there are pointers to this fact. States of the North East, particularly Assam, have fought against outsiders irrespective of their religion. Even the historic Assam Accord of 1985 never had religion as basis of demarcating an outsider. Small states of the North East fear that any large influx of non-tribal migrants, irrespective of whether they are Hindus or Muslims, may change the demography of these states and could threaten the very existence of their culture, language and economy.
The Modi government has sought to assuage these apprehensions, as their target at present is the Hindu heartland, especially in North and Central India. That is why the BJP Govt has ‘tactically’ left some regions of the North East out of the Act. These include areas in the Sixth Schedule and states with Inner Line Permit (ILP). As tribal area of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura are included in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the amended Act will not apply there.
Meanwhile, Amit Shah has announced that Manipur and Dimapur will also be included in ILP along with Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland under Section 2 of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873. This was only to douse protests in Manipur, which was hitherto provided for under Article 371(c) of the Constitution. By exempting some states from this amended Act, the BJP has proven hollowness of its ‘One Nation, One Law’ slogan which they gave while abrogating Article 370.
The BJP and the RSS want to deepen communal divisions in the name of citizenship. But the real purpose is to reduce Muslims to virtual non-citizens.
Through these designs, they wish to raise the spectre of “national danger” and impose fascist rule over the country in the interest of big capitalists, big landlords and imperialists.
Amit Shah had earlier announced annulment of the NRC in Assam, and its final draft was made public although it has not been notified till date. Now Section 68 of the Amended Act provides that on and from the date of commencement of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, “any proceeding pending against a person under this section in respect of illegal migration or citizenship shall stand abated on conferment of citizenship to him”.
This would mean that with respect to Assam, only Muslims who were left out of the final list, will need to prove their citizenship or be treated as ‘foreigners’ while other sections will now qualify for the citizenship.
RSS-BJP, which had put astronomical figures on the Muslim migrants to Assam, were shaken by the final list as the community comprised only about a quarter of those excluded from the final draft. The presence of a large number of Bengali Hindus in the draft threatened the Bengal project of RSS-BJP to deepen communal division in that state and mobilize Bengali Hindus behind them. Now the Modi government has announced fresh NRC in Assam in terms of the amended Citizenship Act.
Citizenship Act and the NRC announced by the government are two sides of the same coin, parts of the Hindu Rashtra project of the RSS. While NRC will bring untold suffering to the poor of all communities, the amended Citizenship Act will solely target Muslims. In the Citizenship Amendment too, like in handling Jammu & Kashmir, Hindutva rulers of the country are inspired by the example of Zionist rulers of Israel. Zionism makes Israel a homeland of Jews irrespective of their nationality and only of Jews.
Citizenship Act and the NRC are nothing but attacks against the Indian people. It is against our constitutional value of secularism and diversity. Both have nothing to do with protecting those being persecuted but with persecuting those who are protected.
The writer is a commentator on socio-political issues. e-Mail: bhalachandra.odisha@gmail.com.