CAA & NRC

Theoretically, CAA is almost fine.

Why?

Bec minorities in the three said countries are being persecuted. Look at the data ( though Shah exaggerated a bit but the stats are still scary as hell regarding the alarming population fall that the minorities (Hindus/Parsis/Christians/Sikhs/ Jains/Buddhists) are facing in Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Why other countries are not included: bec v few ppl cross borders and migrate to india from countries like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bhutan etc. Thus, the number crossing over from B P & A is staggering and is a problem.

My problem with CAA:

1. If minorities are being protected then what abt the ahmedis in pakistan who face grave dangers and what about shias who again face problems?

2. Apne sambhal nahi rahe dusro ko aur paale.

Here Nehru Liyaquat agreement comes into focus and since the population of the minorities in Pakistan fell to 1-2% from a double digit, it becomes a moral obligation for India to offer this population its protection.

In India, the Muslim population has INCREASED. So, India does have a lot of problems but ethnic cleansing of the minorities is not one of them.

My problem here again:

Agreed to this part 100%.

Also why not include Ahmedis and Shias here? If now we are talking about moral obligations, then isn’t our moral obligation towards all human beings?

The CAA states “ persecution by the sate on the basis of religion “

Shouldn’t it be persecution of minorities? Or ethnic groups? Or any legal term which would be appropriate. Then Ahmedis and Shias could have been included.

Regarding the constitution:

The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”

When we talk about providing protection, that means the sample in question is not equal.

Eg: a Bangladeshi Muslim crossing border illegally to enter India for better job opportunities is not the same thing as a Hindu/Christian/Sikh crossing border to save his/her life.

The same logic why some people belonging to a particular caste/religion need reservation and others dont. If you are pro reservations for Dalits and Muslims and know a brahmin shouldnt be treated as an equal when talking about reservations, then it shouldn’t be a problem understanding this particular scenario as well and understand why H/S/B/P/J/C should be given this consideration.

Also, citizenship wont be denied to anyone ASKING for it. Through proper procedures. Asylum wont be denied to anyone asking for it. Its the illegal immigrants that are being targeted. And for a country with its own problems, limitations in terms of economy, its India’s right to safeguard its resources.

To my mind, CAA viewed independently is an almost fair act.

Had the bill been signed by Sonia Gandhi or Rahul having the same content, the bill or this act now wont have faced this kind of a backlash.

Congress has again and again said that it is India’s moral duty to give shelter and protection to the minorities in Bangladesh (said by Manmohan singh who said minorities in Bangladesh are facing persecution ) and Pakistan (said by Rajendra parasad , Nehru including Mahatma Gandhi). It was stated clearly in the congress Karyakarini as well.

When I said almost fine, this is what i meant: is ignoring the Ahmedis and Shias deliberate or the CAA is the continuation of a 70 year old problem addressed by various political parties but never acted upon?

CAA is a matter of calling a spade a spade.

The NRC

It was started by Congress ie made into a law by congress.

When u see CAA and NRC together, how does the system makes sure that if both an Indian hindu and an Indian muslim dont have their papers, the Indian muslim wont be illtreated ? Won’t be sent to the detention centres? Bec CAA protects hindus/sikhs/Christians/Jains/Budhhists etc irrespective if they belong to the three said countries.

Amit Shah in his interview took the liberty of explaining in detail the CAA but when asked how would the NRC operate, he just asked people to trust the government. A man who talks so logically in the first half why couldn’t he continue with the same zeal n talk about NRC? The same NRC which excluded Indian Muslim army personnels ? The family of former Indian President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed?

Shah did promise not a single minority would be harassed in the new NRC process. Here, i dont trust the NRC process. Why? Because if we are looking at the history so much, we need to look at the past experiences with NRC and Amit Shah’s ignorance and avoidance in answering the critical questions and look closely at the names the NRC skipped in Assam, what religion were they from? All this happened when NRC was implemented in just one state and had a set of guidelines given by the supreme court.

My heart wont bleed extra for a Pakistani Hindu. My heart wont bleed extra for a Pakistani Muslim. On the basis of humanity i would bleed for humans. They might be Sikhs/Hindus/Christians/Parsis/Budhhists or Jainis or Muslims who may or maynot be Ahmedis or Shias.

The nation is witnessing protests, students are on the roads, the police is in some states doing good and in others doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to be doing.

In the midst of all this, our PM goes on stage and says the protestors can be identified by their clothes. The Prime Minister of a country goes on stage and talks like this. What does it speak about him as a person? Should we still not question his intentions?

The Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid has said “CAA has nothing to do with the Indian Muslims.” By saying this he has placed his faith in the system (yet again. Must be difficult after the lopsided Ayodhya verdict where again he appealed to maintain peace). He chose to be objective and look at the facts and saw the obvious logical conclusion.

Where the whole of India should come together?

To make sure NRC is not unfair, to make sure Indian muslims are not harassed, to make sure there is no blatant disregard and disrespect for the Indian constitution, to make sure the Shahi Imam doesn’t regret his unbiased stand.

The need of the hour is to be objective.

CAA was facts. NRC is promises. And i have zero belief on our politicians as far as delivering those promises is concerned.

Also,

1. I am no fan of Amit Shah or Modi.

2. That does not mean if they call north pole North Pole, i ll start disagreeing.

And that definitely means if they start calling north pole east pole, i would raise my voice.

Yes, illegal immigration is a problem.

Yes, minorities (H/S/C/B/J/P) are facing ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh Pakistan and Afghanistan.

No, an illegal immigrant does not have the right to stay in the country s/he entered.

Yes, an immigrant can seek asylum anytime its his/her right. Religion no bar.

No, Indian Muslims are not effected by CAA

Yes, Indian Muslims would be effected by an inefficient NRC process.

Calling a spade a spade, guys.

Peace.

Lets not be an ostrich

Sometime around may 2017, Randeep Hooda shared a post on social media which was highly appreciated and made a lot of people smile. The post read:

“If you are Muslim and suddenly start feeling unsafe in country where you lived for more than thousand years..

If you are Dalit and start feeling insulted on every moment of life..

If you are Hindu and suddenly start feeling that cows are being slaughtered everywhere…

If you are a Jain and suddenly start feeling that your religious piety is being compromised…

If you are punjabi and think all the youth are on drugs.

Just do one thing…

– Stay away from social media…

– Don’t watch news…

– Stay away from debates on

religion…

Just look around you at your friends who belong to different castes , communities and religions…

And you will find that you are living in one of the best countries in the world!! “

The post though an old one, was the one I remembered today during a dialogue with my children in English class.

We were discussing a chapter on untouchability in India and its roots in Hinduism. The piece is written by MK Gandhi and is included in class IX Rajasthan board English text book.

For an activity, I was discussing with kids to list the adverse effects practices like untouchability have on people.

We all narrated incidents that we have come across in our own life. I told them how I wasn’t entertained inside a house and made to sit on the porch once the grandfather of my classmate came to know I eat non vegetarian food. Though it is not a direct example of caste based untouchability but the basic idea of “purity” is the same. I also told them about how a few people I know of keep separate utensils and crockery to offer water and snacks when Dalits and Muslims come to their house.

The children were surprised these things happen in the cities as well. To them, villages are the den of social evils and everyone in cities roam around in modern clothes with not a care about outmoded ideas like untouchability in mind.

I told them as much as these social practices shouldn’t be existing anywhere, the fact is, they do exist. In every part of the society in some form or the other.

To sum up my experiences, I further told them about my decision to not go to the house of my acquaintance that disrespects another human being because my acquaintance also believes in untouchability and it wasn’t just about the family and I personally cannot relate to people who don’t believe in equality and cannot respect other people.

After listening to this, a girl in the group told us untouchability is practiced even at her home and narrated an incident when one of her Bhabhis who owns a shop ( aate ki chakki) refused to sell wheat flour to a “Regar”.

To this, a boy in the group who has joined Digantar Vidyalay this year itself smiled and said : Didi, hum “Regar” hain.

My first reaction was of a thousand emotions running through my mind. Ashamed of being part of the society that has such practices, apologetic for co existing with such evils and people and finally, anger.

The discussion from there went to almost every child acknowledging these practices do happen every now and then to if this act was a right one or a wrong to what can be done at our level to stop such practices.

The girl said she had told her Bhabhi such practices were wrong but the Bhabhi doesn’t pay any heed to such talks and is a firm believer of untouchability.

The bell rang and the period got over. Today’s experience occupied my mind even while doing other work throughout the day.

Ultimately what made me smile and helped me in becoming normal was when I realised in retrospect the fact that the boy knows and realises that the environment of the school , the teachers, the system believes in equality, justice and democracy. He believes in us. And knows we believe in him. This space for him is a safe space.

He has known us for a little over 2 months now. Yet, he didn’t feel shy or hesitant or apologetic in speaking aloud his caste which in our society is still very much a taboo. He knows his classmate’s family practices untouchability and he also knows his classmate acknowledges this act is a wrong one. He feels safe and is aware such practices are bad and is confident its not him who has to feel guilty when such incidents happen.

The girl who narrated the story is also a new student. She showed her faith in us by accepting her family members did practice something that is morally wrong. She had confidence in the school environment that she wont be judged for saying the truth here.

To me, these small unsaid subtle expressions of behaviour are a huge step forward.

There are two ways of living in the society. 1. be an ostrich and burry your head deep in the sand whenever you see or hear something wrong and go in denial ( like Mr Hooda) & 2. Acknowledge the wrongs, accept them, think, learn and become better.

Whenever I see a Hindu discriminating against a Muslim, whenever I see a Dalit being discriminated against, whenever I see a Muslim calling Hindus ungodly and kafirs, I think of the post by Mr Hooda. In the past year or so, i have thought about it a number of times for i desperately wanted to believe in the lines written but the reality again and again makes me realise we cant sugar coat the societal evils any longer. As a country India believes in all the right things but as citizens we all differ on the meaning of those things.

Plush offices, malls, movie halls, fancy phones might help us in ignoring the reality a lot of people face in India but that doesn’t make them disappear. We just cover them with a soft cozy blanket like we hide the slums beneath huge concealers around airports so that people get a good “view” when they land in the city.

Changes in social context dont happen overnight. Shifting mindsets doesn’t happen with a snap of the fingers. It takes time. Years, generations maybe. But once the seed of question and logic is sown, the sapling of reason will sprout. It may remain dormant for a while but rest assured, it will sprout.