"Once mistrust, always distrust", is an old adage. It aptly applies on BJP. The saffron party anti-Muslim face and its eagerness to enforce Hindutva agenda have made people to suspect even its well-intentioned move. The latest is union govt's decision to update the National Population Register. The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to update the National Population Register (NPR), linked to the Census.
Costing the nation around Rs 3,941 crore,the objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database containing demographic details of every "usual resident" of the country. But opposition parties suspect that the move is part of Modi govt's move to enforce National Register of Citizens (NRC). Home Minister, Amit Shah has clarified "There is no link between NPR and NRC (National Register of Citizens). The NPR has nothing to do with NRC".
However, there are some actions of the Modi govt which raise eyebrows from time to time. In a latest case , a German exchange student studying at IIT Madras has been sent back allegedly for participating in protests on campus and elsewhere in Chennai against the citizenship law and the police crackdown on students in Delhi.
Indian Express reports that Jakob Lindenthal, a post-graduate student of physics at the IIT or Indian Institute of Technology, reportedly left for Amsterdam on Monday. He was quoted by the newspaper as saying he had received oral directions to leave India from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office in Chennai. In images from last week, the 24-year-old student was spotted in several protests. In one, he was seen holding a placard that read: "Uniformed Criminals = Criminals".
And what is happening in Uttar Pradesh is more disturbing. The police there have let loose a rein of terror against those protesting against Citizenship Act. The family of arrested noted theater artist Deepak Kabir has alleged that the police have not provided them even a certified copy of a first information report or even the arrest memo in the case. The renowned artist was arrested on Friday when he had gone to a police station in Lucknow to inquire about the whereabouts of his friends a day after taking part in the protest.
Earlier, actor-politician Sadaf Jafar was arrested and her family has alleged that she was beaten with batons, kicked in belly. As many as 18 people have died in Uttar Pradesh in protests against the Citizenship Act, 705 arrested and over 5,000 under custody. A total of 5,400 people have been taken under custody and around 705 have been sent to jail.
The Citizenship Amendment Act allows the naturalization of immigrants of Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan living in India from (or before) 31 December 2014, belonging to six communities: Hindus, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christians but excludes Muslims. This is the bone of contention. The explanation for excluding Muslims is that they are not 'persecuted minorities' in the countries relevant to CAA. It is not true that Muslims are not persecuted in Muslim-dominated countries. It has been accepted time and again that people are not only persecuted on religious basis but for political, ethnic, and many other reasons.
Despite govt assurance, the announcement by Home Minister in parliament for a nation-wise NRC has raised eyebrows. The CAA, in conjunction with NRC (National Register for Citizens), is seen as a 'Muslim filter'act.
The CAA requires the beneficiaries to prove that they came from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan to India before 2015. It depends on how exactly the rules are framed in future. In case the government decides to make it as simple as self-declaration, then it could allow (almost) everyone - Hindus, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christians - except Muslims who fail to prove their citizenship in the NRC exercise to 'get back their citizenship' through CAA.
Its totally absurd to say that Muslims should go to 'Muslim countries' - while (almost) everyone else is welcome. It goes against the spirit of the Indian constitution. The makers of the constitutions rejected the logic of the two-nation theory but the CAA implicitly legitimizes the logic of two-nation theory.