CPI(M) set to push for changes in CAB, terms it a ‘two nation theory’

December 9, 2019

Although the final draft to be tabled in the Lok Sabha today has not been made publicly available yet, the few main provisions of the Citizenship Amendment bill (CAB) are known to all; these include provision of citizenship to persons belonging to Non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India due to religious persecution in their home countries and exceptions have been created for states with Inner Line Permit and such other provisions.

A day before the divisive bill is set to be tabled in the Lok Sabha, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury at a press conference in Delhi, said that his party will move two amendments to the Bill when it will be introduced in Lok Sabha. One amendment is concerned with the removal of religion as basis of granting citizenship. The second concern is inclusion of people from only 3 countries, while there are countries like Sri Lanka and Myanmar that also need to be considered.

Sabrang India had recently reported on how the government has ignored the 1 lakh Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka who had fed the civil war in the 1980s, in considering grant of citizenship to refugees/immigrants.

While addressing the press conference, Yechury said, “Citizenship cannot be linked to religion of an individual. It has to be religion neutral. We will move amendments for deletion of names of religions and to replace the names of the countries by ‘neighbouring’ countries.” Yechury further said that India is a home equally for all religions and that people of all religions must get equal treatment. He further added that the government is implementing M A Jinnah’s two nation theory through CAB

CPI(M)’s party leader from Kashmir, Yousuf Tarigami said that the Kashmiris accepted India as their nation because of tis secular nature but this bill abrogates the secular nature completely.

The party has been against CAB since its inception and has said on previous occasions publicly that BJP wants to create a reign of fear and distrust across the country through NRC and CAB and that BJP is set to destroy the secular fabric of the country that it has upheld for the longest time.

900 scientists & scholars oppose CAB, 2019

Investigate Hyderabad encounter: CHRI

December 9, 2019


Image: ANI

New Delhi, 7 December 2019 — The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) today called on the Telangana Police and state government to ensure exhaustive, impartial, and independent investigations into the police shooting of the four suspects in the Hyderabad gangrape and murder case. The state government and Telangana Police are accountable for the deaths caused, CHRI said.

The four suspects were shot dead by police personnel in the early hours of 6th December in the midst of a recreation of the crime scene of the gangrape, allegedly because they were attempting to escape. The Police Commissioner of Cyberabad, while addressing a press conference, said that the police acted in self-defence after the suspects snatched their weapons and opened fire at them. The police version, CHRI said, failed to explain the major operational breach of four unarmed suspects being able to overpower 10 armed police personnel.

“There must be prompt and independent investigations particularly to examine the use of force by the Telangana Police. These must be initiated immediately so as not to lose valuable evidence, and conducted in a thorough manner that meets the ends of substantive justice”, said SanjoyHazarika, Director of CHRI. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suomoto notice and dispatched an inquiry team to Telangana on 6th December itself. Notably, the High Court of Telangana has issued directions to preserve the bodies of the victims until 9th December, videograph the post-mortem, and submit the video to the Mahbubnagar district judge.

The onus is on the state government and police to facilitate an enabling environment that assures these multiple accountability processes can proceed freely with no hindrances or interference.

CHRI urges the Telangana police and government to demonstrate accountability and ensure immediate registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the police personnel involved. Telengana authorities must further ensure that the investigation is conducted by police outside the district (preferably by a special investigation team); that section 176(1-A) Code of Criminal Procedure inquiry is held at the earliest; that the crime scene, forensic evidence and the victims’ bodies are preserved.

In addition, CHRI says that
• the names and duty records of all police officers part of the police party must be secured as well as all relevant registers
• all the weapons/guns used and related evidence should be seized
• all wireless, vehicle log book records, and call detail records of all police personnel involved (in both planning and the events of 6th
December) are collated and examined
• the post-mortems are conducted and videographed as per NHRC guidelines
• that none of the implicated police personnel are promoted, given gallantry awards, or posted to some other locations.

Furthermore, guidelines of the Supreme Court given in PUCL vs. State of Maharashtra require any killing in an encounter to be independently investigated. Additionally, the NHRC guidelines require any death resulting from police action to be reported to it within 48 hours, followed by supplementary reports including the post-mortem, inquest, magisterial inquiry and forensic reports. The state government and police must strictly comply with both the Supreme Court and NHRC guidelines.

Lastly, CHRI demands that the implicated police personnel be immediately suspended pending investigation, and arrested as soon as prima facie grounds are made out.

“It is of serious concern that policymakers and others are championing the killings and there is no mention of the strict accountability required for the causing of death. This denies institutional responsibility, and bodes ill for the rule of law”, said Devika Prasad, Programme Head, Police Reforms, CHRI.

Oppose CAB 2019, it goes against founding principles of Indian Constitution: IIM Bangalore

December 9, 2019

Over seventy faculty members and students of Bangalore’s prestigious IIM have protested the Modi govt’s contentitious Cirizenship Amendment Bill proposed to be introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 8.

The full text of the statement may be read here:

Dear Hon. Members of Parliament,

We the undersigned students, staff, and faculty of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore write to you with a sense of urgency. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB) has been cleared by the union cabinet and is slated to be introduced in the parliament soon. The CAB goes against the fundamental founding principle of our republic – equality before law without regard to religious beliefs.

The CAB, along with the promise of an expanded nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) has spread fear in the minds of more than two-hundred million of our fellow Muslim citizens. India’s great strength lies in its diversity. Stripping two-hundred million fellow Indians of their basic dignity will not make India great or strong. Instead, it will lay the foundations of a country in perpetual strife.

The CAB will foment ethnic and communal discontent across the vast swathe of India from Tamil Nadu to Assam, even while it is highly unlikely to benefit even the intended beneficiaries. We urge you to oppose the CAB in the parliament. Generations to come will salute the stand that you took in 2019 to safeguard the founding principles of our republic.

Sincerely,

(Names appear in alphabetical order, and all signatures are in personal capacity)

Aadhil Ahmed
Aaishwarya Mathur
Abhishek Chainani
Abu Rehan Abbasi
Aditya kulkarni
Alok Ranjan
Anand A
Ankit Kumar Rout
Ankita Datta
Anshul Singh Parihar
Anubha Dhasmana
Ayush Jain
Bikram Khastgir
Cedric Rebeiro
Chandra Sekaran B
Chitra Andrade
Debmalya Nandi
Deeksha M Rao
Deepak Malghan
Devendra Kumar
Gopi Sankar Gopikuttan
Gopinath Annadurai
Harilal B. S.
Hema Swaminathan
Jobel Shaji
Khet Singh
Kiran Thatiparthi
Kirankumar Hebbalkar
Kunal Kumar
Lokesh Chanthar
Malay Bhattacharyya
Md Shahrukh Anjum
Mira Bakhru
Mohammad Ashraf
Mohsina Jabeen
Muneer Kalliyil
Nagesh Rao
Naveen James
Naveen Kumar M
Nayana Hegde
Pavittar Singh
Purushottam
Raghuvamshi Thakur
Rajluxmi Murthy
Ramnath Raghuveer
Ridhima Khurana
Rishi Kumar Sharma
Ritwik Banerjee
Robin Johri
Rumi Azim
Saniya Wanhar
Sasi Kumar V
Satya Teja Kona
Seema Shaw
Shaquib Kazmi
Shreyas Shekhar Dhongade
Siddharth Jayaprakash
Soham Sahoo
Sonali Rakshit
Soumya Pal
Subhra Tripathy
Sunil Reddy Kunduru
Tejendra Pratap Singh
Vijay S
Vinay Reddy Venumuddala
Vinit Somaskandan
Yogendra Swami
Zishan Kamal
Zuber Ahmed

A Legislative Bill for Faith-based Citizenship: How India Has Reached This Point of Disaster?

December 9, 2019

On Wednesday, December 4 2019, the Union cabinet gave a go ahead for the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) to be tabled in the Parliament next week. This would possibly be the first piece of legislation perniciously discriminatory, based on religion/faith. This Bill violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Indian Constitution. It would therefore be brazenly against secularism—the basic structure of the Constitution. This Bill is coming after the exercise of National Register of Citizens (NRC) conducted in the north eastern provinces.

The NRC disenfranchised around 19 lakh people, rendering them state-less, non-citizens in Assam. This was done under the supervision of the apex court led by former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who himself is from Assam. Thus, even the highest judicial institution does not seem to be of any help, in this politically motivated exercise of disenfranchising people of a particular faith. There are many other instances, including the Ayodhya title verdict of November 9, 2019, which render hapless citizens much more vulnerable than can be imagined.

In a third world country such as India where people sitting in the highest offices are not able to produce authentic educational degrees and certificates in proof of date of birth, common masses are forced to retrieve multiple documents pertaining to their ancestry. This has already created spine-chilling fear among people. Having found out that this exercise in Assam has turned out to have converted fairly large number of Hindus also into non-citizens, the BJP government, true to its perniciously divisive and hate-filled majoritarian ideology and praxis, is now coming out with a legislative bill which seeks to provide all relief only to those who are not Muslims.

This Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is quite consistent with the treatment meted out to the Palestinians by the state of Israel, with unmistakable Zionist ideology: only Jews have citizenship entitlement. This is one of the greatest ironies of human history that the incumbent Hindutva regime derives its ideological inspiration from the Nazism of Hitler (and Fascism of Mussolini), who was the cruellest persecutor of the Jews. Yet, it also remains friends with the Zionist Jews, in terms of both ideology and praxis.

The wonderfully inclusionary nationalism of India’s anti-colonial freedom struggle and its self-conscious assumption of role as the world-leader against all kinds of persecutions and oppressions, the Indian National Congress had come out to condemn the Hitler’s great anti-Jewish pogrom of November 9, 1938, infamous as ‘Crystal Night’. On December 12, 1938, the Congress went on to offer the concession of asylum in India to the German Jews. Thus, this too will go down in history as a big irony, that these persecuted Jews today appear to be with the Hindutva forces, the regressive bête noire of the Indian nationalism espoused mainly by the Indian National Congress.

The chief theoretician of Hindutva, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966), had already proposed such brazenly discriminatory notions of citizenship and nationhood. Savarkar wrote his book, Hindutva, in 1917, clandestinely in the Cellular Jail, of the Andaman Islands, published it underground, in 1923. Savarkar was the President of the Hindu Mahasabha during 1937-1942, while its Secretary, during 1926-1931, was K. B. Hedgewar (1889-1940), the founder of the RSS.

Savarkar’s speech, on ‘India’s Foreign Policy’, delivered at Pune on August 1, 1938, said, “…Germany has every right to resort to Nazism and Italy to Fascism…Hitler knows better than Pandit Nehru does what suits Germany best…”. In his speech at Malegaon, on October 14, 1938, Savarkar said, “A nation is formed by a majority… what did the Jews do in Germany? They being in minority were to be driven out from Germany”. And in a speech of December 11, 1938, Savarkar said that “in Germany the movement of the Germans is the national movement but that of the Jews is a communal one”. These views find echoes in a 1939 book, We, or our Nationahood Defined, by M. S. Golwalkar (1906-1973). He wrote, “…Muslims may stay in the country wholly subordinated to the Hindu nation claiming nothing, deserving no privileges, far less any preferential treatment, not even citizen’s rights”. All these views were endorsed and popularised in 1939 by the Marathi newspapers, The Mahratta, and also in Kesari (December 8 and 15, 1939). From 1924 to 1935, Kesari remained immensely impressed with Fascism in Italy.

Savarkar, few years before his death in 1966, also wrote a book in Marathi, Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History, wherein he justified the idea of rape of Muslim women in riots as a political tool.

B. S. Moonje (1872-1948), the mentor of Hedgewar, was the first Hindutva icon to have contacted the fascist regime and its dictator in Italy in March 1931. He was on a tour of Europe after the first Round Table Conference. Moonje particularly visited the Fascist military training schools, and he ‘played a crucial role in moulding the RSS along Italian (Fascist) lines’. M. R. Jayakar (1873-1959), another leader of Hindu Mahasabha also ‘drew inspirations from the fascist paramilitary organizations’.

The entire gamut of political opposition is either silent or meek. Apparently, growing number of Hindus don’t seem to be as much outraged with whatever is happening now. If state-backed lynching is not able to rouse the people, what else really can!

For me, as a student of modern Indian history, cause of greatest concern is: how has India become this menacing?

The colonial construction about India’s past was done in a manner as to paint the Muslim rulers merely as invaders, and all Muslims responsible for whatever the Muslim rulers did in medieval past. Even after independence, the historiography of Partition has been articulated and popularised mostly to vilify Muslims as mere separatists and fifth-columnists. Almost entire guilt of partition has been put squarely on Muslims. This has been done even in the nationalist, liberal-secular persuasions of historiography. The rising majoritarianism not only of the Hindutva forces but also within the Congress, particularly from 1938 onwards, remained least known, even to the academic historians. Then, what to say of the popular spaces!

That this majoritarianism had certainly no less roles in dividing India, remained, and still remains, least popularised version of Indian history. This has further contributed in creating majoritarian hatred against Muslims. This has gradually created a permissive and receptive atmosphere for the Hindutva ideology among the increasingly growing number of Hindus.

During the anti-Emergency movement, the ‘respectable’ socialists went on to provide further legitimacy to such divisive forces. As said by Arvind Rajagopal, “With the taint of the Gandhi’s assassination, the RSS was truly a political pariah. But after the Emergency, acquiring political power came within reach. The fortunes of secularism, and of Hindutva, were decisively changed thereafter”.

The RSS ‘realised the significance of popular mobilization’ and later on ‘fabricated an account of democratic struggle that exists mainly in its own records’. They wear it on their sleeves and proudly call it ‘second freedom struggle’. They had stayed away from the anti-colonial freedom struggle and had also compromised with the British. In a meeting with the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow at Bombay on October 9, 1939, Savarkar had assured him that ‘the Hindu Mahasabha favoured an unambiguous undertaking of Dominion Status at the end of the World War II’ and thus, ‘the Mahasabha was more interested in succeeding the British with their complicity, rather than fighting them’.

Not only this, Indira Gandhi herself, after coming back to power in 1980, tilted rightward. She accepted the invitation of VHP’s Ekta Mata Yatra (also called Ganga Jal Yatra) which was its first mass contact programme. The Ramjanmabhoomi campaign came after this Yatra, and the rest is history that continues to haunt us. Rajiv Gandhi’s Assam Accord (1985) is the genesis of this citizenship precipice.

The incumbent government, continuously failing miserably on economic fronts, is constantly resorting to communal polarization. The Indians have to see through these destructive designs.

*The author is a professor at Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University

900 scientists & scholars oppose CAB, 2019

December 9, 2019

In the statement released on Sunday late night, the scholars argue that “The use of religion as a criterion for citizenship” would mark a “radical break” with the “idea of India that emerged from the independence movement.” They also state that “they fear, in particular, that the careful exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the bill will greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country.” The scholars note that “it seems certain to us” that the bill “violates … [the] … spirit” of the constitution and so they “call for the immediate withdrawal of the bill.”

In the past few months, members of the scientific and broader academic community have repeatedly felt compelled to issue public statements to voice their discontent with the government’s policies.

Here is the full text of this statement:

Statement on the Proposed Citizenship Amendment Bill

“We are a group of Indian scientists and scholars.

” We are issuing this statement in our personal capacity as concerned citizens to express our dismay at the reported plans to table the Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 in the parliament. We do not have access to the exact text of the current version of the Bill. Our statement is based on media reports and the text of the previous version of the Bill that was passed by the Lok Sabha in January 2019. Nevertheless, we feel compelled to issue this statement already at this point of time in view of the reports that the Bill may be tabled in parliament early next week and may be taken up for voting in both houses soon after.

“We understand that the Bill seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The stated intent of the Bill is to provide refuge to persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries. While we support this laudable objective, we find it deeply troubling that the Bill uses religion as a legal criterion for determining Indian citizenship.

“The idea of India that emerged from the independence movement, and as enshrined in our constitution, is that of a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally. The use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break with this history and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the constitution. We fear, in particular, that the careful exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the Bill will greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country.

“We note that article 14 of the Indian constitution prohibits the State from denying “to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” While it is the job of legal experts to determine whether this draft bill violates the letter of the constitution, it seems certain to us that it violates its spirit.

“For the reasons mentioned above, we call for the immediate withdrawal of this bill and as its replacement request for appropriate legislation that will address the concerns of refugees and minorities in a non-discriminatory manner.

It is left to be seen whether this diverse and mounting opposition and criticism in any way tempers a government clear on bludgeoning through and debate or dissent.

List of Signatories (Name and Affiliation)

(The institutional affiliations provided here are only for the purpose of identification and do not indicate the official positions of these organizations.)

Sl no	Name	Institution
1	Abhishodh Prakash	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
2	Atish Dabholkar	International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste
3	Sandip Trivedi	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
4	Shiraz Minwalla	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
5	Suvrat Raju	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
6	Rajesh Gopakumar	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
7	Vipul Vivek	JNU
8	Kabir Husain	University of Chicago
9	Alok laddha	Chennai Mathematical Institute
10	Pranav Kumar	Formerly at IISER Pune
11	Rahul Varman	IIT Kanpur
12	Adhip Agarwala	Icts
13	Debraj Chakrabarti	Central Michigan University
14	ABHIJITH M S	IIT HYDERABAD
15	Sumi Krishna	Independent scholar
16	Satyajit Rath	Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune
17	Priyadarshi Paul	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
18	Ramesh Sreekantan	Indian Statistical Institute Bangalore
19	Sriram Ganeshan	The City College of New York
20	Debaditya Bhattacharya	Kazi Nazrul University, West Bengal
21	SHIBASHIS PAUL	Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
22	Utsav Choudhury	Indian Statistical Institute
23	S GANGA PRASATH	Harvard University
24	Chandramouli Chowdhury	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
25	Debasis Mondal	Centre for quantum technologies
26	Harith Makkapati	Birla Institute of Technology and Science
27	Mohan	Indian Statistical Institute
28	Vineeta Bal	IISER, Pune
29	Koel Das	IISER Kolkata
30	Pinaki Banerjee	IIT Kanpur, India
31	Tanmay Deshpande	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
32	Naveen Gaur	Dyal Singh College (University of Delhi)
33	Omkar Shetye	ICTS
34	Reeteka Sud	NIMHANS
35	Koushik Dutta	IISER, Kolkata / SINP, Kolkata
36	Aritra Bhattacharya	IMSc
37	Sabyasachi Chatterjee	All India People’s Science Network
38	Subhayan Sahu	University of Maryland, College Park
39	Avani Chokshi	Advocate at Manthan Law
40	Dr Sylvia Karpagam	Public health doctor and researcher
41	Jyotsna jha	CBPS
42	Tanmoy Sengupta	Institute of mathematical science
43	Manohar Ranganathan	Human Rights Defenders Alert (HRDA)
44	Mirza Barkathulla Baig	jnc
45	Arpan Kundu	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
46	Dibyajyoti Chakravarti	Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
47	debjani sengupta	IP College, DU
48	Rahul Siddharthan	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
49	Enakshi Bhattacharya	IIT Madras
50	Alladi Sitaram	Indian Statistical Institute(Retired)
51	Alokmay Datta	CSIR-CGCRI
52	Ameet parameswaran	Jawaharlal Nehru University
53	Gaganjot	IIT Kanpur
54	S.Q.Masood	Centre for Peace Studies
55	Mahuya Datta	Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
56	Deepak Malghan	Indian Institue of Management Bangalore
57	Sanjib Sabhapandit	Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru
58	Shubha Tewari	University of Massachusetts, Amherst
59	Nilanjan Bondyopadhaya	Visva-Bharati University
60	Samriddhi Sankar Ray	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
61	Raktim Abir	Aligarh Muslim University
62	Aritra Sinha	Jagiellonian University, Krakow
63	Balasubramaniam K. M.	Citizen of India
64	Anil Jagalur	Individual
65	Bindhulakshmi Pattadath	Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
66	P K Vijayan	Hindu College, Delhi University
67	Haris M K	Nikhef Amsterdam
68	Zoya Hasan	Professor Emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University
69	Subhadip Chakraborti	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences
70	Shanta Laishram	Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi
71	Sridevi Venkatesan	University of Toronto
72	Patrick Das Gupta	University of Delhi
73	Madhusudhan Raman	TIFR, Mumbai
74	Abid Faheem	Jawaharlal Nehru University
75	Karen Gabriel	St Stephen’s College
76	Soumik Mukhopadhyay	IIT Kanpur
77	Debdutta Paul	Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Hannover, Germany
78	Manali Chakrabarti	Independent Researcher
79	Manav Gaddam	Institute of Mathematical Sciences
80	Nandita Narain	St.Stephen’s College
81	Vijaya	Working with migrant workers and their children’s health and education
82	Hema A Murthy	IIT Madras
83	Sandeep Pandey	Socialist Party (India)
84	Mohammad Zaid Zaz	TIFR
85	M Madhava Prasad	EFL University, Hyderabad
86	U. K. Anandavardhanan	IIT Bombay
87	Surbhi Shrivastava	Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes (CEHAT)
88	Rajat Tandon	None
89	Naresh Dadhich	Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrphysics (IUCAA), Pune
90	R. Shankar	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences
91	Abhishek Dhar	ICTS, Bangalore
92	Uddeepta Deka	ICTS, Bengaluru
93	Md Arif Shaikh	ICTS-TIFR
94	Subham Rath	Alumni CAOS, IISc Bangalore (2014-2016)
95	Sumit Kumar	Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics, Albert Einstein Institute, Hannover
96	Poulami Chakraborty	Max-Planck Institute for Iron Research GmbH
97	Prashant Kocherlakota	Institute of Theoretical Physics, Frankfurt University
98	Prasad	Cotton University
99	SUBRATA DEV	irstea, antony, paris
100	Ritam Basu	Snbose national centre
101	Sneha Visakha	Lawyer
102	Suranjan Sinha	Formerly Delhi School of Economics, Department of Sociology and Hindu College; independent researcher, development sector.
103	RUKMINI BHAYA NAIR	IIT Delhi
104	Subramanya Hegde	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
105	Sumit Rout	Visva Bharati University alumnus
106	Shobha Madan	IIT GOA
107	Mainul Hossain	Visva-Bharati
108	Arghya Das	ICTS-TIFR, Bangalore
109	Masud Tarafder	Banaras Hindu University
110	Vikas Dubey	IIT Kanpur
111	Rossi D’Souza	HBCSE – TIFR, Mumbai
112	Rituparna Mandal	S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
113	Anirban Mukherjee	Search Results Web result with site links S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
114	Sumilan Banerjee	Indian Institute of Science
115	Narayanan Menon	U of Massachusetts
116	Abha Jeurkar	Tata Institute of Social Sciences
117	Kanaya Malakar	Brandeis University
118	Nabadyuti Barman	JNCASR
119	Prashant Singh	ICTS-TIFR
120	Nirmalya Kajuri	CMI
121	Nissim Kanekar	National Centre for Radio Astrophysics, Pune
122	anirban goswami	SN Bose National Centre for Basic Science
123	Aditya Kumar Sharma	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences
124	Mohamed Rameez	Niels Bohr Institute
125	Ananyo Maitra	Sorbonne University
126	Jyoti Punwani	None
127	Shibendu Gupta Choudhury	Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata
128	Malabika Majumdar	None at present
129	Nilanjana Dasgupta	University of Massachusetts
130	Ranita Jana	Raman Research Institute
131	Apoorv Tiwari	University of Zurich
132	Adfer	Harvard University
133	Arindam Mazumdar	IIT Kharagpur
134	Salman Alam	Brandeis University
135	Amitava Banerjee	University of Maryland, College Park, USA
136	Ganesh C. Paul	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar
137	Shinjon Chatterjee	INDIAN STATISTICAL INSTITUTE
138	ajay skaria	university of minnesota
139	Sunip Kumar Mukherjee	University of Massachusetts Lowell
140	Saientan Bag	Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
141	Kaustav Mitra	Yale University (New Haven, C.T., U.S.A.)
142	PRIYANKA SAHA	S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
143	Ashesh Dhawale	Harvard University
144	Srinivas Mushnoori	Rutgers University
145	Pritam Palit	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata
146	Oindrila Deb	University of Basel
147	Rimsha Hamza	National Law School of India University Bengaluru
148	Nur Jaman	Centre for Theoretical Physics, Jamia Millia Islamia
149	INDRANI NAYAK	IIT Bombay
150	ANANYA KUMAR	Member, All India Students’ Association, University of Hyderabad UNIT
151	Shamreen Iram	Case Western Reserve University
152	Soumyajit Bose	Cornell University
153	Bhanu Das	Tokyo Institute of Technology
154	Suresh Govindarajan	IIT Madras
155	Aradhana Anu Sharma	Wesleyan University
156	AL FURQAN SHAH KHAN	SHIV NADAR FOUNDATION
157	Muhammad Alibordi	IIT Madras
158	Gautam Gangopadhyay	University of Calcutta
159	Sanaa Agarwal	University of Colorado Boulder
160	Aurnab Ghose	Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune
161	Joe Ninan	The Pennsylvania State University
162	R Geeta	Delhi University (Retired)
163	Rafael Sorkin	Raman Research Institute, Bengaluru (Visiting Professor)
164	Fiaz Babu	Indian Institute of Technology
165	Anna Oommen	Gudalur Adivasi Hospital
166	Nalini Nayak	PGDAV (Morning) College, Delhi University
167	Siddharth K J	Independent Scholar, Bengaluru
168	Nalini Nayak	PGDAV (M) College
169	Inderpal Grewal	Yale University
170	Vignesh M	National Law School of India University
171	V. S. Sunder	Institute of Mathematical Sciences (IMSc)
172	Pulin B Nayak	Delhi School of Economics
173	Prof.Mohan Rao	Independent researcher in Bangalore
174	Kripa G	Azim Premji University
175	Ashoke Sen	HRI
176	Sumathi Rao	Harish-chandra Research Institute
177	Nandini Sundar	Delhi University
178	Amit Singh	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
179	Anand Zachariah	Christian Medical College Vellore
180	Amber Habib	Shiv Nadar University
181	Chayan Chatterjee	University of Western Australia
182	Supratik Chakraborty	IIT Bombay
183	Dr. Mira Shiva	Public Health Physician
184	Vasundhara Rangaswamy	Health Professional, Independent
185	Tulsi Srinivasan	Azim Premji University
186	ML Murty	Self
187	A.P.Balachandran	Physics Department, Syracuse University,Syracuse, New York, USA
188	Amitabha Lahiri	S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
189	Rajaram Nityananda	Azim premji Univrsity
190	Mayurika Lahiri	IISER, Pune
191	Neeraj Malik	Delhi University
192	Javed Malick	Delhi University
193	Anupama Potluri	University of Hyderabad
194	Rahul Roy	Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi
195	K. Laxminarayana	University of Hyderabad
196	Mohammad Imtiyaj Khan	Gauhati University
197	Agniva Roychowdhury	University of Maryland, Baltimore County
198	Saikat Ghosh	IIT Kanpur
199	Ravinder Banyal	IIA, Bangalore
200	Anirban Dasgupta	IIT Gandhinagar
201	SUMAN KUNDU	TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
202	DIBYASANKAR DAS	TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH, MUMBAI
203	Shubhra Chaturvedi	Artist (Self employed)
204	Dr. Anubha Mukherji Sen	Deen Dayal Upadhyay College , University of Delhi
205	Harbans Mukhia	Formerly JNU
206	Banani Mukhia	Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University
207	Palani raja	Madras Medical College
208	Priya Mahadevan	S.N.Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
209	Parameswaran Ajith	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
210	Rajshree Chandra	Delhi University
211	Mostafizur Rahman	Jamia Millia Islamia
212	Dhiraj Tapader	Snbncbs
213	Sabana Shabnam	National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar
214	Poonam kanwal	Delhi University , Jank Devi Memorial College
215	Dr Vandana Prasad	Jan Swasthya Abhiyan
216	Sandeep Rana	NISER
217	Debarshi Das	IIT Guwahati
218	Vikas Dhiman	Contextual Robotics institute, University of California, San Diego
219	Shuvayu Roy	National Institute of Science Education and Research
220	Harish C Karnick	IIT Kanpur
221	Rama Govindarajan	ICTS
222	Charu Soni	Independent journalist and researcher
223	Manoar Hossain	NISER
224	Ashish V	NISER, Bhubaneswar
225	Abha Dev Habib	Miranda House, DU
226	Parthajit Biswas	NISER Bhubaneswar
227	DIPAYANI SAIN	MCH
228	NISHIKANTA KHANDAI	NISER, Bhubaneswar
229	Sunil Mukhi	IISER Pune
230	Swayamsidha Mishra	National Institute of Science, Education and Research, Bhubaneswar
231	Salil Javed V P	National institute of science education and research
232	Vaibhav Vaish	IISER Mohali
233	Ranjini Mondol	Indian institute of science
234	Supratim Chatterjee	National institute of science education and research
235	Kuldeep Kumar Pal	National Institute of Science Education and Research
236	Diptanil Roy	Rutgers University. Formerly of National Institute of Science Education and Research.
237	Partho Sarothi Ray	Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata
238	Tejus S	National Institute of Science Education and Research
239	Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay	IISER Mohali
240	Arideep Saha	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, TIFR, Bengaluru
241	Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay	IISER Mohali
242	Souvik Bandyopadhyay	Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
243	Ranit Karmakar	IIT Kharagpur
244	Sk Jamaluddin	IIT BHUBANESWAR
245	Ruplekha Khullar	Janki Devi Memorial College, Delhi University
246	Shivali Tukdeo	National Institute of Advanced Studies
247	Varadharajan Muruganandam	NISER, Bhubaneswar
248	Srashti Goyal	International Center for Theoretical Sciences Bangalore
249	Prerana Biswas	IISc Bangalore
250	Rajesh V	IISER Mohali
251	Akif	University of Hyderabad
252	Arup Lal Chakraborty	IIT Gandhinagar
253	Suchetan Das	RKM Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute
254	Sudipta Sarkar	IIT Gandhinagar
255	Nilanjandev Bhaumik	IISc Bangalore
256	Ritwick Sarkar	Raman Research Institute
257	Gautam Mandal	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
258	Subhadip Biswas	University of Sheffield
259	ABHISHEK GHADAI	Raman Research Institute
260	Subhroneel Chakrabarti	IMSc, Chennai
261	Sanskriti Das	The Ohio State University
262	Procheta Mallik	Innovation and Science Promotion Foundation
263	Anwesha Sengupta	Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
264	Partha Sarathi Rana	Indian Institute of Science
265	Zinnia Mallick	Institute of Nano Science and Technology
266	Abhigyan Hazarika	Indian Institute of Science
267	Gopa Sardar	IIT Bombay
267	Sudipta Das	Institute of Physics,Bhubaneswar
268	Sudeb Ranjan Datta	Indian Institute of Science
269	Anindya	Raman research institute
270	INDRANI NAYAK	IIT Bombay
271	Krishanu Dan	National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar
272	Mandar Deshmukh	TIFR, Mumbai
273	Rajendran Narayanan	Azim Premji University, Bangalore
274	Hironmoy Malakar	Netaji Subhash Engineering College
275	Sumithra	Indian Institute of Science
276	Sanchari Pal	IIT Kanpur
277	HIMADRI ROY	IIT Kanpur
278	Faruk Abdulla	Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad
279	Ramani Atkuri	Independent Public Health Professional
280	Subham Dutta Chowdhury	TIFR, Mumbai
281	Tilak Sinha	Narasinha Dutt College
282	Tamaghna Hazra	Ohio State University
283	Piyali Ganguly	Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics
284	S. Srinivasan	LOCOST/SAHAJ
285	Sharmistha M.	IIT Gandhinagar
286	Sayantani Bhattacharyya	NISER Bhubaneshwar
287	Soumangsu Chakraborty	TIFR
288	Shashank Patole	NISER Bhubaneswar
289	Aswin V	IISER-Berhampur
290	Aninda Sinha	IISc
291	Suratno Basu	Chennai Mathematical Institute
292	Dileep Jatkar	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
293	Gorky Chakraborty	IDSK
294	Somil Agarwal	NISER, Bhubaneswar
295	Rajdeep Sensarma	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
296	Sudip Chakraborty	TIFR, Mumbai
297	Abinash Barthakur	University of Hyderabad
298	Shoaib Hashmi	Jamia Millia Islamia
299	Deepak DSouza	Indian Institute o Science, Bangalore
300	AMIYA MISHRA	TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH, MUMBAI
301	Satyaki Chowdhury	National institute of science education and research
302	Pratik Sinha	IISER Berhampur
303	Amitabh Virmani	CMI
304	Alam Khan	IISc
305	Suvankar Dutta	IISER Bhopal
306	Nabamita Banerjee	IISER Bhopal
307	Harish Kumar Senapati	IISER Berhampur
308	Danish	JNU
309	Wali Hossain	KNU
310	Soumya Ranjan Das	NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH, BHUBANESWAR
311	SHUDDHABRATA SENGUPTA	Unaffiliated
312	Jesminara Khatun	Indian Institute of Science
313	Aditya Prasad Dash	IISER Berhampur
314	D C V Mallik	Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
315	Rupkatha Biswas	Passed out
316	Adway Majumdar	National Institute Of Science Education and Research,Bhubaneswar
317	Sana Afrin	Indian institute of technology Kanpur
318	Debodirna Ghosh	Chennai Mathematical Institute
319	Subhashis Banerjee	IIT Delhi
320	Venakata Lokesh	Indian Institute of Science
321	MD SAZEDUR RAHAMAN LASKAR	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
322	Amar Jesani	Nil
323	Vinod Vyasulu	Centre for Budget and Policy Studies, Bangalore
324	Arpita Mondal	IIT Delhi
325	Anup Kumar Mondal	HCLT
326	Aiendrila Roy	IISER BERHAMPUR
327	Soubhagya Ranjan Majhi	IISER BERHAMPUR
328	Subhrata Behera	INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH BERHAMPUR
329	COLIN BENJAMIN	National Institute of Science Education and Research, HBNI, Jatni 752050, India
330	Praneet Nandan	NISER, Bhubaneswar
331	Debasis Sadhukhan	Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Krakow
332	Arnab Ghorui	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
333	Saumya Gupta	JDM College, Delhi University
334	Ayush Parag	NISER
335	Om Damani	IIT Bombay
336	Rakesh Das	National University of Singapore
337	Shashank Saumya	NISER, Bhubaneswar
338	SUNIL KUMAR SAKE	T.I.F.R, Mumbai
339	Aneesh P B	Chennai Mathematical Institute
340	Subhro Bhattacharjee	ICTS-TIFR
341	Mahammad Mustakim	NISER Bhubaneswar
342	Pulkit Joshi	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
343	Saili Dutta	NISER, Bhubaneswar
344	Probal Dasgupta	Retd 2018 from Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata
345	Sobha Rani T	University of Hyderabad
346	Suraj Sahoo	NISER
347	Agnibh Dey	The Ohio State University
348	Deepak Kumar	NISER
349	Sanjoy Paul	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
350	Govindarajan	Chennai Mathematical Institute
351	Lachit Saikia	Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
352	Debdatta Chowdhury	Centre for Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta
353	Mihir Pandey	Ramjas College, University of Delhi
354	Bhavtosh Bansal	IISER Kolkata
355	Sk Bubai Rahaman	TIFR
356	Prof. M.H.Qureshi	Retired Prof. J.N.U, New Delhi
357	Surojit paul	Tata Institute of fundamental research
358	Pavithraa Seenivasan	Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
359	Sk Bubai Rahaman	TIFR
360	Sayali Atul Bhatkar	IISER Pune
361	Ritajit Kunu	IIT Kanpur
362	Prof.M.H.Qureshi	Retired Processor, J.N.U.New Delhi
363	Subhajit Sinha	TIFR, Mumbai
364	Jishnu Biswas	Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore Centre
365	Emroj Hossain	TIFR, Mumbai
366	ABHIJIT MONDAL	TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
367	Rema Krishnaswamy	Azim Premji University
368	ABHIJIT KUMAR NAYAK	IISER BERHAMPUR
369	Imon Mandal	TIFR,Mumbai
370	Baibhav Singari	NISER
371	Gautam Saikia	Indian Institue of Science
372	Mahaveer prasad	ICTS-TIFR
373	Dipak Maity	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar
374	Shantonu Mukherjee	S N Bose National Centre For Basic Sciences
375	Sharannyo Banerjee	Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
376	Jyotirmoy	IISc
377	Mehedi Masud	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar
378	Deepak K Dinkar	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
379	Anindita Ghoshal	Diamond Harbour Women’s University
380	Masud Hassan	IISER Berhampur
381	Pushpak Pandey	NISER Bhubaneswar
382	Samata Biswas	The Sanskrit College and University, Kolkata
383	Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya	IIT Kharagpur
384	Krishna AchutaRao	IIT Delhi
385	TANMOY Bera	Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
386	Aravind T S	TIFR
387	Eeshan Modak	TIFR
388	Ranjini Bandyopadhyay	Raman Research Institute
389	Tousif Islam	University of Massachusetts
390	Souvik Jana	ICTS-TIFR
391	Lucky Kapoor	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
392	Shamik Banerjee	IOP, Bhubaneswar
393	Chitra Saini	JNU
394	Shauri Chakraborty	University of Saarland
395	NAMRATA PRUSTY	NISER JATNI ODISHA
396	A, Sanyal	IIT Bombay
397	Basudeb Mondal	International Center For Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru
398	Saranyo Moitra	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
399	Nilay Kundu	IIT Kanpur
400	VIshnu T R	Chennai Mathematical Institute
401	Deepankar Basu	University of Massachusetts Amherst
402	Nilay Kundu	IIT Kanpur
403	Sumit Roy	TIFR, Mumbai
404	Sriram Narayanan	NCBS, Bangalore
405	Sukanta Das	TIFR , Mumbai
406	Abid Zafar	JNU
407	Joya Ghosh Dastider	IIT Guwahati
408	K. J. Joy	Water activist-researcher
409	Sujoy Chakraborty	TIFR, Mumbai
410	Venu Madhav Govindu	Indian Institute of Science
411	SP Rajaguru	Indian Institute of Astrophysics
412	Prajwal HP	CMS, Bangalore
413	Saumen Datta	TIFR, Mumbai
414	Adwait Gaikwad	TIFR, Mumbai
415	Ranjan Laha	CERN
416	Dhiman Biswas	IIT Guwahati
417	Lankeswar Dey	TIFR, Mumbai
418	Loganayagam R	ICTS-TIFR
419	Suman Chatterjee	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
420	Simona Sawhney	IIT-Delhi
421	Manu	Chennai Mathematical Institute
422	Tanusree Roy	Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology
423	RWIK DHARMAPAL BANERJEE	SCOTTISH CHURCH COLLEGE
424	Prabuddho Mukherjee	INMAS, DRDO
425	Sayan Biswas	IIT Gandhinagar
426	S.P. Rajaguru	Indian Institute of Astrophysics
427	Mihir Sheth	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
428	Indranil Ghosh	National Institute of Science Education and Research
429	Urbashi Sarkar	Assam University
430	SAWANI DATTA	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
431	Antara Datta	JDMC
432	Biswajit sarkar	IISc Bangalore
433	Krishna Hanumanthu	Chennai Mathematical Institute
434	Sabarna palit	IIT Kharagpur
435	Arijit Sinha	JNCASR
436	Jayarshi Bhattacharya	SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, SNBNCBS
437	Sharanya Chattopadhyay	Tata Institute of Social Sciences
438	Saumav Kapoor	ICTS-TIFR, Bengaluru
439	Naorem Pushparani Chanu	Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
440	Pratik Roy	CMI
441	Gorekh Prasad Sena	National Institute of Science Education and Research
442	Ishani	IIT Delhi
443	S. Durga Bhavani	University of Hyderabad
444	Suman G Das	University of Cologne
445	Manoj Kumar	Indian institute of technology bombay
446	Shiv Sethi	Raman Research Institute
447	Sougata Guha	IIT BOMBAY
448	Arindam Pramanik	TIFR, Mumbai
449	Athul George	IIT Bombay
450	Roopa Dhawan	Ramjas College, Delhi University
451	Aditi Juneja	CHRIST, Bengaluru
452	SUBIMAN KUNDU	IIT DELHI
453	Kaniska Singh	IIT bombay
454	Shalini Karmarkar	Christ University
455	Sumanta Chakraborty	IACS
456	Prikshit	IISER BERHAMPUR
457	Jagannath Sutradhar	Indian Institute of Science.
458	Bisakha Pandey	Gauhati University
459	Bedabrata Saha	NISER, Bhubaneswar
460	Prakash Mathews	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
461	Debangshu Mukherjee	IISER Bhopal
462	Anindya Sen	Assam University
463	AJAY SHARMA	S.N.BOSE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR BASIC SCIENCES
464	Ankan Sur	Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center, Warsaw
465	Somak Basistha	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
466	Irfan	IIT Bombay
467	Shilpa Samaddar	National Institute of Technology, Agartala
468	Kushal Chakraborty	IISER BHOPAL
469	Bibhu Prasad behera	NISER
470	Abhinav Raj	National Institute of Science Education and Research
471	Avik Kumar Das	Raman Research Institute
472	Tamal RoyChowdhury	IIT Madras
473	Jyotsna Jha	CBPS
474	Ram Krishna Patra	Snbncbs
475	Tanisha Agarwal	Christ University, Bangalore
476	Sanat Ghosh	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
477	Manoj Puravankara	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
478	Sulbia Asif	CHRIST (Deemed to be University)
479	Priya Iyer	IISc
480	SATARUPA LAHIRI	Jawaharlal Nehru University
481	Sriram Ramaswamy	Indian Institute of Science
482	Sharachchandra Lele	ATREE
483	Parthiv Haldar	Indian Institute of Science
484	Rajibul Shaikh	IIT Kanpur
485	R Ramachandran	IMSc Chennai, IIT Kanpur (Retired)
486	Dr Md. Zahidul Haque	University of Hyderabad
487	Abhishek Naskar	ISI, Kolkata
488	PRAGYANPRASU SWAIN	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
489	Arnab Kundu	saha institute of nuclear physics
490	Animesh Nanda	ICTS-TIFR
491	Sujay Ashok	Institute of Mathematical Sciences
492	Arpitha Gudihinddala Rajeev	Hansraj College, Delhi University
493	Keshav R Menon	Indian Institute of Science
494	Gunjan	TIFR
495	Ankita Srivastava	Jawaharlal Nehru University
496	Ahmadullah Zahed	IISC BANGALORE
497	Abhijit Chakraborty	National Institute of Science Education and Research
498	Krishna Rijal	IIT Bombay
499	Rakesh Ankit	Loughborough University
500	Suman Prajapati	Banaras Hindu University
501	Barsha Chowdhury	Indian Institute of Science
502	Vikram Soni	Jamia Millia
503	S mondal	Iitism dhanbad
504	Rahul Kumar Walia	Jamia Millia Islamia
505	Saswata Ghosh	Institute for Development Studies Kolkata
506	Proteep Mallik	Azim Premji University
507	Pranjupriya Goswami	Tezpur University
508	Taniya Mandal	IISER Bhopal
509	Prasun Dhang	Tsinghua University
510	Sourav Biswas	IIT Kanpur
511	Sabarnya MItra	Indian Institute of Science
512	Dharmaraj Deka	Tezpur University
513	Poulami Nandi	IIT Kanpur
514	Saswati Bora	Delhi University
515	Jyotirmoy Mukherjee	Indian Institute of Science.
516	Ruchi Gamta	Model secondary school for the deaf
517	Pritha Dolai	ICTS – TIFR
518	Anindita Brahma	Queen Mary University of London
519	Syed Naquab A. Jaffri	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
520	Sanjit Chatterjee	IISc
521	Dibya Kanti Mukherjee	University Paris Sud
522	Jaydeep Datta	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
523	Raghavan Rangarajan	Ahmedabad University
524	Shaily Bahuguna	University of Bonn
525	Swastik C	INDIAN INSTITUTE OF ASTROPHYSICS
526	Kedar Kolekar	IIT Kanpur
527	Sandeep Kumar	Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
528	Amit Kumar Mandal	Indian Institute of Astrophysics
529	Soumyadeep Chaudhuri	The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
530	Dr Sunil Kaul	the ant
531	Upamanyu Moitra	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
532	Debashis Ghoshal	JNU, New Delhi
533	Subhojit	IIT Bombay
534	Siddhartha Ghosh	IIT Bombay
535	Rahul karmakar	snbncbs
536	Arnab Das	IACS, Kolkata
537	sumit das	U of Kentucky/TIFR
538	Disha Bhatia	IACS
539	Sonu vincent	Jawaharlal nehru university
540	Himanshu Badhani	IMSc Chennai
541	Sougata Pal	IISER BERHAMPUR
542	Arjun Paul	Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai
543	Vinu vincent	Ipu
544	Aditi Ghosh	Gateway School of Mumbai
545	Harshpreet kaur	Jemtec school of law greater noida
546	Partha Paul	CMI
547	Debajyoti Sengupta	University of Calcutta
548	Supurna Banerjee	Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
549	Kaustav Chakraborty	Physical Research Laboratory
550	Mrunmay Jagadale	Chennai Mathematical Institute
551	Sankha Subhra Bakshi	HRI
552	Samiran Sen	University of Oslo
553	Amitabha Ghosh	Calcutta University
554	Chandranandan Gangopadhyay	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences,Chennai
555	Rivu Gupta	HARISH CHANDRA RESEARCH INSTITUTE
556	Aditya Vyas	College of Medical Sciences, SN Medical College
557	Aparajita Dasgupta	Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
558	Gautam G	IIT Bombay
559	Ratul Mahanta	Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Prayagraj
560	Shivangi	Jamia Millia Islamia
561	Suvadip Panda	IIT-ISM Dhanbad
562	Anamay Tengse	TIFR Mumbai
563	ARCHISMITA MISRA	Ulm University, Germany
564	Pratik Majumdar	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
565	Utpalendu Haldar	Indian institute of science
566	Sayid Mondal	Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
567	Mary Ann Chacko	Ahmedabad University
568	Aishwarya Gudihal	SDM College of Dental Sciences
569	Ayan Banerjee	IISC
570	Tamanna Jain	St John’s College, University of Cambridge
571	Sougata Mardanya	Indian institute of technology Kanpur
572	Jyoti Lavania	CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru.
573	Leya Mathew	Ahmedabad University
574	Krishan	JNU
575	Richard Fernandes	Azim Premji University
576	Dattaraj Dhuri	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
577	Revathi Hareendranath	I am a student
578	RATHEESH T V	The institute of mathematical sciences
579	Yogesh	CTP, Jamia Millia Islamia
580	Nandini Ghosh	Institute of Development Studies Kolkata
581	Sreeraj T P	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences
582	Debajyoti Das	IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
583	Diksha Jain	SISSA, Trieste
584	Gautam I Menon	Ashoka University
585	Biswajit Gorai	IISc, Bangalore
586	Unmesh Dutta Chowdhury	NISER
587	Anurag Kaushal	TIFR, Mumbai
588	Khorsed Alam	Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad
589	Saikat Sur	IIT Kanpur
590	Arul Lakshminarayan	IIT Madras
591	Sourav Roy Chowdhury	IIEST
592	Arnab Rudra	ICTP, Trieste
593	Md A.K. Azad Siddiki	TIFR, Mumbai
594	Ashif Reza	TIFR, Mumbai
595	Ashvin Vishwanath	Harvard University
596	Sourav Roy Chowdhury	IIEST
597	Pritam Jyoti Borah	Indian Institute of Science
598	Sadaf Usmani	International School for Advanced Studies Trieste italy
599	Parul Janagal	Indian Institute of Technology Indore
600	Tata Satya Pratheek	NISER
601	Rifa iqbal	niser
602	Aniket Khairnar	University of Mississippi, Oxford
603	Pratik Tarafdar	S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
604	Anirban Banerjee	National Institutes of Health, USA
605	SUSOVAN MAITY	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
606	Bihan Banerjee	TIFR, Mumbai
607	Pavithra S	Independent
608	Saleem Ahmed	JMI
609	Haris Saeed	Aligarh Muslim University
610	Pavithra	Independent
611	Bishal Baran Maity	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,Mumbai
612	Rahul Bandyopadhyay	S N Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
613	Kornikar Sen	Harish-Chandra Research Institute (HRI)
614	Tanmoy Mondal	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
615	MONIDEEPA MAITY	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
616	JAGANNATH ROY	NIT Warangal
617	Annapoorna P K	CSIR-CCMB, Hyderabad
618	Sthiti Chakrabarti	University of Göttingen
619	Ramadas N	Chennai Mathematical Institute, Chennai
620	Jyotishman Bhowmick	Indian Statistical Institute
621	Shakeel	IIT Kanpur
622	Ayaz Ahmed	IIT BOMBAY
623	Pratyusava Baral	Presidency University
624	Sudipta Dutta	IIT KANPUR
625	Dharamashi Rabari	Ahmedabad University
626	Pcpn Hembram	NISER Bhubaneswar
627	Pratik Nandy	Indian Institute of Science
628	nomaan x	raman research institute
629	Writabrata Mukherjee	Presidency University
630	Priya Jadhav	IIT Bombay
631	ATANU MAITY	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar
632	ABDUL AZIZ	Bodai High School
633	Sreetama Das	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
634	Mohit mudgal	IIT KANPUR
635	SOURAV ACHARYA	IIT(ISM) Dhanbad
636	Arjun Roy	Leibniz University Hannover
637	Shahalam	ZJUT
638	Aritra Narayan Bose	Weizmann Institute of Science
639	Sahel Dey	Indian Institute of Science
640	Supriya Pan	Physical Research Laboratory
641	Ishika Palit	Center for Theoretical Physics of Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland
642	Gurinder Singh	Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education – TIFR, Mumbai
643	Kousik Bagani	Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
644	Subhojit Roy	HRI
645	Mandeep Rathee	L3S Research Center, Germany
646	Khursid Alam	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
647	RATUL BANERJEE	HRI,Allahabad
648	Ananda Dasgupta	IISER Kolkata
649	Deb Sankar Banerjee	University College London
650	Nevin	Bengaluru Dr. B R Ambedkar School of Economics
651	Nurul Hassan	University of Hyderabad
652	Happy Borgohain	IIT Guwahati
653	SAGAR CHOWDHURY	IIT MADRAS
654	Bapan Debnath	Raman Research Institute
655	Jay Deshmukh	Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, Mumbai
656	MD NUR HOSSAIN MISTRY	BARASAT GOVERNMENT COLLEGE , BARASAT, KOLKATA, INDIA
657	Soumyajit Pramanick	Calcutta University
658	Nilanjana kumar	University of Delhi
659	SOHAIL	HRI
660	Arnab Priya Saha	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
661	Prof.Mohan Rao	Independent public health researcher
662	Khursid Alam	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
663	Stephin soy	Delhi University
664	Dhruv Pathak	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
665	Arnab Sarkar	IIT Kanpur
666	Asit Pal	Presidency College
667	Akshat Singh	IP UNIVERSITY
668	Satyanu Bhadra	TIFR
669	Priyanka HALDER	Bodai high school
670	Syed ABM Sultan	Retd PSU Executive, Assam
671	Abhishek Banerjee	Weizmann Institute of Science
672	Rabisankar Samanta	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
673	Sayanwita Biswas	INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR
674	Deepak	IIT Kanpur
675	Monica Katiyar	IIT Kanpur
676	Sioree	Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore
677	Irma Kerketta	Tata Institute of social sciences
678	Sanjna banerjee	Iisc
679	Narayan Banerjee	IISER Kolkata
680	Debades Bandyopadhyay	SINP, Kolkata
681	Mohini Mullick	Retired IIT Kanpur
682	Aradhita Chattopadhyaya	Trinity College Dublin
683	U Abinash Patro	IISERBPR
684	Shravasti Misra	Independent
685	Chirag Srivastava	Harish-Chandra Research Institute
686	Vineet Kumar	Hebrew University of Jerusalem
687	Avisek Das	University of Hyderabad
688	Shayaneel Nath	Nilratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital
689	TANMOY CHAKRABORTY	S N Bose National Center For Basic Sciences
690	Ram Ramaswamy	IIT Delhi
691	DHAR Sudipta	University of Innsbruck
692	Ahana Ghoshal	HRI
693	ANANDA GOPAL MAITY	S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
694	Shruti Lal	Individual
695	DR SUBODH SHARAN GUPTA	Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram
696	Rajesh Kumar Das	Niser
697	Mursalin Islam	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
698	Sabyasachi Goswami	SISSA, Trieste
699	SAUBHIK BANDYOPADHYAY	Durgapur Government College, Durgapur -713214, West Bengal
700	Kritika Singh	IIT Bombay
701	Shafqat Ul Islam	CTP,JMI
702	Kaustav Das	IIT(ISM) Dhanbad
703	Sanat Gogoi	Indian Institute of Science
704	Biswajit Sahoo	Harish-Chandra Research Institute, Allahabad.
705	Bittu K Rajaraman	Ashoka University
706	Olag Pratim Bordoloi	Tezpur University, Assam
707	Manjunath O K	Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies, Goethe University
708	George David	IISER Berhampur
709	Sankar Prasad Jana	IISER Berhampur
710	Pratik	IIT KANPUR
711	Kaushik Bhattacharya	IIT Kanpur
712	Siddharth Ramachandran	Boston University
713	Md Saquib Akhtar	Jamia Millia Islamia
714	Tanay Pathak	Indian Institute of Science
715	Mohd Amir Hashmi	Jamia Millia islamia
716	Ishita	IISER KOLKATA
717	Arghya Mondal	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
718	Ghulam mohmad	Institute of nano science and technology (INST)Mohali
719	Bobby Ezhuthachan	RKMVERI
720	Ananya Mahapatra	Vssut,Burla
721	Epsita Chakraborty	Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati
722	Rhitaja Sengupta	Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
723	Aritra Kundu	Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA) Trieste
724	Prateek Sharma	Indian Institute of Science
725	Sridipta	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
726	Varuni P	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences
727	Md Zahid Ansari	TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
728	B ANANTHANARAYAN	Indian Institute of Science
729	Claire Noronha	Citizen
730	Pravabati Chingangbam	Indian Institute of Astrophysics
731	Ramchandra Phawade	IIT Dharwad
732	Syed Yusuf Mian	Jawaharlal Nehru University
733	Aparajita Dasgupta	Ashoka University
734	Mahan Mj	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
735	Roji Pius	Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
736	Amlan Das Gupta	O.P. Jindal Global University
737	Ayan Mukhopadhyay	IIT Madras
738	Sourav Roy	Syracuse University
739	Pranav Jeevan P	IIT Bombay
740	Ayan Mukhopadhyay	IIT Madras
741	Ankan Paul	Professor of Chemistry
742	Arundhati Dasgupta	Physics and Astronomy
743	Sabyasachi Mukherjee	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
744	MANUJ MUKHERJEE	Telecom Paris
745	Manjunath Bestha	Indian Institute of Astrophysics
746	Suresh Nayak	Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore
747	Debasmita Mondal	IISc, Bangalore
748	Anshuman Borgohain	Tezpur University
749	Hema Swaminathan	Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
750	Saikat Karmakar	TIFR, Mumbai
751	Nirmalya Brahma	Indian Institute of Science
752	Hariharan Narayanan	TIFR
753	SOUMYA MUKHERJEE	TIFR
754	Tulasimohan Molli	TIFR
755	Sabyasachi Maulik	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
756	Suraj Ali	Saha institute of nuclear physics, kolkata
757	Sumati Surya	Raman Research Institute
758	Sandeep Juneja	TIFR
759	Abdul Ali	IIT Bombay
760	Bhaskar Biswas	Iucaa, Pune
761	Sujith N S	NISER Bhubaneswar
762	Surojit Dalui	IIT Guwahati
763	Sujith N S	NISER Bhubaneswar
764	Sudarshan Saha	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar
765	Probeshika	Ashoka
766	Amit Adhikary	Indian Institute of Science
767	Kazi Rafsanjani Amin	Institut Neel, CNRS
768	arindam chatterjee	Indian Statistical Institute
769	Ashis Paul	IIT KHARAGPUR
770	Deboleena Sengupta	okdiscd
771	M. V. Ramana	University of British Columbia
772	ARNAB PAUL	SNBNCBS
773	Anindya Datta	University of Calcutta
774	Shiv Prakash Patel	IIT Delhi
775	Titas Chanda	Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland
776	Dyotona Dasgupta	Delhi School of Economics
777	Chandan Dasgupta	Indian Institute of Science
778	Vidya Subramanian	Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai
779	Ashok Gupta	Alumnus, IIT Kanpur
780	Nandini Manjrekar	TISS Mumbai
781	Ajai Pulianmackal	University of Michigan
782	Sourjyadeep Chakraborty	JNCASR
783	Bikash Kanungo	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
784	Shiladitya mal	Harish Chandra Research Institute
785	Swati Goswami	Shaamil
786	Dimple Oberoi Vahali	I am an independent activist and I am not a part of an institution
787	Diamond Oberoi Vahali	Ambedkar University Delhi
788	Maansi Shah	CEPT University
789	Honey Oberoi Vahali	Ambedkar University Delhi
790	Aswin p santhosh	Gov medical college trivandrum
791	Shibaji Roy	Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics
792	Subhaditya Bhattacharya	IIT GUWAHATI
793	Naveen Surendran	IIST, Thiruvananthapuram
794	Arpan Sinha	IOP BHUBANESWAR
795	Aritra Ghosh	Yale University
796	Sanchari Goswami	Vidyasagar College
797	Arun Kumar	Retired Professor of Economics, JNU, N Delhi
798	Bhargav Oza	Independent Researcher
799	Arnab Rai Choudhuri	IISc
800	Dev Desai	Anhad
801	Anand Sawant	TIFR, Mumbai
802	Harini Desiraju	Scuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati (SISSA)
803	Kabita Deka	Tezpur University
804	Nishant Gupta	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences
805	Shivam Kumar	Visva-Bharati
806	Suddhasattwa Brahma	McGill University
807	Zenobia Usmani	Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
808	Rahul Pandey	visiting faculty, IIM Lucknow
809	Sriram Srinivasan	IIT Bombay
810	Surajit Bera	IISc, Bangalore
811	Hema Swasthi	University of Michigan
812	Amit Jash	IIT KANPUR
813	Sashwat Tanay	University of Mississippi
814	A. P. Shukla	Citizen of India & the Globe
815	Mohammed Musthafa Anwar	CMTI Bangalore
816	Nazia Hussain	Indian Institute of science
817	Mohd Saad	Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi
818	Shaima Masood	Faculty Of Law, JaMia Millia Islamia
819	HUSNA JAN K M	IISc
820	Kaushik Ghosh	Indian Institute of Science
821	Raju Gaur	Jagriti Bal Vikas Samiti
822	Geeta Thatra	PhD Scholar, JNU
823	Mustansir Barma	TIFR Hyderabad
824	Simran Sethi	IISER BERHAMPUR
825	NASRIN BANU	Weizmann Institute of Science
826	Riddhi Shah	JNU, New Delhi
827	ANURAG TIWARI	TATA INSTITUTE OF FUNDAMENTAL RESEARCH
828	Apoorva Nagar	IIST
829	Swagata Sarkar	UM-DAE CEBS, Mumbai
830	Bithika Karmakar	SINP, Kolkata
831	Biswajit Datta	University of California Santa Barbara
832	Shriya S	FIAS
833	RAJNDRA SAHAI	RETIRED ENGINER
834	Animesh Chaurasia	National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar
835	Maryam Haroon	haroonmaryam.mh@gmail.com
836	anindita mondal	IIA
837	Sumanto Chanda	International Centre for Theoretical Sciences
838	Anish Ghosh	TIFR
839	Bheemsehan	IIT KANPUR
840	Arijit Dey	IIT Madras
841	Aditi Chaturvedi	Ashoka University
842	Arkajyoti De	IITD
843	Ramachandra Guha	Indian Institute of Science
844	Chandra Kant Mishra	IIT Madras
845	Soumitra Sengupta	IACS, Kolkata
846	MERIN ROY	SUNY UMU
847	Rohit Kumar	IIT Bombay
848	Shivani Banchariya	Teri-Deakin Nanobiotech Research Centre, India
849	ARNAB SETH	ICTS-TIFR
850	Anshumitra Baul	Louisiana State University
851	Ragini Lall	Harvard University
852	Shivan Khullar	University of Toronto
853	Aliya Qureshi	Dyal singh college
854	R.T. Srinivasan	University of Arizona
855	Debraj Bose	HRI
856	Nirnoy Basak	HRI
857	Abhiruk Lahiri	University of Haifa
858	Prerona Chatterjee	TIFR Mumbai
859	Sk Jahanur Hoque	Chennai Mathematical Institute
860	Rita Majumdar	Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
861	Surajit Sengupta	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
862	Arghya Chattopadhyay	Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
863	Kannabiran Seshasayanan	CEA Saclay, France
864	Suchitra Mathur	IIT Kanpur
865	Aahana Ganguly	National Center for Toxicological Research
866	KANHU KISHORE NANDA	TIFR
867	Md Fuzail Jawaid	Ikg ptu
868	Shihabudheen K	MES Kalladi College, Mannarkkad, Palakkad
869	Dibya Sankar Chattopadhyay	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
870	Jaikumar Radhakrishnan	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
871	Tabish Qureshi	CTP, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi
872	Akash K Mishra	IIT Gandhinagar
873	Reuben George Stephen	STMicroelectronics, Singapore
874	Dr. Ahmad Cameron	Retired
875	Senthil Todadri	MIT
876	Nidhin Joseph	Self
877	Palash Baran Pal	University of Calcutta
878	S.G.Dani	TIFR (Retired)
879	Sudipta Maiti	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
880	Krishnendu Sengupta	Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
881	Joby Joseph	University of Hyderabad
882	Priyanka Lamba	Indian institute of science, Bengaluru
883	Rakesh Ranjan	SRCC, University of Delhi
884	Seema	IIT Madras
885	Bireshwar Roy	Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
886	PURBA MUKHERJEE	IISER Kolkata
887	Subashri	IMSc
888	Ishan Santra	Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
889	Niraja G. Jayal	Jawaharlal Nehru University
890	Sowmya Dechamma C C	University of Hyderabad
891	Suman Dutta	The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai
892	saiyad Ashanujjaman	Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar
893	FABIL K	IIT MADRAS
894	Ramprasad Saptharishi	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
895	Sudipta Mukherji	Institute of Physics
896	Bithika	ICTP Saifr
897	Dilip D’Souza	Independent Writer
898	Vinod Prabhakaran	TIFR Mumbai
899	Chandan Kumar Jana	ICTS-TIFR
900	K. G. Arun	Chennai Mathematical Institute

The true cost of hailing the CAB

December 9, 2019

Who is a Citizen?

In India, Citizenship related laws are laid down in the Citizenship Act of 1955. According to this Act, Indian citizenship can be acquired by birth, descent, registration, naturalisation or incorporation of territory. However, when it comes to the state of Assam, there are a few special provisions that were added via an amendment after the signing of the Assam Accord in 1985.

Clause 6(A) was added to the Indian Citizenship Act via this amendment, and is significant in the present context given how the strongest anti-CAB protests have come from the state of Assam which recently underwent a tedious and expensive process to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

How CAB legitimises asking Muslims to take a hike

The Bangladeshi bogeyman has haunted the collective imagination of bigots and privileged ‘apolitical’ fence-sitters for almost half a century. The narrative is eerily the same; “secular” parties are allowing Muslims to infiltrate India so that their vote bank can be strengthened. No prizes for guessing the author of this piece of tepid piece of fiction.

From Cheetah Camp and Malvani in Mumbai to Karimganj and Kachar in Assam to Malda and Murshidabad in West Bengal, many districts, neighbourhoods and settlements with a majority population of Muslims, have borne the notorious sobriquet of “Mini-Pakistan” and “Chhota Bangladesh”, being relegated to a foreign identity for not being ‘Indian’ enough.

The same sentiment gained wider currency with right-wing ÍT cell’ trolls using words and phrases like “sickular”, “libtard” and “go to Pakistan” to make flimsy counter-arguments against secular forces, civil society and sundry dissenters.

Right-wing supremacist forces, utterly devoted to conflating the wider Indian identity with that of people who follow one religion or philosophy, felt emboldened when their electoral dreams came to fruition in 2014.

The CAB was first was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 19, 2016. The objective was to grant Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, Indian Citizenship subject to certain conditions. Those seeking refuge should have entered India before December 31, 2014. Also, the 11-year rule for granting citizenship to refugees would be relaxed in these cases to just six years.

It is noteworthy that safe haven was being offered to everyone except Muslims. The government however responded saying that this was because the three countries from where refugees were being accepted were Muslim majority countries and therefore Muslims there would not face persecution. This argument will be deconstructed and rebutted later in this piece. It is also noteworthy that an initial draft of the BJP’s manifesto in 2019 had omitted Christians and Parsis, who were added, perhaps begrudgingly, only after it was pointed out by a national newspaper.

The CAB was referred to the Joint Parliamentary Committee on August 12, 2016. The JPC submitted its report on January 7, 2019. While it was passed in the Lok Sabha the following day, it lapsed as it could not be cleared before the government’s term ended in June 2019.

The BJP now plans to table the CAB in Parliament on December 9 and has issued a whip to its MPs to remain present on the house in a bid to ensure that the bill is passed. Assuming all MPs comply, BJP’s brute strength majority of 303 in the 543 member Lok Sabha could ensure smooth sailing for the CAB.

But it won’t be that easy in the Rajya Sabha. Of the 245 seats, 5 are currently vacant. The BJP and other NDA members total to 117, while the UPA has 67 members and others come to 58. The combined might of UPA and others (that included TMC, SP, BSP, AAP etc.) come to 125. It would be interesting to see how the Shiv Sena MPs vote given their new-found alliance with the Congress and NCP in Maharashtra. Similarly, NDA members such as the Asom Gana Parishad will also be under tremendous pressure, given the strong opposition to CAB in the state of Assam and even across the wider Northeast region.

Why ‘seven-sisters’ won’t take the CAB

In the Northeast, though anti-CAB protests have broken out in all seven states, it is in the state of Assam where they are perhaps the loudest, strongest and most consistent. This has to be viewed in context of the Assam Accord that was signed in 1985 to alleviate fears of a demographic change in the state due to an alleged influx of ‘foreigners’ from neighbouring Bangladesh in wake of the 1971 war. In fact, clause 6 (A) was added to the Citizenship Act via an amendment in 1985 to address this very concern. The provisions of this special clause are as follows:

[6A. Special provisions as to citizenship of persons covered by the Assam Accord.―

(1) For the purposes of this section―

(a) “Assam” means the territories included in the State of Assam immediately before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985 (65 of 1985);

(b) “detected to be a foreigner” means detected to be a foreigner in accordance with the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946) and the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 by a Tribunal constituted under the said Order;

(c) “specified territory” means the territories included in Bangladesh immediately before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985 (65 of 1985);

(d) a person shall be deemed to be Indian origin, if he, or either of his parents or any of his grandparents was born in undivided India;

(e) a person shall be deemed to have been detected to be a foreigner on the date on which a Tribunal constituted under the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 submits its opinion to the effect that he is a foreigner to the officer or authority concerned.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (6) and (7), all persons of Indian origin who came before the 1st day of January, 1966 to Assam from the specified territory (including such of those whose names were included in the electoral rolls used for the purposes of the General Election to the House of the People held in 1967) and who have been ordinarily resident in Assam since the dates of their entry into Assam shall be deemed to be citizens of India as from the 1st day of January, 1966.

(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (6) and (7), every person of Indian origin who―

(a) came to Assam on or after the 1st day of January, 1966 but before the 25th day of March, 1971 from the specified territory; and

(b) has, since the date of his entry into Assam, been ordinarily resident in Assam; and

shall register himself in accordance with the rules made by the Central Government in this behalf under section 18 with such authority (hereafter in this sub-section referred to as the registering authority) as may be specified in such rules and if his name is included in any electoral roll for any Assembly or Parliamentary constituency in force on the date of such detection, his name shall be deleted therefrom.

Explanation.―In the case of every person seeking registration under this sub-section, the opinion of the Tribunal constituted under the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 holding such person to be a foreigner, shall be deemed to be sufficient proof of the requirement under clause (c) of this subsection and if any question arises as to whether such person complies with any other requirement under this sub-section, the registering authority shall,―

(i) if such opinion contains a finding with respect to such other requirement, decide the question in conformity with such finding;

(ii) if such opinion does not contain a finding with respect to such other requirement, refer the question to a Tribunal constituted under the said Order hang jurisdiction in accordance with such rules as the Central Government may make in this behalf under section 18 and decide the question in conformity with the opinion received on such reference.

(4) A person registered under sub-section (3) shall have, as from the date on which he has been detected to be a foreigner and till the expiry of a period of ten years from that date, the same rights and obligations as a citizen of India (including the right to obtain a passport under the Passports Act, 1967 (15 of 1967) and the obligations connected therewith), but shall not entitled to have his name included in any electoral roll for any Assembly or Parliamentary constituency at any time before the expiry of the said period of ten years.

(5) A person registered under sub-section (3) shall be deemed to be a citizen of India for all purposes as from the date of expiry of a period of ten years from the date on which he has been detected to be a foreigner.

(6) Without prejudice to the provisions of section 8―

(a) if any person referred to in sub-section (2) submits in the prescribed manner and form and to the prescribed authority within sixty days from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985 (65 of 1985), a declaration that he does not wish to be a citizen of India, such person shall not be deemed to have become a citizen of India under that sub-section;

(b) if any person referred to in sub-section (3) submits in the prescribed manner and form and to the prescribed authority within sixty days from the date of commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985(65 of 1985), or from the date on which he has been detected to be a foreigner, whichever is later, a declaration that he does not wish to be governed by the provisions of that sub-section and sub-sections (4) and (5), it shall not be necessary for such person to register himself under sub-section (3).

Explanation.―Where a person required to file a declaration under this sub-section does not have the capacity to enter into a contract, such declaration may be filed on his behalf by any person competent under the law for the time being in force to act on his behalf.

(7) Nothing in sub-sections (2) to (6) shall apply in relation to any person―

(a) who, immediately before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985 (65 of 1985), is a citizen of India;

(b) who was expelled from India before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 1985, under the Foreigners Act, 1946 (31 of 1946).

(8) Save as otherwise expressly provided in this section, the provisions of this section shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force.]

The conflict in Assam cannot be dismissed by explaining it in over-simplified terms as just an ethnic divide. There are very strong sentiments associated with the Assam movement that demanded the expulsion of all ‘foreigners’ from Bangladesh irrespective of their religion. But, true to its divisive agenda, the BJP began to add a distinct religious hue to the cauldron of conflict that was already bubbling over.

The BJP now wants to grant citizenship to Hindus from Bangladesh through CAB, something Assamese groups such as the All Assam Students Union (AASU) that was at the forefront of the Assam agitation in the 80s will never accept. At a protest held on Saturday December 7, AASU chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya famously proclaimed, “Assam is not a dustbin for illegal immigrants.” The Congress and All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), two key opposition parties in Assam, are also opposing CAB on the grounds that it violates provisions of the Assam Accord.

The timing of CAB in Parliament couldn’t have been worse, given how December 10, the date picked by the BJP to pass the bill in the Lok Sabha is also martyrdom day of those killed in the Assam agitation. This has egged AASU to call for a bandh on the day. Bhattacharya said, “December 10 is also the ‘Swahid Divas’ in the memory of the martyrs of the Assam Agitation. We appeal to the masses to offer their respects to the martyrs early in the morning, and then observe the bandh on the day.”

The 12 hour bandh starting 5AM on December 10 is also supported by several left-leaning organisations such as SFI, DYFI, AIDWA, AISF, AISA and IPTA.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who was once at the helm of not one but two Supreme Court cases concerning the citizenship issue in Assam, is on shaky political ground now given how his constituents vehemently oppose the BJP’s desire to bring about CAB. In fact, AASU activists waved black flags at him on Saturday. On Sunday, it was the turn of members of the Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) to wave black flags at Sonowal. His appeals to the youth of the state to not join anti-CAB protests and focus instead on ‘development’ are falling on deaf ears.

The equations in the rest of the Northeast are also complicated. There are tribal communities belonging to different ethnicities who have by-and-large followed their traditional ways of life and lived within their traditional habitats, many of which have been offered protection under the Inner Line Permit scheme and the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution. Inner Line Permit areas include the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh, and large swathes of Mizoram and Nagaland. The sixth schedule protects tribal regions across Meghalaya, Tripura and also includes some parts of Assam.

While CAB has provisions to protect these tribal areas that are notified under the sixth schedule, this has led to further questions being raised about the efficacy of CAB in the North East. In fact, on Saturday, Samujjal Bhattacharya also raised this exact matter saying, “If CAB is bad for the Inner Line Permit areas, sixth scheduled covered area, then how this CAB can be good for the other parts of Assam and North East? Bad means bad, bad for all!”

In fact, in November this year, BJP’s Meghalaya general secretary Bashailang Khongwir himself wrote to BJP chief Amit Shah pleading that Meghalaya be left out of the CAB and to uphold the special provisions granted to indigenous people of the state. The BJP has two MLAs in the state and is a part of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance led by National People’s Party chief Conrad Sangma. “The proposal to implement the CAB in Meghalaya while exempting other northeastern states that have the Inner Line Permit (ILP) is not a good gesture and carries the message of dividing the tribal communities in the region,” Khongwir had argued. (Source – The Telegraph)

This is why anti-CAB protests have seen participation from groups such as North East Students Organisation (NESO), Confederation of Meghalaya Social Organisation (CoMSO), Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), North East Forum for Indigenous People (NEFIP) and the Joint Committee on Prevention of Illegal Immigrants (JCPI).

Chief criticisms of CAB

BJP’s 2014 manifesto had promised to give Hindu refugees shelter, something that was marketed to the electorate as a noble endeavour, which it appears to be on the surface. But dig a little deeper and the flaws are as glaring as the devious agenda behind it.

If CAB aims to provide shelter to Hindu refugees, the why wasn’t Sri Lanka included in the list of countries from where India would welcome refugees? It is no secret that Tamils still face persecution in Sri Lanka despite the civil war having ended a decade ago. While over 2 lakh Sri Lankan Tamil refugees were welcomed into India in the 80s and the 90s, many of them were forced to live in refugee camps and not offered citizenship even after spending close to 30 years in India!

A demand to grant citizenship to these refugees was raised previously by political heavyweights like M Karunanidhi, and even backed by Art of Living founder Ravi Shankar. The demand got a shot in the arm when it was raised in the Rajya Sabha as recently as July 2019. Therefore, not including Sri Lanka in the list of countries from where refugees facing religious persecution will be welcomes appears to be more than just oversight. Are some Hindu lives not as valuable as others?

Let us now talk about persecuted Muslim minorities. It is no secret that Ahmedi Muslims have been targeted in Pakistan. While, CAB provides for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, this glaring omission of Muslim refugees facing religious persecution reeks of the Indian regime’s anti-Muslim agenda.

Similarly, the Rohingya refugee crisis shows how Muslim from the Arakan province of Myanmar were forced to flee their homes. About 40,000 of them made their way into India but have faced nothing but hostility and the treat of deportation looming over them every day.

Then there is the problem of documentation. Many people, especially those from historically oppressed, marginalized or economically weak backgrounds do not have adequate documentary evidence of citizenship. In fact, AADHAAR was brought about to solve this very problem… giving people a basic identity document! But when animals, deities and trees ended up with Aadhaar cards, this program also came under the scanner.

Moreover, as discovered during the NRC exercise in Assam, rural married women are the worst affected as they are seldom born in hospitals or sent to school. They find it difficult to defend their citizenship and are perhaps the most vulnerable. Toothless grandmothers were considered ‘infiltrators’ and left to rot in detention camps after being declared ‘foreigners’!

Where do political parties stand?

The BJP has made its stand clear. It wants CAB as a precursor to an exercise modelled along the lines of Assam’s recently concluded National Register of Citizens (NRC). Its allies such as AIADMK, BJD, Akali Dal et all appear to be on board. But AGP could be perched precariously on the precipice of political annihilation for their support of CAB.

The Congress has announced that it will fight CAB ‘tooth and nail’. DMK, SP, BSP, RJD, NCP and AAP have also expressed strong opposition to CAB. AITC chief Mamata Banerjee remains a vocal opponent of CAB.

The Shiv Sena has not made their stand official yet and Uddhav Thackeray is expected to make an announcement of Monday.

Will Indian citizens and their elected representatives allow the CAB juggernaut to keep gaining momentum as we essentially legitimize alienation of minorities? We cannot be blind to the fact that we are hurtling down into the pits of hell, where all that will be left eventually, are mountains upon mountains of ashes… for we would have burnt down the idea of India.

282 ‘sewer deaths’ in last 4 years reported

December 7, 2019

Image Courtesy: theprint.in

In response to a question related to manual scavenging, the government said that there are no reports regarding deaths of persons due to manual scavenging but admitted there have been deaths due to cleaning of sewers and septic tanks as recorded by National Commission for Safai Karamcharis. The PUDR report titled “Chronic ‘Accidents’: Deaths of Sewer/Septic Tank Workers, Delhi, 2017-2019” as contended that official bodies have attempted to create a false distinction between the manual scavengers and sewer/septic tank cleaners so as to give priority should be given to manual scavengers. PUDR argues that such official narratives cause sanitation workers to be relegated to the background and questions as to the rights of sewer workers are left out of the debate.

As per data from the Commission, 282 sewer deaths have taken place since 2016 until November 6, 2019 in the country. Out of these, families of 156 deceased persons have received compensation under the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013. That is just bit more than half of the deceased persons families receiving such compensation.

About Manual Scavenging and sewer cleaning

On October 2, 2014, the Government of India launched the Swachh Bharat Mission with the aim to achieve universal sanitation coverage within five years as a “fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi” on his 150th Birth Anniversary in 2019. While the Government lauds the success of the Mission covering 99.2 per cent of rural India in the last four years, it glosses over how sanitation workers and manual scavengers are losing their lives maintaining sewers and septic tanks in the name of clean India.

Manual scavenging refers to the practice of manually sanitation work such as cleaning, carrying, disposing or handling human excreta from dry latrines and sewers and involves the use of basic tools such as buckets, brooms and baskets. The practice of manual scavenging is inextricably linked to India’s caste system where those born into the supposed lower castes, such as Valmiki or Hela, were made exclusively responsible to perform this job.

Sewer cleaning comes under the definition of “hazardous cleaning” which is defined as manual cleaning of sewer or septic tank by an employee without the employer fulfilling his obligations to provide protective gear and other cleaning devices and ensuring observance of safety precautions. There is however no rehabilitation provision for sewer cleaners

Rehabilitation under the Act

The Act provides for rehabilitation of persons identified as manual scavengers to give them a photo identity card, one-time cash assistance, scholarship for his children, allotment of residential plot, financial assistance for house construction, training in livelihood skill and other such social assistance. Out of 60,440 identified manual scavengers, 40,383 have received one-time cash assistance under the Act, the provision of the other rehabilitative measure is still unclear and so is the amount provided as one-time assistance.

Relevant point to note here is that the distinction made between a manual scavenger and a sewer cleaner has been deliberately made by the legislators and hence even in the parliament they have claimed that there have been no deaths due to manual scavenging.

Public Hearing on Sewer Workers – Hearing the victims and their families

Manual Scavenging still on: How Swachh is GOI’s conscience?

NRC-NPR an assault on India’s poorest citizens : Teesta Setalvad

December 7, 2019

CJP secretary Teesta Setalvad addresses a press conference with other eminent citizens in Pune. Talking to the media, she says that understanding the Assam NRC experience is essential to counter the spectre of all India NRC . She quotes figures to say that only 51 percent Indians have birth certificates – how exactly does the Indian government plan to enumerate citizens ? Ms Setalvad says that a government that is unable to give employment to its people is only trying to divide the country using the NRC-NPR-CAB. She puts down questions to the government – what is the criteria for inclusion into the NPR ? What is the cut off date going to be ? How can such an exercise take place in India without a discussion in its parliament. According to her, this is nothing but an assault on the citizenship of the poorest of Indians and is an arbitrary ‘farman’ from Delhi.

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NRC-NPR an assault on India’s poorest citizens : Teesta Setalvad

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