Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA 2019) : A hate-driven move

 

The Citizenship Amendment Act is in pursuit of the Sangh ‘s congenital hatred of Muslims. The sarsanghchalak of tje RSS,  Hedgewar  had declared way back in  1925 at its inception that its purpose was not to join the national movement against the British , but to oppose “the Yavan-snakes ( Muslims ) ,who , reared on the milk of non-cooperation , were provoking riots in the nation with their poisonous hissing.” Later , Sangh’s iconic Guru Golwarkar declared , “Hindus, do not waste your energy fighting the British Save it to fight the internal enemies that are the Muslims , the Christians and the communists.”  In his book,  We or Our Nationhood Defined,   published in 1938, he categorically declared that ‘Muslims may stay in the country but wholly subjugated to the Hindu nation ,claiming nothing ,deserving no privileges ,far less any preferential treatment , not even citizen’s right .’ The  Sangh never reconciled to the idea of an India in which Muslims enjoyed the same status and prestige as Hindus. It’s  dream of a Hindu Rashtra was also inspired by a congenital hatred for Muslims that it has been harbouring for decades.The Jan Sangh ( present BJP )  was formed in 1951 with the sole purpose of making its  dream of India as a Hindu Rashtra come true. One thing that has remained constant in the Sangh’s character and conduct has been its visceral hatred for the Muslims of India. And one goal which has remained the Sangh’s obsession and mission, has been to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra by complete subjugation  of  her Muslim citizens. 

The repeated declaration of forcing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) on the whole  country is a major step in that direction. The Citizen’s Amendment Act, too, is a corollary, now a pre-requisite to the same move. As many as 19 lakh plus have failed to find a place in the NRC in Assam. Out of the 19 lakh, more than 12 lakh are Hindus and 7 lakh plus are Muslims.They cannot deny citizenship to the 12 lakh Hindus ,who could not find a place in  the NRC .The number of Hindus failing to prove their Indian citizenship in the country  could swell to an unimaginable high figure, but they can not be made stateless. The Citizenship Amendment Act is aimed at meeting that contingency by giving citizenship to Hindus, Sikh, Buddhists, Jains, Christians Parsis  i.e. to all except the Muslims. Thus, CAA 2019 serves several of their purposes:  it grants citizenship to all  illegal immigrants except Muslims thus winning their gratitude and votes and excludes the Muslims they hate and reduces their  number, who they believe , vote  against them. They are confident that  opposition to the CAA by other parties  would win them more Hindu votes . Thus, they believe that the CAA would place them in a win win situation.

Amit Shah has been arguing that the move is not against the Muslims but is meant   to offer relief to the religious minorities suffering persecution on account of their religion in Muslim Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. This claim is  false. Even Muslims suffer in these countries on account of their religion. In  Pakistan, Ahmadiya Muslims are probably the most persecuted. They are not recognised as Muslims and are hated and savagely persecuted for claiming to be Muslims. The most glaring is the example of Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. He was awarded the Nobel for Physics in 1979. Any country would have been proud of him, but he remained a persona non grate to the Muslim society of Pakistan. His love for Pakistan is exemplary. Despite hostility and rejection by Pakistan, he retained  his citizenship of Pakistan though he lived and died in the U.K. Shia Muslims are also targeted by Sunni Muslims . Their mosques are attacked from time to time. The Baloch are also a persecuted Muslim community .They speak a language , which is a version of the language spoken in Iran.They are so persecuted that they are often  reported to look towards India for help.Even Pakistan blames India for fomenting trouble in Balochistan.

Many Muslims are persecuted in Pakistan or Bangladesh for refusing to follow some  Islamic practices which are not compatible with modern life  or express views not compatible with the Quran. They may be even sentenced to  death . Some of the laws based on the Sharia are inhuman . For instance , no one can be convicted of rape unless there are male witnesses to support the allegation (this might have been changed now). And if the allegation is not proven, the victim is liable to be  punished. Death sentence is awarded also  for blasphemy. The victims of these laws or practices, too, are persons persecuted for religious reasons. The author, Tasleema Nasreen of Bangladesh has been in  India for years. All these are cases deserving the grant of citizenship by a civilized country for being victims of the State religion or not submitting to the inhuman provisions of the religion patronised by their government .

The greatest flaw of the CAA which exposes Sangh’s venomous bias is the assumption, without any  basis that all non-Muslims (from Afghanistan ,Bangladesh and  Pakistan)  illegally living in India are victims of persecution due to their respective religion when the truth is that they may be here for bread and butter and other reasons emanating from India’s Partition .

(December 9, 2011, Day of Introduction of the Ignoble CAB)