CAB, 2019

The story begins on 26^th March, 1971 when West Pakistan began its military crackdown on East Pakistan’s struggle for independence. You know some of what happened next – India, under Indira Gandhi intervened to support the Bangladeshi cause, which sparked the India-Pakistan war of 1971, which India won in spectacular fashion. The Pakistani Army surrendered and Bangladesh became an independent country – a massive political victory for India, a greater personal victory for the Prime Minister.

But our story happens in the sidelines, away from the public eye which is always distracted by the limelight. West Pakistan’s military attack on erstwhile East Pakistan created panic, many were displaced from their homes. Refugees flowed into India and the eastern states of West Bengal and Assam had to accommodate them. At the time it was obviously unbecoming of the Government of India, the liberator of East Pakistan, to turn the helpless refugees away. We did accommodate them... at the time...

Refugees are always a tricky subject. When swathes of foreigners flood any neighbourhood, it creates certain concerns and apprehensions. For starters, where do they live, how long will they stay, who provides for them... and refugees obviously overstay their welcome, where else will they go? Can you trust these people, who speak a different language, eat different and even behave differently? Any instance of crime is readily blamed on the flux of these foreigners and if the neighbourhood is not doing too well for itself, they are an unwanted economic strain no taxpayer is willing to bear, not to mention an invasion of the local culture.

Towards the end of the decade Assam wanted these refugees out of the country. “Which refugees?” the Government responded. Ten years is quite a long time and by then, with people settling into their new homes and finding jobs to keep things moving, the differences between local and foreign had blurred out. This led to a series of protests and in 1985 the Government of India signed the Assam accord, promising that the illegal immigrants who had entered the country after 25^th March, 1971 would be identified and deported.

Enter NRC – National Register of Citizens, a document which attempts to identify the refugees... sorry, I mean illegal immigrants and deport them. Last year the Supreme Court gave our Government an ultimatum and this year finally the process was completed. Nearly 19 Lakh people were unable to prove that they had entered the country on or before 25^th March, 1971 and hence will not be treated as citizens. It is hard to imagine what these 19 Lakh will do now, how will they leave the place they thought was home for the past 48 years? That is a humanitarian question and begs much wider discussion. We will come back to that.

Ofcourse, how the NRC identified a person as citizen or not is an entirely different question. There were reports of a soldier who had served our country during the Kargil war being left out of the list. Further, how the destitute people of our own country will prove their citizenship is another question; in our country where even the Prime Minister struggled to show his degree certificate. These thoughts will deeply trouble any person who has been following the news. But over the last week, our Government has given the most perverted twist to the story by introducing the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and getting it passed by both the houses of our Parliament.

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (or CAB) provides that persons belonging to Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian or Zoroastrian community, non-Muslims basically, who entered India before 2014 from Pakistan, Afghanistan or Bangladesh fearing religious persecution will be given citizenship in India.

Let me first pay respect to the apparent merit of this legislature. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are Muslim countries and are known to have persecuted the religious minorities in their respective countries, so our nation’s intention to welcome them seems... But let’s look at it a little deeper.

First of all, why have we opened our arms only to these religions and not all religions? There are certain sects among the Muslims, such as the Ahmediyas in Pakistan and Shias in Afghanistan who have faced religious persecution. Secondly, why are we sympathetic only to these three countries? What about the Rohingyan Muslims who were attacked by the majority Buddhists in Myanmar, or the Srilankan Tamils who faced the rife of civil war in their motherland for generations? And till now, I have only spoken about the refugee crisis in our neighbourhood. As a global power, that we claim to be, our country must not turn a blind eye to the civil war in Syria and the strife in Sudan either. Shouldn’t India, as a citizen of the world, take an active part in saving the innocent from genocide, wherever it happens, to whomsoever it happens?

And most importantly, why just religious persecution? What about the people who fled their country following a natural disaster. The Sunderban forests are frequented by floods and cyclones displacing the local community, Hindus and Muslims alike, in both sides of the Bengali border. What about the economically depressed who flee their country from an unbearable load of debt? India could take a leaf from UK in learning to accommodate such people. Oh wait, only the absconding billionaires are welcome?

All these questions only point towards the absurdity of this act. The larger issue of constitutionality and much larger issue of humanity need no discussion. The CAB is an irrational, inhuman, abhorrent piece of cattle faeces, an abundance of which right now threatens to strike at the founding principles of our country.

To understand the real implications of the CAB it must be read along with the NRC. We noted that 19 Lakh people were left out of the NRC. Now, the Government wishes to legitimise a section of those “illegal immigrants” through the CAB. Now, the non-Muslims can stay back as citizens of India, only the Muslims have to leave.

The CAB is a statement of intent. Our eastern borders are quite porous and anyone who is able to grease the RIGHT hands can find his way inside our country. Or inside any country! So what purpose does the CAB serve? A) It gets rid of the genuinely helpless and destitute while silently accommodating the corrupt and fraud. B) Read with the Home Minister’s statement that NRC will be implemented throughout the country, the intent is clear as day!

Now what happens to these “illegal immigrants” where will they go? Will Bangladesh accept them as their citizens? Does our nation have resources to deport so many people? No, they won’t be deported. They will continue to stay in our country, as citizens without citizenship. They will work at our construction sites and our fields, without Adhaar, without ration, without a BPL card, without voting rights, without education, healthcare or even a death certificate when the time comes. The vision of certain pre-independence ideologues is much closer to reality now.

India is hailed as the most tolerant country in history. We have given home to every person who has come in search for one. We are the only country in the world with a thriving Parsee community. We are the only country in world has not been hostile to the Jewish community. Budhism, Jainism and Sikhism were born out of the womb of our Motherland; Christianity and Islam have also found home here. Our country has the third largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia and Pakistan. It was this tolerant spirit that the makers of our constitution sought to protect in framing India. It is that spirit of tolerance and equality that, to this day, differentiates India and Pakistan. It wasn’t religion that split us, it was tolerance. While Pakistan is home for Muslims, India is home to everyone! Today, our soul is threatened by this Bill.

So what do we do about this? Today morning I tried to explain this subject to one of my students. After I spoke, he asked me in a raging voice, “So what do we do about this?” Well, that’s a good start. At least ask the question! So what do we do about this?

Love