Here are several strands of thoughts, in favour and against, the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR).
Those in favour of CAA, NRC and NPR are of the opinion that CAA is a law passed by Parliament and is necessary for a country to maintain a register on security grounds; and that they are not divisive and discriminatory and will not have any negative and damaging effect on our multi-cultural democracy.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
NRC is all about, whether India should provide citizenship to the Hindus and other religious minorities who have been victims of persecution in neighboring Islamic countries and have sneaked into India. So, it is only about making a list to check, with documents, as valid proof that they are real Indians and not outsiders who have tiptoed into India; and therefore, should be immediately send back if they are not able to prove with some documents that they are genuine Indians.
Most protesters of CAA feel that NRC, is to further the Hindutva agenda, of the BJP. The Assam experiences has been bad with reports about a large number of genuine citizens having been left out of the NRC and now are in detention camps trying to prove their citizenship.
It is fear of discrimination on the basis of religion and the government’s intention to implement a NRC which has the possibility to ride arrogantly without any regard for others feelings; many fear that the Goan-migrant on a Portuguese passport in search of a job in European Union will be facing the axe of this new law. So it has led to protest all over the country.
The right to protest is a valuable right under our Constitution as long as such demonstrations are peaceful. But it is a frequent spectacle in our country that protests are marked and marred by violence resulting in damage to public and private property.
Some protests have turned violent because a few think the only language the government understands is not silence protest but violent rallies. Violence or inciting words like, ‘Goli maaro’ or abusive sloganeering to “gun down the traitors” is not tolerable. Or, chants have erupted like: “Jai Shree Ram. Hamare desh me aur kisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hindu ki chalegi (only Hindus shall have a say in our country, no one else)”; and action of firing a pistol at a group of anti-CAA protesters near the Jamia University, and another, where a man fires two rounds in the air at Shaheen Bagh, the epicentre of the protest against the country’s new citizenship law. All this is against the basic tenets of law. In a civilized society, this cannot be tolerated or allowed. Some people who do not have documents but whose ancestors have been living on the Indian soil and working on the land for ages; breathing the Indian air; and rejoicing when the rain drops of Indian monsoons falls on their head; and who stood up in attention, with patriotic feelings, not only in cinema houses, but also on the road side when they heard the sound of national anthem; because their hearts swelled with patriotic feelings as they were born on Indian soil. They are Indians with or without paper-proof.
