THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS [The Reality of Pan India NRC + CAA]



Bhakti_Reloaded







Narendra Modi’s government earlier this month passed “Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019” which has now become an act. (1)

“The Bill seeks to grant Indian Citizenship to persons belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities who have migrated to India after facing persecution on grounds of religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

It intends to make it easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India’s three Muslim-majority neighbours to become citizens of India.” (2)

This seemingly innocent bill has drawn the whole world’s criticism & India is seeing its largest protests in decades. (3)

National Register of Citizens (NRC)

The National Register of Citizens is a register of all Indian citizens whose creation is mandated by The Citizenship Act 1955 as amended in 2003. It has been implemented for the state of Assam between 2013–2014. The government plans to implement it for the rest of India in 2021.

Citizenship signifies the relationship between the individual and the state.

According to the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003(Passed by the Vajpayee government). (4)

Every person born in India-

(a) on or after the 26th day of January 1950, but before the 1st day of July 1987;

(b) on or after the 1st day of July 1987, but before the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 and either of whose parents is a citizen of India at the time of his birth;

(c) on or after the commencement of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003, where-

both of his parents are citizens of India.

Let us take an example. If I’m born in 2000

#1. I need to show documents (the list of required documents that shall be revealed with the NRC) that I was born in India.

#2. I need to show documents that either of my parents were born in India,

#3. I need to show that they (#2) are my actual parents.





Now

What about

#1 The poor. How can they be forced to show documents they no longer have?

#2 Tribal people? Do they have all the documents?

#3 Children who have lost their parents at a young age? Can they show their ancestral documents?

#4 Those who lost their properties (including documents) because of natural calamities?

#5 Women who were married and sent off at a very young age?

The list goes on

And remember, it gets even worse if one is born after 2004 as they are required to show citizenship proof of both their parents!





Amit Shah, in a media interview, stated that Aadhaar, voter card and other government documents do not prove citizenship. “These do not decide citizenship,” said Shah. “And Aadhaar does not decide citizenship at all.” (5)

The government which came to the power by people having just their 'Voter ID' is demanding from its people to produce more than just a 'Voter-ID' to prove their citizenship.

The NRC seems to affect mainly the poor & minorities. Why is it being depicted as anti-Muslim?

Now combine this NRC with CAA 2019. It means all those who have failed to prove their citizenship will be considered as ‘’Illegal immigrants’’ and are granted citizenship according to CAA 2019 unless you are a muslim!

Therefore, it is my opinion that CAA + Pan India NRC is ANTI POOR & ANTI MINORITIES and that it specifically targets the Muslim community.

Here are the important facts:

The NRC is only to make a registry of citizens. It cannot make the criteria for citizenship. It can only ask for a different set of documents but the criteria remain the same.

To change the criteria for citizenship, one has to alter the Citizenship act, but Amit Shah has mentioned again and again that NRC is coming next and there’s no proposal for another amendment.





“An attempt to address the list of "simplified" explanation that is floating around in an attempt to justify the Citizenship Amendment Fact”

(Source : https://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/ebdeup/an_attempt_to_address_the_list_of_simplified/)

Here’s a thorough fact check if the Government’s claims:

#1. Does the CAB Bill affect Indians (Hindus, Muslims, anyone)?

Govt: No. It has nothing to do with Indians in any way.

Truth: That's blatantly false. The CAB automatically gives citizenship to non-Muslims even if they are illegals. The BJP will then impose a nationwide-NRC. Indian Muslims will now require extraordinary proof to prove their Indian citizenship.NRC will follow after CAB. Amit Shah said this himself: https://twitter.com/DilliDurAst/status/1205047059654402048

#2. Does this mean that Muslims from these 3 countries can never get Indian citizenship?

Govt: No. But they will go through’ the usual process of acquiring citizenship through naturalization rule...11 years of residence etc.

Truth: India is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 Protocol, nor does it have a legal framework and national refugee status determination system. To get naturalised the person need to stay in India for 11 years. How will they be allowed to stay in 11 year? They must be here in a work visa or some other thing officially. There is no refugee rehabilitation program here. So how will all these refugees be granted access here in the first place?So there is no way for a Muslim refugee from those 3 countries to come to India. They can never get Indian citizenship.





#3. Why only these 3 countries? And why only religious persecution of above-Notified denominations?

Govt: These 3 countries have a track record of pervasive, systematic & institutionalized persecution of minority Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis & Christians especially the perennial persecution in Pakistan.

Truth: Among our neighbouring countries, Sri Lanka has a track record of persecuting Tamils, Burma of persecuting Muslims, and China of persecuting Tibetans and Muslims. So no, those three countries are not special.





#4. What about Sri Lankan Tamils?

Govt: (1) The war has been over for a decade now. (2) There never was any persecution on religious lines. It was on racial lines. And over decades of civil war, the Sri Lankans have put an end to institutionalized discrimination of Tamils.

Truth: That's not the point. The point is that we already have Sri Lankan refugees and they have been specifically excluded from this act.





#5. Doesn’t India have an obligation under the UN to take care of refugees?

Govt: Yes, it does. And it is not shying away from it. But it has no obligation to offer citizenship. Each country has its own rules for naturalization. India is not going to turn away other refugees under this law. It will play host to them under UN rules, in the implicit expectation that someday they will return to their homelands when the conditions improve.

Truth: All completely false. As answered above, India is not a party to UN convention on refugees so India is not playing by UN rules. We are legally not required to (before CAB) host any refugees.

#6. Why shouldn’t Baluchis, Ahmediyas in Pakistan, Rohingyas in Myanmar not be considered for this kindness?

Govt: They will be considered under the existing laws. Not under the special category

Truth: Again false, there are no existing laws under which they can claim asylum in India. We are deporting them.





But in the case of Minorities from these 3 countries, this law acknowledges the reality that the environment of persecution in these 3 countries is never going to improve

Apart from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh are countries with which India enjoys good diplomatic relations. A better (and more diplomatic) approach would have been to work with them and improve a lot of minorities in those countries. Bangladesh is already unhappy at us because we clubbed them with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

P.S.

It seems clear that the Government is ‘legally’ trying to do discriminate against a particular community which is against the very fabric of our constitution.

The NRC and the CAA are both complimentary acts and one can’t look at CAA without looking at the upcoming NRC. If they can pass a bill which discriminates based on religion, then God knows what they’ll do next.

One cannot ignore the 1935 German history where

- Hitler issued the Reich Citizenship Law, which excluded Jews, Hitler assured Jews not to worry about the law.

Now,

-Modi issued the Citizenship Act, which excludes Muslims, Interestingly, Modi also assured Muslims to not worry about this act.

Education is not memorising that Hitler killed 6 million Jews, Education is understanding how millions of Germans were convinced that it was required. Education is learning how to spot signs of history repeating itself.

It was shocking to see the Prime Minister Narendra Modi blatantly lie in Delhi. (6)

So, why should citizens of India trust a Prime Minister and his party when they lie on our faces?





The NRC, if implemented 'nationwide' is going to leave millions homeless and label them as "illegal immigrants", the majority of whom will be the poor people of the society. Our protest isn't just against this NRC! Once these so-called "illegal immigrants" are identified, they'll be passed through a 'Muslim-Filter' called 'CAA 2019' which going to exclude only the Muslims who are residing in this country, 'maybe' since decades. So the government which came to the power by people having just their 'Voter ID' is demanding from its people to produce more than just a 'Voter-ID' to prove their citizenship. We are protesting because, if left unchecked NRC+CAA is going to destroy the fundamentals of our Constitution. German history shows how Hitler who was elected democratically changed the constitution became the dictator and committed one the largest genocide in a matter of a few years. If the current government jumps pass this checkpoint, then there’s no stopping them from tearing the whole constitution apart and we'll be in Dictatorship in no time. The onus is upon us to protect the Great Constitution of India which was bestowed upon us by our great forefathers!

References

1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/citizenship-amendment-bill-gets-presidents-assent-becomes-act/articleshow/72498580.cms

2. http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2019/214646.pdf

3. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/india-largest-protests-in-decades-signal-modi-may-have-gone-too-far

4. https://indiankanoon.org/doc/949775/

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNd792HSl_A&t=6s

(6). https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/nrc-caa-narendra-modi-fact-check_in_5e0050aee4b0843d35fe1e65



