Daily Times

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed by the Indian parliament is a discriminatory law that allows citizenship to persons of all other religions, except the Muslims, likeHindu, Sikh, Parsi, Buddhist and Christians, who had migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, 12 or more years before, to seek shelter in India due to the so called persecution on the ground of religion. The cutoff date for citizenship is December 31, 2014 which means the applicant should have entered India on or before that date.To oppose the law, since mid December 2019awide range protests have broken out across India. The protests have been widely covered by the Indian and the international media.

As per India Today dated 16 January 2020, in England, Germany, Switzerland: Anti-CAA protests by the Indian expatriates against the controversial CAA have shaken the world. According to the NBC news dated 19 January 2020, almost all the South Asian Americans are protesting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s CAA, which attempts to establish a legal path to citizenship for Hindu, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist immigrants, but exclude Muslims and certain other groups. The South Asian Americans say,”The patterns of Islamophobic rhetoric, unlawful detention, surveillance and police brutality in India are chillingly similar to the treatment of black and brown people we’ve seen in the U.S”.

According to the CNN dated 17 January 2020, since mid December 2019, after passage of the CAA on 12 December 2019, protesters across India have taken to the streets to oppose CAA. The protestors say that the law discriminates against Muslims. Demonstrations have continued, despite official bans on public gatherings and the risk of violence, which has already cost the lives of more than 20 protesters.The CAA is only the latest move in a series of steps Modi has taken as part of his agenda to promote Hindu nationalism in secular India, by marginalizing its 200 million Muslim minority populations.The Indian opposition politicians have described the CAA as divisive, discriminatory and against the country’s secular constitution.The Congress president Sonia Gandhi described the CAA as a “discriminatory and divisive” law whose “sinister” purpose was to divide people on religious lines.

By passing the CAA owing to its strength in Parliament, the BJP has chosen a path to make India a pure breed Hindu country. The CAA is an injustice not only against the Muslim community, but also Dalit, Tribal (Adivasi), Vanvasi, Tamil, Gorkha and atheist communities

Apart from destabilizing the internal situation in India, CAA has given birth to multiple regional problems and crisis for the neighbouring countries, especially Bangladesh (BD). According to the Afro-Asian Forum,Sheikh Hasina, in an interview with Gulf News referring to India’s new citizenship law said, “We don’t understand why the Indian government did it. It was not necessary.”In fact political leadershipin Bangladesh is concerned that India may now “push” Muslim immigrants deemed illegal under CAA across the border in Bangladesh. Bangladesh has sought a written assurance from the Narendra Modi government that it would not send immigrants across the border after the enactment of the CAA, but India has so far not given any such written assurance.

According to the Asia Times, at a time when anti-India sentiments are profound among Bangladeshis, there are genuine concerns and apprehensions in BD that the CAA might unleash an exodus of Bengali-speaking people from Assam and Muslims attempting to escape persecution in India. After having taken in nearly a million Rohingya refugees fleeing persecution in Myanmar, Bangladesh cannot take in any more. It is quite possible that astrong reaction from Islamist parties in Bangladesh would cause friction in the pro India Awami League’s relationship with the Hindu right-wing BJP.

Fearing that Muslim refugees living in India might return to Bangladesh, the Bangladesh government on 31st Dec 2019 suspended the internet and mobile services till further orders in areas along the border for the sake of the country’s security.There are fears that Cox Bazar largest refugee camp more than 900,000 Rohingyas immigration of Bangalis from India will aggravate the situation.

The Modi led BJP government in India is so determined to advance its Hindutva agenda thatit has not paid any kind of attention to the concern of its own people as well as the international community.The US, Russia, the UK, EU and OIC have communicated their point of view to the Indian government. The BJP government up till now, taking full leverage of its huge market and trade relations, has ignored all types of concerns of the international community.

By passing the CAA owing to its strength in Parliament, theBJP has chosen a path to make India a pure breed Hindu country. The CAA is an injustice not only against the Muslim community, but also Dalit, Tribal (Adivasi), Vanvasi, Tamil, Gorkha and atheist communities. The staunch attitude of the BJP government in India, despite serious indicators and warnings of the opponents of the CAA in India, clearly indicate BJP’s neo-Nazi mindset driven by the RSS ideology. Hence, India’s Muslims, low caste Hindus and its Muslim neighbours, including the BD have to remain vigilant against the BJP’s agenda.

The writer is a former Research Fellow of Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI), Islamabad and Senior Research Fellow of Strategic Vision Institute, Islamabad