The Aftermath of CAA

The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which metamorphosed into the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), was a watershed in independent India’s legislative history. It also had a cascading effect on political discourse and social harmony in the country. Apart from becoming a momentous piece of legislation, the CAA set off a national dialogue involving the elite and the common man alike. Unfortunately, it also triggered off violent protests against the Act. While the legislative procedure went through rather smoothly, the resulting protests revealed the dark underbelly of our society.

Strident Opposition 

The frustrated conglomeration of anti-BJP political parties, which had miserably failed to stop the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) juggernaut in the Parliamentary elections of 2019 seized the opportunity to turn the smooth legislation into a contentious issue. It fomented trouble by depicting the Act, which had the territorial integrity and the people’s unity at its core, as a deliberate attempt by the BJP-led federal government to sabotage the secular ethos of the nation and polarise the people on communal lines. Pseudo intellectuals, disgruntled artistes, paid segments of MSM, popularly dubbed as Presstitutes, and the religious bigots quickly came to the fore.

They merrily got onto the bandwagon of the frustrated Opposition parties and started making misleading pronouncements, inflammatory speeches and fiery statements with the aim of projecting the CAA as a purported act of targeting a minority community. The proverbial Pied Piper of Hamelin succeeded in hoodwinking the gullible and the naive into following him in catching the non-existent rat of a threat to Secularism. The  common man got caught in a tizzy and started mouthing inane words of saving the people from getting polarised by the very government which had meant to segregate the grain from the chaff.

Some ignorant and misguided youths were verily baffled by the irrelevant and irrational arguments propagated against the Act and got shanghaied into believing that he was part of a movement purportedly launched to preserve the unity between the majority community and the perceived endangered minority community. In the insidious process, the intruders from across the border including the Rohingya Muslims and non-refugee infiltrators from Bangladesh, trouble-makers and anti-nationals who had illegally sneaked into the country for  destroying a united India, were projected as bosom friends.

Unholy Alliance against Govt

Resultantly, there ensued a war of words for and against the Act in the social and mainstream media (MSM). The trigger-happy sections of the student community stepped out of the university campuses, which caused the spilling of trouble onto the road. The tukde tukde gangs and urban Naxals were among the forefront, using the unwary students as a human shield against the Police. Trains and other properties of Indian Railways were gutted and railway lines damaged in some States. Buses, auto-rickshaws and other forms of public properties were also damaged and vandalised. Rallies of slogan-shouting protestors, having no knowledge of the provisions of the CAA, started sprouting, much to the annoyance and discomfort of the commuters.

Police and other law enforcing agencies stepped in and initiated action against the rioters and other anti-nationals. The student community, human rights activists and political instigators who had all jumped into the fray to cause trouble and disturb the peace and quiet were among the first to cry foul at the police action. They not only distanced themselves from their moral and legal responsibilities but also began endangering the lives of the participants in the protest marches as well as the law enforcing personnel. They decried the perceived intolerance, injustice and ‘murder of democracy’.

The very same people, who had earlier exercised their democratic right to elect the lawmakers that passed the Bill in the temple of democracy after going through the due process, got deeply divided into two categories: those who respected the law and supported CAA; and those who saw communal ghosts where there was none and cried blue murder. Needless to say, there were many fence-sitters who needed not much persuasion to take sides. The inglorious upshot of the entire exercise of the protest marches and the accompanying violence was that not many participants in the exercise were conversant with the provisions of the new law or what it intended to accomplish.

Flawed Argument

The sporadic incidents of protests held across India over the CAA were based on the flawed argument that it intrinsically endangered the nation’s basic tenet of Secularism. The Central government was aghast at the loss of human lives on both sides of the law and wanton destruction of public property running into several crores. It was appalling to see that despite ignorance about the Act among the marching and stone-pelting protestors, they levelled baseless allegations against the Union government.

The government asserted time and again that the aim of the Act was only to give Indian citizenship to refugees of the minority religious groups in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan and not to deport anybody from India; and that bonafide citizens need not fear deportation regardless of the community to which they belonged. However, the organisers of the protest marches had their own axe to grind. They rubbished all genuine claims of the Central government in support of the Act.

Pakistan’s Mischief

The unscrupulous organisers of the protest marches were further emboldened by the overtures received from across the border. Pakistan, which is ever ready to malign India’s image in the international fora, gleefully orchestrated a vilification campaign against India. It accused India of isolating Indian Muslims with the idea of stripping their lawful nationality and deporting them. Nevertheless, it could not cause even a scratch in the refurbished image of India, a successful accomplishment of the Narendra Modi government’s foreign policy. Yet another claim of Pakistan of being a staunch supporter and custodian of the interests of the Indian Muslim community fell flat in the eyes of the international community.

Government’s Resolve

Within the country, the shriller the discordant voices of dissent became, the clearer and more obvious it became to the discerning public and the sane political observers that there was no going back on the issue. Both the Union government, as well as the BJP, have categorically stated that they are determined to go ahead and see the enforcement of the Act  to its logical conclusion. They have repeated time and again that the CAA was a long-pending national priority and had nothing to do with the National Citizenship Register (NCR).

As of now, the NCR is an issue only concerning the State of Assam, and that too at the directive of the Supreme Court. Likewise, the National Population Register (NPR) had no bearing on the NCR or the CAA. There is, therefore, no point in arriving at false conjectures by interlinking the CAA, NPR and NCR. The government and the BJP have repeatedly been assuring the Muslim community that there was absolutely no threat to it. All said and done, nothing more is to be read on the issue than the fact that CAA is a clear manifestation of the NDA government’s resolve to fulfil its electoral promises.

87 thoughts on “The Aftermath of CAA

  1. Disha Arora

    Citizenship amendment act is clearly a way to give citizenship and equal rights to persecuted Hindu and other minorities in three Muslim majority countries. How can such an Act be divisive and unconstitutional?

    Reply
  2. Rishabh Jain

    When there is no issue, create one. When you create one, stress on it with such an impact that it starts appearing as a legitimate issue. This is what Congress and other opposition parties have been doing on CAB.

    Reply
  3. Hariom Singh

    Politicians are far better knowledgeable than common Indians with respect to how non-Muslims are mistreated in neighbouring countries. Still they want to thwart BJP attempt to help these people.

    Reply
  4. JAYA SHANKAR

    I fully agree with the author. The anti Modi forces, when they could not achieve anything concrete in spite of their best efforts, are only too happy to misguide the people of India into believing that CAA is aimed at ousting the Muslims from India. Articles like this must be widely circulated. Anti India forces within the country are not able to digest that in the last five years there have been no scams and India is gradually finding its place in the world. It is indeed sad that Indians are not able to appreciate people like Modi who is out to prove that India indeed is a great country and can do wonders if guided properly. We have got used to useless and corrupt leaders and it is high time that we come out of this.

    Reply
  5. Anjali Negi

    Class legislation is different than what has happened in CAA. While the Parliament cannot make class legislation they can surely make provisions for a separate group in order to make them socially capable.

    Reply
  6. Jagpal singh

    Even the opposition is divided on the issue. Some parties voted in favour in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha but as protests took place they have started to criticise the Act as unconstitutional.

    Reply
  7. Mayuri Kunigiri

    Using police force against protestors is not right in a democracy. BJP-ruled states are adamant on stopping protestors by using indiscriminate force and projecting them as anti-nationals. This is sad.

    Reply
  8. Praful tyagi

    Mahatma Gandhi compromised with B R Ambedkar on the issue of separate electorate for scheduled castes. Was that not against the principle of equality? Were special rights not given to SCs and STs?

    Reply
  9. bhavin mali

    There are surely foreign forces that are trying hard to incite public anger on this issue. The urban elite and leftists have been helping these forces by further inciting youth.

    Reply
  10. Sameer gauba

    Government has been reassuring people that the act is not to take away anyone’s citizenship but the way media and opposition are projecting it is disturbing public peace and social harmony.

    Reply
  11. Kapil Mehta

    The public sympathy and support is all with the Modi-led government that wants persecuted minorities to exercise their rights by becoming Indian citizen. This is why Deepika Padukone’s JNU visit was condemned.

    Reply
  12. RAVI Jani

    So good to find somebody with some unique thoughts on this subject matter. Really.. thanks for starting this up.

    Reply
  13. Nisarg Gandhi

    Hi, I do believe this is an excellent web site. I stumbledupon it. Money and freedom is the best way to change, may you be rich and continue to help others.

    Reply
  14. Karan Pratap

    Really.. thanks for starting this up. This web site is one thing that is required on the web, someone with a bit of originality.

    Reply
  15. Harikishem Yadav

    I started to read your article and it caught me to the extent that I could not put it down. Amazing piece.

    Reply
  16. Raghu Aiyar

    Hello, I am so happy I found your weblog. I am really appreciating the commitment you put into your site and in depth information you offer. This has been so particularly generous with people like you to supply openly all that most of us would have offered for sale for an e book in order to make some dough on their own, even more so seeing that you could possibly have tried it if you ever decided.

    Reply
  17. Balaji chamoli

    After checking out a number of the blog articles on your site, I honestly like your technique of blogging.

    Reply
  18. Abhishek Tandon

    Having read this I thought it was extremely enlightening. I appreciate you finding the time and energy to put this short article together. I once again find myself spending a significant amount of time both reading and leaving comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!|

    Reply
  19. Alphonse Elric

    It is always exciting to read through articles from other authors and use a little something from other sites.

    Reply
  20. Naved Farooqui

    You seem to be blessed with a perfect blend of good vocabulary and good writing. Thoroughly admired your work.

    Reply
  21. Prithu pathik

    I have learn several just right stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much effort you set to create such a fantastic informative web site.

    Reply
  22. Varun Dewan

    The website is bright, clean, quick, easily navigable and all the links seem to work well. Moreover, the contents here in blog shape is really wonderful.

    Reply
  23. Rajesh dalwadi

    I really like what you have acquired here, really like what You are saying and the way in which you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it smart.

    Reply
  24. Arjun cristiano

    Good day. I am certainly happy I discovered it and I will be book-marking it and checking back frequently.

    Reply
  25. Inzemamul Haque

    These are in fact enormous ideas in concerning blogging. You have touched some nice things here. Any way keep up writing.

    Reply
  26. Keshaw srivastava

    I am genuinely glad to glance at this webpage posts which consists of tons of useful facts, thanks for providing such statistics.

    Reply
  27. Gaurav Fulara

    It is hard to find experienced people for this subject, but you seem like you know what you are talking about.

    Reply
  28. Arpit Toshniwal

    I do agree with all the ideas you have offered on your post. They are very convincing and can definitely work. Thank you for the post.

    Reply
  29. Royston Crasto

    it is an amazing piece of writing designed for all the online visitors. they will get benefit from it I am sure.

    Reply
  30. Roop sharma

    I visit daily a few web sites and sites to read articles or reviews, however this blog provides feature based articles.

    Reply
  31. Kamal Tej

    Hi there, yeah this post is genuinely nice and I have learned lot of things from it on the topic of blogging. thanks.

    Reply
  32. Amit singh

    You definitely realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people should read this and understand this side of your story.

    Reply
  33. Ajay Dewangan

    Very great post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I have really loved browsing your weblog posts. In any case I will be subscribing on your rss feed and I hope you write once more very soon.

    Reply
  34. Presha gandhi

    Hi there to all, how is the whole thing, I think every one is getting more from this web site, and your views are pleasant designed for new users.

    Reply
  35. Kashish Gala

    Thank you for some other magnificent post. Where else could anybody get that kind of information in such a perfect manner of writing. I have a presentation subsequent week, and I am on the look for such information.

    Reply
  36. Dhaval emran

    Simply wish to say your article is as amazing. The clearness in your post is simply excellent and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please keep up the rewarding work.

    Reply
  37. Presiyan Kostov

    I wish to state my complements to the hard work you have done to incorporate so much of detail about every information.

    Reply
  38. Ajay Meyne

    Congratulations Dr Gupta in the setting up of your attractive, informative and very professional website. Well done.

    Reply
  39. Soumya Bardhan

    Way cool. Some extremely valid points. I appreciate you writing this post plus the rest of the website is really good.

    Reply
  40. Christopher fernandis

    I am not certain the place you are getting your information, however good topic. I must spend some time finding out much more or working out more. Thanks for great info I was searching for this info for my mission.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *