Mumbai:
The fact that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had to undertake a vote on just the introduction of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), 2019, in itself is testimony of how the issue has become so heavily politicized. Amidst all this the poor old persecuted minority Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists and Christians from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan look bewildered and in askance at getting pummeled in the political slugfest on the floor of the Lok Sabha.
The passage of the bill by no means is that easy as it threatens to open the wounds of the 1947 bloody Partition and the 1971 Indo-Pak war. It also seeks to invoke the infamous case of Pakistani Christian farm laborer Asia Bibi who was sentenced to death by hanging in 2010 under Pakistan’s notorious blasphemy law. Or the recent incidents of abduction, luring, forced conversions and marriages of Hindu girls in Pakistan.
It is interesting to note here that although many illegal immigrants mostly from Pakistan and Bangladesh have over the years got Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) or naturalized Indian citizenship, only two prominent Pakistani nationals have actually acquired Indian citizenship.
They are the former Pakistani legislator from Sindh provincial assembly – Ram Singh Sodho (2011) and noted Pakistani singer and musician Adnan Sami (December 2015).
The OCI application of Bollywood actress Salma Agha (1980-1990), is still awaiting final approval. On the other hand the residency of controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin who holds dual Swedish and Bangladeshi passport, proves to be a nightmare for the Indian government.
However, the Congress led opposition has turned the entire issue of granting citizenship rights to the illegal immigrants of these six faiths from these three countries into a majority versus minority issue. The debate has engulfed the issue of Rohingya’s from Myanmar, illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, Tamils in Sri Lanka and to Chin’s in the North-East.
That is why violent protests and bandhs are being seen mostly in the North-Eastern state’s like Assam, where already the issue of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is inflaming passions. The bill is being termed as a violation of right to equality under Article 14.
In this debate, it is the minorities and illegal immigrants from these countries being pitted against each other. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was forced to clarify that the amendment bill is not against Muslims from these countries if they choose to apply for Indian citizenship following the due process.
Shah sought to turn the tables on the Congress led opposition accusing it of being instrumental in bringing about the partition of the country on religious lines. To which senior Congress leader Manish Tewari contended that the foundation for the two nation theory was laid in 1935 in Ahmedabad by Veer Savarkar in a Hindu Mahasabha session and not the Congress.
Sparks flew between Shah and the Congress led opposition as the HM questioned as to why only refugees from East Pakistan (Bangladesh) were granted citizenship rights and not those from West Pakistan? He argued that even after the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru-Liaquat Ali Pact of April 8, 1950 persecution of minorities in West and East Pakistan did not stop.
Another interesting bit of history that was invoked by Shah was granting of citizenship rights to about 80,000 mostly Gujarathi immigrants who were asked to leave by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972.
