By Fuzail Ahmed
It may be cliché to term NRC and CAA as unconstitutional as both controversial bills are indubitably promulgated targeting Muslims, who have been living in the country for donkey’s years. Since the controversial CAA came into subsistence, there have been bazillions of demonstrations and stringent protests opposing the proposed bill. As a matter of fact, one is completely left flabbergasted and bemused to ruminate over why Muslims facing persecution are excluded from the bill? And what spurred Home Minister to enforce this venomous act that might spell a drastic impact? It is believed that every Hindu denizen facing persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan would be receiving citizenship. To be honest, the promulgation of CAA bears a plethora of disadvantages not only for Muslims as it is disseminated, but also for other communities rather Hindu. Ostensibly, it will take astronomical amount of money for the completion of legal formalities that are needed to publish the forms and other requirements. If it is implemented, then the expense will touch the sky and add insult to the tribulation of recession.
CONNECTION BETWEEN NRC AND CAA
The stubborn government still continues to expostulate that there is no bond between the proposed NRC and CAA. But our Home Minister Amit Shah has on multiple times reiterated that CAA is a first step to NRC. Initially, CAA was enforced as CAB, but later metamorphosed into CAA with the approval of honourable president Ram Nath Kovind. CAA factually aims at giving Indian citizenship to all the illegal immigrants except Muslims living in the Muslim countries and when it is successfully given a termination. Here are a few of the requirements prescribed by the government to be contemplated for the people who come forth to vindicate their nationalities: Birth Certificate, Government School Documents, Documents of Job, Bank Account, Marriage Certificate and documents proving the ownership of any lands under a person in any parts of the country.
WHAT IS NRC?
Unquestionably, NRC is the abbreviation of ‘National Register of Citizenship’ which implies to have a detailed account of every denizen living in the country as is should be. But, as a matter of gargantuan grief, the ruling party has altered all the formalities and asked the details of things that might assure numerous Muslim families staring at a very bleak future. Their belongings will transfer to others. Their right to vote would also be snaffled. They will be traumatized in detention centres and to mention a few, they will have to live under the supervision of others. CAA and NRC have affirmatively been aired in both of the houses. It is elaborated that those who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before 2014, they would be honoured with Indian citizenship. They would be treated like native Indians. Obviously, it is now crystal clear that Christians, Sikhs, Hindus and others would be allowed to come to India and live there peacefully. At this juncture, a very baffling as well as perplexing question arises: if NRC’s significant motive is to provide citizenship to the minorities facing persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, then why the minorities like ‘Ahmadiyas’ in Pakistan are not being given the same treatment and why the minorities in any of these aforementioned countries are not satiated the consideration? Is not this discrimination? If presumed that it is unconstitutional and not a discriminatory one, then where they will have to be settled and does India hold enough resources to accommodate gazillions of illegal or migrated denizens?
WEAK TESTIMONIES SUPPORTING NRC
Ever since the controversial bill came into figure, it has created rifts and disturbances among the people, and everything has turned nasty. It is speculated that major objective to enforce it is to honour harried minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. But to be ingenuous, a question leaves me mystified and flummoxed that are the minorities of only three aforesaid countries hounded? Are not Tamil people persecuted in Sri Lanka? And all the minorities who are settled in Myanmar are tortured? Moreover, Nepal and Bhutan are also frighteningly populated by the minorities then why are they given a cold shoulder and excluded from the list. Another pertinent question that has become a hot potato of every leading newspaper and channel is that where all the immigrants honoured with citizenship would be accommodated? However, those who still continue to argue that NRC the need of the hour, they just need to have a dart on a bunch of pertinent points being delineated in an essay by Shayam Singh. Here a few of the relevant points being scattered below:
As far as NSSO reports are concerned, there are 170 lakh people who do not have a roof to live under it. Some of them sleep under a flyover and a few of the others doss down on the roads or under the bridges. As a matter of extreme grief, they are too poor to buy a house. Then, will they show authorities the documents digressing about under which flyovers or bridges they are settled.
Our country is also populated by 15 crore of nomadic people who do not have a permanent settlement. They roam here and there and sleep at any place they desire. Then what kind of documents they would present or submit to prove that they are legal citizens?
It is very astonishing that even the 2011 census failed to have a precise idea about the total number of ‘Adivasi People’. It is believed that our country is greatly populated by 8 and 5 lakh adivasis. The government itself meets with a fiasco when it tries to accumulate accurate snippets regarding the population of adivasis, then how will they ever be able to present the proposed documents.
Lastly, this point assumes magnitude that simply digresses about India’s literacy rate during freedom struggles and after independence. According to literacy rate of 1970, the country’s literacy rate was merely 34%. This easily indicates that 66% of our denizens were unlettered and our trailblazers were illiterate. They didn’t have any evidence proving their educational qualifications. Remarkably, in today’s current scenario, there are almost 31 crore of Indians who are quite far from education. They have not yet visited any schools then from where they fetch certificates proving their educational perambulation in India?
Mr. Shayam Singh patently writes accentuating that we should have a dart on the disadvantaged groups of our society and ponder over their forerunners’ documents. If they fail to submit all the required documents, then how they will prove that they are genuine Indian. They do not possess enough wealth to take the claim to the courts. Singh emphasizes that NRC is an ignominious bill that will leave a drastic impact on the country and its denizens as well. Factually, NRC is not less than toxic poison for those who have not sufficient documents.
REFERENCES
‘Key provisions of CAA may violate certain Articles of Indian Constitution’
‘Key provisions of CAA may violate certain Articles of Indian Constitution’
Why is India’s Citizenship Amendment Act so controversial?
CAA: India’s new citizenship law explained
CAA–NRC–NPR and Its Discontents
The CAA, Muslim exclusion and the lens of the right