CAA is a fraud on the persecuted Hindus, Jains and Buddhists and Sikhs.

Citizenship (Amendment) Act : RSS-BJP is indulging in Goebbelsian propaganda fooling Hindus.

M. Nageswara Rao

Before the Citizenship (Amendment) Act enacted in 2020, I had written to the Ministry of Home Affairs and also published an article in Times of India & Outlook in 2019 highlighting that the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) fell short of not only the promise made by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in their Election Manifesto-2014 but also in providing succour to the millions of hapless persecuted Hindus (which includes Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs as per Article 25 of Constitution) in other countries. I share here under what I published and wrote to MHA in 2019. 

“India, that is Bharat…” When framers of our Constitution used those words in that sequence in its very first article, they were conscious of certain facts: One, India is just a new name of our country Bharat that is homeland of our millennia-old civilisation which is primarily informed by Hinduism a.k.a. Hindutva a.k.a. Sanatana Dharma; Two, the Indian State is the inheritor and trustee of our ancient civilisation; Three, the preambular exhortation of ‘unity and integrity of the Nation” has civilisational connotation as deep civilisational ties bound us spatially and inter-generationally spanning across yugas. Thus they were cognizant of India as a Civilisational Nation whose unity and integrity was primarily informed by Sanatana Dharma aeons before they assembled to frame the Constitution. Therefore, the moral obligation of the Constitution was largely to nurture our ancient civilisation and its values with a view to reintegrate our Nation and its people, for, bereft of those there will be no India in India as mere geographical lumps alone do not make a nation.

Even though Hindus are more than a billion population there is no Hindu State in the world. India being the only country with Hindu majority (except smaller Nepal) and the only homeland for Hindus it goes without saying that it has civilizational responsibility towards Hindus. It’s an unfortunate reality that Hindus suffer religious persecution in several countries. They naturally look up to India for succor and refuge as they (except Buddhists) have nowhere else to go. But those who escaped to India have long been suffering for want of Indian citizenship – an essential for a dignified living.

As per Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement, Parliament enacted Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 to protect material goods. If there could be so much anxiety for ephemeral material objects, should we not show an equal if not greater concern to protect the persecuted Hindus who are carriers of religious traditions that originated in India and informed our ancient civilisation for millennia? As the morality enshrined in the Constitution is hinged upon our civilisational mores, ensuring the wellbeing of Hindus, wherever they may be, becomes India’s civilisational responsibility, nay constitutional morality.

BJP in its 2014 Election Manifesto promised, “India shall remain a natural home for persecuted Hindus and they shall be welcome to seek refuge here.” Accordingly, Citizenship Amendment Bill, (CAB) was introduced in Parliament in 2016 which lapsed with expiry tenure of parliament in May 2019.

In this context it is necessary to understand the shortcomings of CAB to overcome them so that the new law would not get mired in litigation and the long-suffering persecuted Hindus would get citizenship expeditiously.

First, CAB dealt with religious persecution in only three countries i.e. Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It cannot be said that persecution of adherents of Hindus is or will be limited to these countries only. For instance, Hindu American Foundation reports, “Hindu American students continue to be bullied and feel socially ostracized for their religious beliefs….” Hence, the law should factor in current as well as future eventualities by including all countries.

Second, the CAB restricts citizenship only to those who are already in India on or before 31-12-2014, which makes no sense at all. Because, it cannot be said that religious persecution of Hindus in other countries has stopped since 1st January 2015, which has been continuing unabated; and those who escaped persecution and already reached India on or before 31-12-2014 will eventually get Indian citizenship under the existing law itself. Therefore, the CAB is not only an exercise in futility but it will also become a weapon in the hands of anti-Hindus to vilify India. Hence, the #CAA should be open ended with no time limit.

Third, CAB included all minorities in those three countries. This doesn’t make any sense. For, India has no civilisational obligation towards persecuted people of non-Indian origin faiths. We have been magnanimous to others like Jews and Zoroastrian-Parsis who were persecuted for their religion and had no place to go. But that’s not the case with persecuted Christians who can seek refuge and citizenship in any of more than 100 Christian or Christian-majority countries. So is the case with regard to Jews who now have their own homeland – Israel. Further, we cannot afford to unnecessarily burden an already overpopulated India. Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi in his 2019 Independence Day address has rightly flagged the issue of population explosion. It is therefore prudent to limit citizenship only to persecuted Hindus (which includes Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs as per Article 25 of Constitution).

Four, experts have raised questions regarding constitutional validity of CAB. So when a fresh Bill becomes law, it may be challenged in courts, which will hardly help the long suffering persecuted Hindus. Therefore, it is necessary to amend Constitution before amending Citizenship Act.

Five, since religious persecution is the basis for grant of citizenship, his subsequent conversion, if any, out of Hindu fold repudiates that very basis. That is, he/she might as well have converted and stayed in his homeland instead of moving to India. Moreover, it is not difficult to fake one’s religion to gain Indian citizenship fraudulently under the proposed CAA and then proclaim the real religious identity. Therefore, without stringent safeguards, it will end up as legal route for demographic invasion, which CAB did not factor in.

In view of these, it is imperative to amend Constitution by inserting a new Article 11A to enable Parliament to make law to grant Indian citizenship to the persecuted Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs only from any country with stringent safeguards against misuse by providing for (i) termination of citizenship with consequent disabilities including deportation to his former homeland, and (ii) applying the provisions of Enemy Property Act to confiscate his/her properties etc.” 

The Citizenship (Amendment) Act CAA that was enacted in 2020 ignored all the above. As a result it is a useless piece of legislation with absolutely no benefit to the millions of persecuted Hindus worldwide. Yet, the RSS-BJP is indulging in Goebbelsian propaganda fooling Hindus.

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Author M. Nageswara Rao  is a Former Director, CBI and Hindu think tank.

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Source: https://twitter.com/MNageswarRaoIPS/status/1767560766335701263 Published under due permission of the author.