New Delhi: Amid the ongoing nationwide stir against the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, a group of academics, intellectuals and research scholars Saturday issued a statement in support of the law.
“We believe that CAA is in perfect sync with the secular constitution of India as it does not prevent any person of any religion from any country, seeking Indian citizenship,” the statement said.
Academics who have signed the statement include individuals from eminent institutes like Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Institutes of Technology, and the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.
Well-known Indian signatories of the statement include Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta, and analysts and researchers Sushant Sareen, Anirban Ganguly and Abhijit Iyer-Mitra.
The support for the law also came from individuals from international institutes including Princeton University, University of Oxford, Politecnico di Milano-Milan, University of Warwick and Imperial College London.
An atmosphere of fear and paranoia is being created in the country by “deliberate obfuscation and fear-mongering” which has lead to violence in several parts of the country, the statement said.
It urged every section of the society to exercise restraint and refuse to fall into the trap of “propaganda, communalism, and anarchism”.
The statement was signed in their personal capacity, the academics noted.
The move has come amid protests across the country in which over 10 people have died so far. Protesters are seeking a rollback of the law that was passed in the Parliament earlier this month.
The law provides for citizenship to six non-Muslim communities from the neighbouring Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Also read: Gandhi made first call for non-cooperation from St. Stephen’s but British didn’t storm campus
‘Satisfied’
In their statement, the academics and intellectuals also claimed that CAA does not prevent Ahmadis, Hazaras, Balochs or other denominations and ethnicities from the three countries to seek citizenship through regular processes.
It added that the signatories are satisfied with the way the concerns of the Northeast states have been heard and are being addressed appropriately.
Assam and Tripura saw widespread protests over ethnic lines after the passage of the law.
Also read: From writing history to becoming a part: How Ramachandra Guha became face of CAA protests
There’s a difference between seeking and granting. What is a regular process and an irregular or off-beat process. These intellectual ostriches are burying their heads in the sands of these nuances. Shame on them.
I support CAA and NRC.
No matter What Maoists and Antinational say CAA is going to stay being Constitutional.
Are these ” intellectuals” aware that similar intellectuals from the Brahmin & Jain communities had served as court astrologers & “intellectuals” in the courts of Moghals? By the way what are the names.of these intellectuals ? Are these people aware as to what will happen after Hindus, Sikhs, Christians ,Jains not possessing valid papers of citizenship are granted citizenship post CAA ? What will happen to Muslims without valid documents ?. Will these Muslims be sent to detention camps if they are not ” aware ” of the country of their origin ?How long will these Muslims be kept in detention camps ? Have such detention camps been constructed and how many? Or will they be sent to the countries of their origin through diplomatic intervention if those Muslims are” aware” of countries of their origin? What if those countries refuse to accept these Muslims? Will they stay as inferior citizens ? Does the Constitution of India have a provision for such second class citizens based only on religion? Let not the government and these ” intellectuals” behave as if the CAA is an innocent law aimed at giving citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims . The underlying political stratagem is obvious . Are we seeing Indian version of Nazism , which hated and exterminated millions of Jews in the 20th century ? After all as per BJP’s own Rajya Sabha MP the total number of people from Pakistan,Bangaldesh and Afghanistan who need to be given citizenship is only 31313. These 1000 ” intellectuals” must advise whether there is a need for so much ado about 31313 people. If the government’s hidden intentions are not against Muslims in general these 31313 people should have been granted citizenship quietly by now -at least after 2014!
A 1000 intelligent Bhakts, now that is an oxymoron…
Excellent definition of OXYMORON.
Please write an obituary for all these morons to be engraved on stone as and when they bite the dust.
1000 supported, its crystal clear that the news is bias, its so sad to hear this. But why don’t you see millions are protesting and men and woman were kill due to this bill when it turns into issue, chaos rose and atleast 1000 were hospitalized. Thank you
Arrey yeh statement hain kahan? Is Ka naam toh batao. Signatures toh dikhao. Khamkha fake news generate kar rahe ho.
Why can’t we see the name of the signatories? Please share that.
You don’t tell how many have singhed against that u should aur u also bikao
Most of them are well know Brahmanical supremacists, Muslim haters and right wing bigots who are at the beck and call of their Nagpur masters.
look at BJP duly trotting out its half-intellectuals. what a bunch of low-brow right-whingers.
Well said! These are epsilon-minuses and low-brow oafs, who have thrived only because they have been ar$e lickers to whoever in power.