The ‘civil war’ in India intensifies. As skirmishes and conflagrations break out there is so much unnecessary human suffering. Damage to public property. Normal life brought to a standstill. Even, worst of all, loss of lives of protesters and 263 injured law-enforcement officers in UP alone. Sadly, in the current atmosphere, all around the country there is more smoke than light.
Confusion seems worse confounded even among the best-informed. But if anyone is in doubt what these disturbances are about, I would ask them to just look at a social media hashtag that was trending – #IndiaHatesModi. It is full of such bile and loathing against Prime Minister Narendra Modi that anger over the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) is left far behind.
Here’s an example from a well-known journalist: “It seems @narendramodi has opened a war on India. Let us see whether he survives or India!” This message was appended to the hashtag #CAA_NRC_Protest.
Also read: BJP’s failure to see dissenting students as citizens belies Modi’s own youth activist history
Uninformed on CAA
As is obvious, it is not that Modi has declared a war on India. Rather a small section of well-organised Modi-haters has declared war on Narendrabhai.
Of course, some well-meaning protesters who have joined in are somewhat exempt from this charge. Perhaps, they don’t hate Modi as much. After all, they voted for him. I’m referring to sections of the youth. But the videos proudly flaunting young protesters against the CAA only show how ill-informed this important section of our society is.
Having taught young adults all my life, I know that they are in favour of all things good and apparently idealistic. Truth, justice, equality, minority claims, LGBT rights, and so on. Now even animal rights. And why not? What’s the point of being young but already cynical or hopeless about the future of India let alone human condition?
But these same young people don’t know the first simple thing about the CAA. It is not about disenfranchising any citizen of India. It is about granting citizenship. To whom? To those who have fled to India to escape religious persecution. The Act is about giving, not taking away citizenship.
What about those excluded from its purview, namely Muslims? There are at least three Islamic countries in our neighbourhood—Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh. The CAA is for those who have nowhere but India to turn to. Are there no persecuted minorities within Islam? Yes, there are. The Ahmadiyyas of Pakistan are one example. They have been beaten, abused, raped, hounded, repeatedly targeted, and often charged with blasphemy, a capital offence in Pakistan. Their properties destroyed, shops burned, even their graves vandalised.
Shouldn’t the Ahmadiyyas, for instance, also get refuge in India? Yes, they can. Even under existing citizenship laws. But they would not get the five years’ relief granted to other communities—Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Sikhs, Jains, and Parsis. The CAA does not debar Muslims from becoming Indian citizens if they are religious refugees. They would be still be covered by existing provisions of our citizenship laws. Those who consider this unfair should move an amendment to the CAA in Parliament rather than burning buses on the streets.
Unfortunately, the celebrities and Bollywood stars against CAA, though equally ill-informed, are not as innocent as some of our youth. Some have even posted fake pictures and videos. Besides showing unauthorised maps of India without Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Chinese-occupied Aksai Chin. None of them, moreover, seem to have read the Citizenship Amendment Act properly.
Also read: Modi govt thinks CAA protests won’t hurt India’s global image. It needs this reality check
The hatred against Modi
The CAA is only partly what the protests are really about.
This agitation is against Modi. And his sarkar. If there is one thing that unites protesters across party, caste, religious, linguistic, or ethnic lines it is Modi-hatred. An implacable, unrelenting, unremitting hatred. That borders on the irrational and pathological. But as our spiritual masters have warned us, too much hatred is self-corrosive.
Modi-haters are also united by the privileges they have lost. Earned and unearned. The new India that he seeks to usher in is utterly threatening and alarming to Modi-haters. What troubles them so much about Modi’s idea of India? It is just one thing. A strong, organised, politically aware Hindu consolidation. Such a consolidation, as we have seen in the last decade or more, has the capacity to so alter the dynamics of Indian politics that its erstwhile post-Independence rulers are now fighting for their very survival. These include caste satraps, brokers of backwardness, Muslim bullies and rabble-rousers, regional feudalists, dynasts of all stripes.
As I was writing this, #IndiaHatesModi was overtaken by #RamlilaMaidan. The latter pushed beyond 50k tweets within hours of Prime Minister Modi’s speech. So much for making too much of social media trends.
Also read: You can’t cancel Modi, RSS: Why US-style identity politics won’t help Indian liberals’ fight
Prime Minister Modi has hit back strongly against his detractors. An unholy and unruly mix of “urban Naxals”, jihadists, negative Ambedkarites, and so on—all backed by disgruntled opposition parties and leaders. Modi has accused this cabal of rumour-mongering, misleading and inciting the mobs.
Of course, he also reminded people that it is this same Modi sarkar that is going to regularise unauthorised colonies in Delhi. If so, how can it be accused of being anti-people? “Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians—all befitted. Everyone who lives here was benefitted. Why did we do this? Because we live for the love of the country. We are dedicated to the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’,” Modi thundered.
Listening to him, I am almost tempted to say that the war against Modi more resembles a game. And he is winning this round too. Even if BJP has lost Jharkhand, the pro-CAA rallies have gathered force.
The anti-CAA protests (& the deaths that followed) are indeed unfortunate. However, before one takes an emphatic view either way, the following factors should be thought through:
a) Many protesters indulged in heavy anti-india & pro-Muslim slogans. If the protest was supposedly anti-CAA/NRC then surely the slogans used do not support this. There is a need to investigate deeper into the so called protests. Hordes of masses have been probably misled, leading to avoidable loss of lives & damage to property.
b) Many countries have rules to regulate grant of citizenship. So, does India. Hindus as a religious community elsewhere, do not have a country to go to. So, there seems little case to deny them this opportunity, if they need to take this up in case they face religious persecution. (And there are documented cases of persecution in the 3 countries in question).
c) The PM & Home Minister should have done more in their communication. (This is, of course, with the benefit of hindsight.).
d) The PM & Home Minister have repeatedly said that no existing Indian citizen will be denied or stripped of his existing citizenship. While these are met by cynical comments from various quarters, there’s hardly any constructive suggestion to address the shortcomings in the proposed NRC exercise.
Hindu Refugees of other countries can still avail citizen even without CAA. What was the need to pass a bill for that that demands longer residence for Muslims than Hindus ? This is a diversionary tactic from the economic misery the country is going through
The bill makes it easier for the persecuted minorities.
This is something that should have been done long ago- that it is being done now tells its own story.
Mr.Paranjpe, like Modi, thinks people are fools. The whole protest is against anti people policies of this Government and not just Modi. Modi happens to be the PM and the leader under whose leadership these policies are being pushed. I am 70 years old and I can vouch for the fact that in the history if this country we have never had such an anti democratic and repressive Government and PM as the present one.
Please explain in CAA, What is anti democracy? What is repressive? Who is repressed in India? Mr. Parnjpe is explain the mindset of people like you! Ask yourself what did you got in the last 70 years? I know you will argue economy! See around the world. Even G7 countries starring recessions in coming years. So stop your 70 years congress misrule. Stop misleading others with your narrow thinking. Modi resolved issues which congress and others created it used against India for political gains. QUOTA – system is one of them. Muslim vote bank is another. Minority card another. Ask these minorities what did they actually got?
Dr. David Frawley,
American Institute of Vedic Studies
New Mexico, U..S.A.
A defeatist tendency exists in the psyche of modern Indians perhaps unparalleled in any other country today. An inner conflict bordering on a civil war rages in the minds of the country’s elite. The main effort of its cultural leaders appears to be to pull the country down or remake it in a foreign image, as if little Indian and certainly nothing Hindu was worthy of preserving or even reforming.
The elite of India suffers from a fundamental alienation from the traditions and culture of the land that would not be less poignant had they been born and raised in a hostile country. The ruling elite appears to be little more than a native incarnation of the old colonial rulers who haughtily lived in their separate cantonments, neither mingling with the people nor seeking to understand their customs. This new English-speaking aristocracy prides itself in being disconnected from the very soil and people that gave it birth.
There is probably no other country where It has become a national pastime among its educated class to denigrate its own culture and history, however great that has been over the many millennia of its existence. When great archaeological discoveries of India’s past are found, for example, they are not a subject for national pride but are ridiculed as an exaggeration, if not an invention, as if they represent only the imagination of backward chauvinistic elements within the culture.
There is probably no other country where the majority religion, however enlightened, mystical or spiritual, is ridiculed, while minority religions, however fundamentalist or even militant, are doted upon. The majority religion and its institutions are taxed and regulated while minority religions receive tax benefits and have no regulation or even monitoring. While the majority religion is carefully monitored and limited as to what it can teach, minority religions can teach what they want, even if anti-national or backward in nature. Books are banned that offend minority religious sentiments but praised if they cast insults on majority beliefs.
There is probably no other country where
regional, caste and family loyalties are more important than the national interest, even among those who claim to be democratic, socialist or caste reformers. Political parties exist not to promote a national agenda but to sustain one region or group of people in the country at the expense of the whole. Each group wants as big a piece of the national pie as it can get, not realizing that the advantages it gains mean deprivation for other groups. Yet when those who were previously deprived gain power, they too seek the same unequal advantages that causes further inequality and discontent.
India’s affirmative action code is by far the most extreme in the world, trying to raise up certain segments of the population regardless of merit, and prevent others from gaining positions however qualified they may be. In the guise of removing caste, a new castism has arisen where one’s caste is more important than one’s qualifications either in gaining entrance into a school or in finding a job when one graduates. Anti-Brahminism has often become the most virulent form of castist thinking. People view the government not as their own creation but as a welfare state from which they should take the maximum personal benefit, regardless of the consequences for the country as a whole.
Outside people need not pull Indians down as Indians are already quite busy keeping any of their people and the country as a whole from rising up. They would rather see their neighbors or the nation fail if they are not given the top position. It is only outside of India that Indians succeed, often remarkably well, because their native talents are not stifled by the dominant cultural self-negativity and rabid divisiveness that exists in the country today.
Political parties in India see gaining power as a means of amassing personal wealth and robbing the nation. Political leaders include gangsters, charlatans and buffoons who would stop short at nothing to gain power for themselves and their coteries. Even so-called modern or liberal parties resemble more the courts of kings, where personal loyalty is more important than any democratic participation. Once they gain power politicians routinely do little but cheat the people for their own advantage. Even honest politicians find that they cannot function without some deference to the more numerous corrupt leaders who often have a stranglehold on the bureaucracy.
Politicians divide the country into warring vote banks and place one community against another. They offer favors to communities, like bribes to make sure that they are elected, or stay in power. They campaign on slogans that appeal to community fears and suspicions rather than create any national consensus or harmony.They hold power based upon blame and hatred rather than on any positive programs for social change. They inflame the uneducated masses with propaganda rather than work to make people aware of real social problems like overpopulation, poor infrastructure or lack of education.
Should a decent government come to power the opposition pursues pulling it down as its main goal, so that they can gain power for themselves. The idea of a constructive or supportive opposition is hard to find. The goal is to gain power for oneself and to not allow anyone else to succeed.
To further their ambitions, Indian politicians will manipulate the foreign press to denigrate their opponents, even if it means spreading lies and rumors and making the country an anathema in the eyes of the outside world. Petty conflicts in India are blown out of proportion in the foreign media, not by foreign journalists but by Indians seeking to use the media to score points against their own opponents in the country. The Indians who are responsible for the news of India in the foreign press spread venom and distortion about their own country, perhaps better than any foreigner who dislikes the culture ever could.
The killing of one Christian missionary becomes a national media event of anti-Christian attacks while the murder of hundreds of Hindus is taken casually without any real importance, as if only the deaths of white-skinned people matter, not the slaughter of the natives.
Missionary aggression is extolled as social upliftment, while Hindu efforts at self-defense against the conversion onslaught are portrayed as rabid
fundamentalism. One Indian journalist even lamented that western armies would not come to India to chastise the political groups he was opposed to, as if he was still looking for the colonial powers to save him!
Let us look at the type of leaders that India has had, with it’s Laloo Prasad Yadav (ex CM Bihar), Mulayam Singh Yadav (ex CM UP) or Jayalalita to mention but a few. Such individuals are little more than warlords who surround themselves with sycophants.
Modern Indian politicians appear more like colonial rulers looting their own country, following a divide and rule policy, to keep the people so weak that their power cannot be challenged.
Corruption exists almost everywhere and bribery is the main way to do business in nearly all fields. India has an entrenched bureaucracy that resists change and stifles development, just out of sheer obstinacy and not wanting to give up any control.
The Congress Party, the oldest in this predominantly Hindu nation, had given its leadership to an Italian Catholic woman simply because as the widow of the last Gandhi prime minister, she carried the family torch, as if family loyalty were still the main basis of political credibility in the country. And such a leader and a party are deemed progressive!
The strange thing is
that India is not a banana republic of recent vintage but one of the oldest and most venerable civilizations in the world. Its culture is not trumpeting a militant and fundamentalist religion trying to conquer the world for the one true faith but represents a vaster and more cosmic vision. India has given birth to the main religions that have dominated East Asia historically, the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh, which are noted for tolerance and spirituality.
It has produced Sanskrit, perhaps the world’s greatest language.
It has given us the incredible spiritual systems of Yoga and its great traditions of meditation and self-realization.
As the world looks forward to a more universal model of spirituality and a world view defined by consciousness rather than by religious dogma these traditions are perhaps the most important legacy to draw upon for creating a future enlightened civilization.
The irony is that rather than embracing its own great traditions, the modern Indian psyche prefers to slavishly imitate worn out trends in western intellectual thought like Marxism or even to write apologetics for Christian and Islamic missionary aggression. Though living in India, in proximity to temples, yogis and great festivals, most modern Indian intellectuals are oblivious to the soul of the land. They might as well be living in England or China for all they know of their own country.
“They are isolated in their own alien ideas as if in a tower of iron. If they choose to rediscover India, it is more likely to occur by reading the books of western travelers visiting the country, rather than by their own direct experience of the people around them”.
The author agrees that Ahmadiyyas are also religiously persecuted in Pakistan just like Christians, Hindus and Sikhs. He justified it saying that they have other avenues for obtaining citizenship. The author has conveniently ignored the question on why the Ahmadiyyas are not given the benefit that CAA gives to Christians, Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan. The entire protest is happening because of this discrimination in the CAA! The author does not tackle that question and claims that the protesters are misinformed. What stupidity is this?
The question is why are muslim minorities not provided the same benefits other religious minorities are given under CAA? What is the rational behind it? If there is no valid rational, then it is discriminatory. As simple as that.
I v much agree to what you say.
We also know that on Humanitarian ground the poor Hindu and other refugees should be given citizenship. But that does not require CAA. Pak gentleman Adnan Sami was given citizenship without CAA. In reality it is to block Muslim refugees (mostly decedents of Indian emigrants in 3 countries.
Mejority r from overcrowded Bangladesh (ever since partition)+ those who fled Taliban, and negligible few Pakistanis of all types
Why muslims of pakistan want to become indian , How can we know if they are not a terrorist ?
Pranjape Sir! I went through your 16 articles on the Print. It seems you spend most of your time painting govt’s goof-ups into sweet and rosy tales. However, this article is too revealing. You can be better..!!
Yes, the protests are not against CCA etc, but against BJP in general and Modi in particular. Had it not been CCA, they would have found some other issues to protest. And the protests are more on Media than actually. Same footage is shown repeatedly. And on social media anti Modi hash tags are inflated .
You are saying just half truth. People are not against CAA. They are against the NRC with CAA. So please shut up.
Secularists don’t want to lose their grip on Moulvis, who have grip on the uneducated muslims. Hence they are using this opportunity along with paid media which lacks credibility in reporting the truth. Like the one sided Jamia video by the print. Media should report only full truth but not this half truth. Modi will win this also. Beware looters that your days are counted before going to jail.
Merge Pakistan Afghanistan and Bangladesh into India to solve discrimination against Muslim in India
India do not want kachra countries
Whatever may the analysis used by the author, the truth is these protests and vandalism’s have exposed the fault lines within the society and also “liberals and secular”. Protests have helped BJP to consolidate the Hindu vote bank and rightly so.
Rubbish analysis. The writer seems not aware of the situation at all. He is supporting PM blindly without any logical reasoning.
Logic and truth is there. You secularist are so blinded that unable to see the truth and vote bank, opportunist politics of opposition parties in India. It is always Mulims who cry foul that Islam in danger. Actually it is India and Hindus are in danger. Using UN standard and definitions in India Muslims are not minorities, so minority tags from Muslims should be removed for the good.
The Jews was in denial when the Nazis came into power thinking nothing wold happen to them. Majority ended up in extermination camps. History repeats itself. The present situation in India reminds me of previous war Germany.
Blind follows Blind.How can you compare Nazi’s with BJP?Read CAA before you comment.India needs to know who are born in India and have a census so the government can plan for schools, hospitals,build infrastructures and all amenities to cover all its citizens and most western countries do this.But you blindly blame BJP?
People like you, Swapan Dasgupta and Subramanium Swamy are what I call intellectual fascist. As hitler needed so called ‘intellectualls’ to cheer him on and explain to him ‘intellectually’ why he was morally right while he went on and butchured all the jews you play the same role of cheering fascist like modi and shah on while they shove their ‘Hindutva agenda’ down peoples throat which will only create more chaos and instability in the society. Like modi and shah , in thier rallies and interviews, you in this article , only beat around the bushes without getting to the crux of people’s real concerns. CAA itself is not dangerous and Neither NRC itself is morally condemnable. Its about this toxic combination of these two. NRC is a system where the average man has to provide document to the government in order to prove his citizenship. Shah in a interview already saild voter id card and aadhar card will not be used to prove citizenship. When the initial NRC is carried out a huge chunk of people are going to be declared stateless and these will not be people who are genuinely illegals. Most people who ger caught up in this excercise will be people who have faulty documents or people from the poorer sections of our society or adiwasis who do not keep any document with them at all, and that is the real catch here. NRC no matter how well you design it will never be able to genuinely determine who is a real illegal or who is a fake illegal because a hugh chunk of our society just does not keep the documents. Now, If you are a non-muslim then you have a life jacket through CAA. If you are a muslim, tough luck, your fucked now. And even if you are a non-muslim weeded out by the NRC you still have to go through a long tedious process which might cost you a lot to get your citizenship as we all know how corrupt and inefficient our beuraucracy is, so don’t rejoice too much.
Sir, if you cannot read between the lines and see how pernicious the intentions here are, you have truly lost your moral compass. And I am a hindu too, so dont paly this people are afraid the hindus are going to politically organize nonsense. I am a hindu but not a braiwashed sanghi like you. I hope you realize that you are at the wrong side of history. Get well soon.
Muslims have the liberty to throw away their minorities, but Hindus must accept even illegal Muslims. Muslims can have Islamic countries but Hindus cannot have a Hindu country.
Author has no idea about Ahmedis. Infact, Ahmedis are self proclaimed muslims and have been declared non muslims in constitution by Pakistan decades back after heated debates spanning many years. They are treated as minorities just like others in Pakistan.
Secularism was never enshrined in our constitution. It was forcefully added by Indira Gandhi during the most authoritarion
Emergency days (in 1975) & even that without parliamentary approval.
Arre bhai agar document nahin hain toh ye sabse achcha mauka hai banwaane ka. Kab tak andhere mein rahega India kaa nagrik?
Was it not a fact that ahmediyas was the strongest champion for creation of Pakistan. Isn’t it ironic that they get mistreated by Pakistan which they help to create. And since they created Pakistan, may i ask you how duplicitous is of them to ask for Indian citizenship now, after acting as a traitor in 1947.
We don’t care about Musalman infighting… If Ahmediyyas declare themselves as Hindus, we might as well think of them
This article just aims to deflect the focus from the main issues. The careful exclusion of Muslims from the CAA is clearly discriminatory and violates the principles of equality and secularism enshrined in our constitution. By saying “Those who consider this unfair should move an amendment to the CAA in Parliament rather than burning buses on the streets”, you are painting the entire group of secular Indians who oppose CAA as being violent and anti-social.
Also, you quite conveniently ignore the implications of CAA in the light of NRC. What happens to the poor, illiterate legitimate Muslim citizens who fail to produce the necessary documents for NRC? Please don’t think that the youth of this country are stupid. They can see right through this hypocrisy.
Who gave you the right to speak on behalf of youth of the country? You may be actually believing in what you wrote or you may be a paid commentator but in any case if you have read the article you should understand that the article has a lot of facts mentioned and what you are counting on are logical fallacies.
Well said.
Pleas also refer to my small comments addrd to comments from Mr Kurian
Constitution is applicable to Indian citizens, and rhe aspect of muslims not being included in CAA doesn’t impact citizens. As such this statement being made about CAA being against fabric of constitution etc is pure misinformation at best.
There’s one number and one word you left out.
25
That’s the number of protesters killed in the CAA-NRC protests so far. You did of course present the (seemingly) exact number of policemen injured.
NRC
The protesters are saying ‘No CAA No NRC.’ But you haven’t mentioned NRC even once. It only appears inside a Twitter hashtag. CAA on the other hand appears 11 times.
‘Confusion seems worse confound even among the best-informed.’ Wha?!
Surely the BJP can afford better PR writers!!
CAA, when combined with NRC becomes a potent tool in the hands of government to arbitrarily strip people of citizenship. You cannot look at CAA in isolation. Combine it with NRC and then try to understand. NRC will exclude people and CAA include people, except for Muslims. And if you are thinking that why would Muslims living in India would be excluded? To that I would only say look at what happened in Assam. We all know the administrative capacity of India, & in Assam it was embarrassingly shown to the world when even family members of former president of India, Fakhruddin ahmed couldn’t find their names. So what hope can an average Indian carry? And if you are a Muslim and and could not find your name due to an administrative error, you would be at mercy of THIS government to give you citizenship! If I were a muslim, I would be tensed (if not in fear) as well.
Agree
Right.Frustration of the opposition is showing in the streets.Muslims are not acting as pawns of the opposition parties.They too are feeling frustrated that their votes no longer count.But all their actions are adding up somewhere else.Further Hindu consolidation.2024 too seem lost.That is more frustration. Expect more actions in the streets.
“Muslims are not acting as pawns of the opposition parties.” – this is very bad news for BJP! lOTS OF hINDUS ARE ALSO OPPOSING caa AND nrc, which indicates that there wouldn’t be any Hindu consolidation! What is showing in the streets is not frustration of the opposition, but Modi/Amit Shah shaking in their pants! As someone has said, in Haryana they were “DENTED”, In Maharashtra they were “DENIED”, and in Jharkhand they are “DEFEATED”!
Seems the author is more unaware about CAA than the rest of the youth and the lawyers who are protesting.
Regarding Muslims can get citizenship as he mentioned so the same can apply to people of other religion too. India already has citizenship act. One doesn’t need amendment as the Muslim can the citizenship same way ppl of others faith too. Or simple there so should be no mention of religion in the ammendments. Seems you arent aware of the Constitution and Article 14.
People like you are What’s wrong with society, just because you have posted a well phrased paragraph doesn’t mask the reality, go and look on the streets sir you will get to know how agitated the nation is.
People have died, tell me yow many policemen have died?
I used to often wonder when I used to see people tell a lie: How could one do that? Mr Modi has created a new normal, where I wonder – how can one lie to oneself for so long and so many times? God save our country and people.
Hindus ought to realize that the CAA protests are a battle in the war of the islamists and marxists against Hindus. The survival of Hindus in India is at stake.
You are 80% my friend!
Not really! the seemingly 80% was divided on caste lines into so many parts that the rest 20% had veto over everything happening in India. Not anymore, and this consolidation is exactly what the liberals are scared of!!
get off republic tv and get a life please
If the Muslims are so worried about “Muslim Minorities” like the Ahmadis and the Shias in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan then let All India Waft Board, the Deobandis and other such groups issue a statement that the practices and faith of the Ahmadis, Shias are completely legitimate in Islam and accepted by them.
Most Muslims of other types have know problem with them.
It’s the pressure from some so called strong men during previous Government in Pakistan that changed the law, regarding them.
It is revertabl. But then presently our government is trying to block recognised Muslims. So if Indian Muslim board recognise them, then they have lesser chances.
Modi ji
Please change your attitude and your home minister please
Caa is the blunder that will cost moodi, his entire political career is destroyed by this law, time will tell bjp will fail in every election, moodi underestimated the power of common man and minority that will cost him his career
There is a silent majority supporting the bill and that is huge. Just that they don’t want to come on the streets right now. They show their power through ballot.. remember May 2019.. and be ready for 2024.. consolidation is happening as you write. Schools universities participating in the anti CAA campaigns are known leftist Centers and some liberal schools. Concentrated in urban areas.. so let not the under current be noticed..
Protest against CAA have turning out to be centuries old wish of islamists to convert India a Darul-a-islam. In this task they are being helped by so called leftists, so-called liberals and patently beneficiaries– pliable journalists of erst while congress dynasty. But history is proof , they have failed to achieve this goal during last 1000 years. And they will fail now and in future. Direct military attacks from western boarder and internal sabotage by pro-islamic forces will be repelled.
Bollywood scripting is calling. Don’t waste time!
So the youngsters don’t know the first thing about CAA. And Makrand Paranjpe knows everything. There is nothing to fear about CAA. True!
But the refusal of the BJP and its bhakts to get into a debate on how the CAA plus NRC would work together makes one wonder whether they are being over smart or stupid. I would appreciate if Makrand could assure us that these would not act in tandem. Before you paint others as ignorant, please check and make sure you are not coming across as being manipulative! Your very outlook about religious consolidation shows how deep rooted your bigotry is!
India haters have now removed their masks under which they are called liberals, secularists, leftists and human rights activists. They are now openly challenging nationalist Indians particularly Hindus. No more pretentions and rationalizations of their arguments. The fight with anti-India forces is direct now. India may see more violence from anti India forces. Time for nationalist Indians to destroy anti India forces.
Hi Makarand Paranjape,
It seems you are a hardcore supporter of BJP. Your views are biased
You are trying very hard to justify CAA, by talking about ‘Modi-haters’. Unfortunately it is journalists like you who are side stepping the real issue to promote your preferred political party!
Why should citizenship of some refugees be ‘fast tracked’ depending on religion? How would Hindus or Christians feel, if refugees of other faiths are given preference to attain indian citizenship?
As you mentioned, all religious refugees already have provisions in the original CAA to attain Indian citizenship. There was no need for this religious based amendement to the exisiting Act.
Also you conveniently ignored the plight of Indians who will lose their citizenship, once NRC is done. And will have to look for CAA and other Acts to regain their citizenship through naturaliztion.
Your rotten head filled with hatred seems to have no place for religiously persecuted people in India’s three neighbours who have Islam as their state religion. People like you will learn only when persecuted on religious ground and denied citizenship as has happened to non-Muslims. Opposition to CAA has opened the eyes of Indian nationalists and now NRC must happen at the earliest.
WHAT ABOUT the persecuted non-Muslim persecuted Tamilians in India’s neighbour in the southern tip? WHY NO LIFELINE FOR THEM?
This may be news to you but there have been elections in the country you’re so concerned about: it is time we think of our country now.
May that opposition also open your eyes to the approaching Bengal elections, the receding economy, diminishing jobs and the crashing election defeats!!
Simple Question to you people – you take name of Gandhiji breathlessly, but would you says that his views which are clear about minorities coming from Pakistan and Indias duty towards them are something different then CAA?
A well balanced article
Thank you so much sir for your organised bullshit . And also kudos to Shekhar Gupta for putting his business mindedness over rational and ethical persona . Hats off !
You people have Midas Touch – oh sorry 6th sense of Midas .
Anything which you like turns in to gold – even it is said by Somebody remotely related to Gandhiji.
But if you do not like it – it turns rubbish- Even those viewes are same as of Gandhiji( CAA)
The pro CAA rallies have all been fake and state sponsored . Which party is the richest party in India may we ask. The war on Twitter also was being fought by IT cell folks possibly thinking that just warring on Twitter was sufficient. See the ground work of scores of un organized folks to believe the emotions against this.
Watch out the NPR is now going to collect the population data
It’s budget was passed by cabinet today
After which an official will compile the data into a NCR.
The questionables will be sent letters demanding documents
If you do not have them you will be excluded, you property may be sized
NRC law was put in By congress – I think your contesntion with NRC being implemented by BJP was that they will ask every Citizen to stand in line like Demonetization.
(Though they denied link between NRC and NOR) but even if there is link between these two , you should be happy that now govt will go Door to Door. To collect data – and it will be done alongside Jangadna – so no extra visit or trouble for anybody.
The opponents of CAA are not only against Modi but also against Hindu, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhist, and others. They have created hurdle in the way of these migrants. Thesr opponents of CAA are against humanity and against very vulnerable Hindus living in Pakistan, Afghanistan. These opponents should be ashamed of themselves.
You have completed ignored NRC. It’s CAA in line with NRC which is the issue. CAA is step 1 of 2. Clearly as Amit Shah and Modi previously outlined. So your hypothesis itself is based on a false premise.
How do you know how NRC is going to be rolled-out? It could very well be that all persons in physical boundary of india – get automatically enrolled.
All india NRC will not be same model as Assam-NCR.
Go and read the current law – you don’t have any document which grants you citizenship , this mess needs to be cleaned up.
And it is not for hindu or muslim , this unclear status of citizenship is problem for anybody .
one can understand the anxiety of the author to defend Prime Miister Modi since he is pukka Bhakt but it is strange that he is unable to understand why there is so much protest, specially by the students .Since he has taught young adults it should not be difficult for hims to understand why the students are protesting .One thing very clear is that there is no political party nor there is any central leader/leaders.The protest is so spontanous.
1) if you count the people on the street , they are still much lesser that people staying at home (silent supporter).
3) you need protest on street for something which is a law which you want to change. But here you say CAA is unconstitutional
2) If CAA is unconstitutional , than obviously it will be struck down by SC , so there is no need to Come on street and burn busses
The focus and priorities are wrong, and sooner this ultra-nationalistic government realises this, the better for a great civilisation and a nation called INDIA. There is no need to cross over the fine line from right wing to extreme right wing.
Ideally the author must join BJP and then write anything in praise of Modi and his party. Poor in our country are living in worst condition. The educated in in India have no job. Intesd of focusing on Indian living here it is foolish to talk about persecuted people outside country. Givin citizenship, regulaising colonies all for vote bank. If Congress was following vote bank, BJP is no better, I woukd rather they are worst.
I think this is good Idea will solve all the problems in India . Those who support BJP should join BJP and those who support Congress Join Congress . This way we can decide based on whoever has maximum number of Members.
If onee can get citizenship under existing laws, why are tamil refugees struggling for decades to get the same. Can u explain?
The United States has been through a very painful Civil War. Why do we ( poor Bhupendra Chaubeyji is being panned for using We ) living in the land of the Mahatma and ahimsa allow words like war and battle to enter our national discourse so prolifically now ? Which is the external or internal enemy / foe / adversary threatening us that we Hindus have now to “ consolidate against it / them ? There are some very dark historical precedents, going back fewer than a hundred years, of what happens when the majority gangs up against a minority after it has been sufficiently demonised. India is now, by any globally accepted benchmarks, one of the poorest countries in the world. Let us not mess up the few things we have got right in all this while.
I see on NRC need there is also lot of confusion.You have touched the topic in different CTCs .
Request you if you can take another CTC covering Current Citizenship Low(without NRC) and wyat is the meaning of 2013 Mumbai HC judgment – that no Document is proof of citizenship- not even Passport/aadhar.
In current situation who can challange citizenship of an individual – is it only Govt or any individual can accuse anybody else to be non citizen.
And final if challanged , who has the onus of proving citizenship /non citizenship – Accuser or accused?
Despite being a teacher/proff as said in article you only linger on two points namely missinformation about caa and modi hetred but there is no talk whatsoever on consitutional legalities or on violation of basic structure or not any reference to secularism and diverce nature of Indian society . Your artical may be good as a late night exercise but it hardly put any thoughtfull point in front of reader …
Wonderfully said Makarand. He is winning whereby we too are winning
I am a BJP supporter. While CAA can be legally and morally justified, the unfortunate thing is Amit Shah’s rhetoric about nationwide NRC has made a lot of damage. Modi’s comment on the attire of protesters didn’t help either. Top leaders from BJP should address the nation directly and explain clearly their stand on NRC and ally fears, which I don’t see happening. Instead we get contradicting statements from the Shah-Modi duo. Even for a supporter of BJP it is not possible to justify a nationwide NRC seeing what has happened with NRC in Assam.
Well said Abhinav, that’s a very balanced and sane assessment of the situation. The kind of balance that eludes people like AK Dev and Makarand Paranjape as they don’t have any objectivity whatsoever unlike you.
It has been disaster in Making for years – boiling up since 70s – delayed implementations have made it much worse.
NRC is needed as current citizenship law is complicated , without NRC you have to prove it if challenged, & as Mumbai HC has said in ruling that no Single Document (not even passport) is enough to prove your citizenship if born after 1987(you needs parents Citizenship proof as well)
Or Simply put , one born in India after 1987, does not have single document proof which can be termed as Proof of citizenship, on the other hand Govt does not have single list which can confirm that . But on the other hand Adnan Sami may have proof of the same in Single Document.
This article is wishful thinking at best.
It is true that I, and many other protesters are protesting against modi’s vision of a centralised hindu country that doesn’t match up to the India I want to live in.
A control of the mainstream media doesn’t change the fact that under his leadership, most metrics on freedom, hunger, growth and education have not imporoved. The centre is choking on effective policy and taking our stupid policies like demonitisation.
Also, the economy and environment is fucked!
I genuinely want to understand your concept “the India I want to live in”. Would you like an India where people can cross borders, forge documents, open bank accounts, occupy any piece of land they find convenient to set-up a place of worship, buy property and do much more? And by the way, mainsrtream media is still very safe in anti-Modi business houses.
THIS IS OUT AND OUT SUPPORT OF MODI. ONE HAS TO LOOK INTO FUTURE PROSPECT OF THIS LEGISLATION. THIS CAN USED TO DEFRANCHISE MUSLIMS THROUGH RULES ETC.,
All opposing are ill-informed. Modi says something at Ramlila ground and Amit Shah says whole reverse, I think only these two are ill informed.
The hatred against Modi has little to do with anything other than the fear of going to jail for corruption of the past. Hindutva, CAA, NRC are all pretextes to somehow get at Modi. If he were to announce that any money made before he came to power will not be investigated the entire gang will start singing his praises. Unfortunately the state leader are falling short on performances, unable to capitalise on the earlier gains , particularly on the corruption front. So we can expect the the musical chairs to continue in states unless a change can be brought about at state levels. Why has no state level leader declared “NA KHAUNGA NA KHANE DUNGA”
Why did Modi make Ajit Pawar the Deputy CM?! Whom the BJP themselves accused of corruption and filed an ACB complaint against?!
Is he supporting corruption?! Khane de raha he?! Or, was that a false case, which is a criminal offence?!
Both are corrupt ways!!
Yeah Right.