On preserving the life of democracy
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After trumpeting Hindutva politics through Pranapratistha in Ram Temple built on the land of Babri masjid, which was demolished, the Modi administration is reportedly getting ready to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by Parliament in December 2019 amid nationwide protest, ahead of the election notification. Union Minister Shantanu Thakur openly declared it the other day in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas. It cannot easily be considered as only an attempt to stir up passions ahead of elections; only a month ago, Home Minister Amit Shah also raised the matter. He told a rally in Kolkata that CAA would be implemented no matter whoever opposes it. Similar statements, issued by various corners of the Central government, suggest that a notification with rules of CAA will be issued within days.
The secular milieu of the country generally viewed CAA as part of Hindutva’s encompassing project to destroy the idea of India as a paradise of diversity. That was the reason why the nation witnessed widespread protests when the government decided to table the bill in Parliament in December 2019. After the bill was passed in Lok Sabha on December 9 and two days later in Rajya Sabha, the anti-CAA protest turned out to be the strongest upheaval Independent India has ever seen. The protest that the students in Delhi triggered at Jantar Mantar against ‘dividing’ India along religions lines spread across the nation. Indian youth turned streets into ‘classrooms of struggle’ disregarding every attempt to suppress the protest using guns and lathi. Braving the coldest winter of the century, thousands of women protested more than 100 days at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh adding a momentous chapter to anti-CAA protests. It was only afterwards that the mainstream political parties in truth took over the opposition. The government was nevertheless not ready to back away. They did not forget to unleash racial attacks using ecstatic crowds. The protest died out after the outbreak of Covid-19. The government, which went on with oppression and vengeful arrests, resumed discussions on CAA in 2022. Back then, authorities said a framework for the Act was getting ready. Weeks before reports citing government said that alongside rules, a website for people to apply for citizenship is ready. Moreover, as per reports now, the home secretaries of 9 states have been directed to initiate procedures based on CAA. A few hours from now, Hindutva government’s agenda of CAA will become a reality. It suggests NDA is getting into poll arena with more dangerous projects than Ram politics.
However, it is hard for the government to go ahead with its election agenda unilaterally. Shantanu Thakur’s speech was followed by Mamata Banerjee’s criticism and resumption of protests, albeit low key, in Assam. Although CAA emerged from Sangh Parivar’s anti-Muslim minority policy, it will not be limited to that in practice. It is not just a matter of Muslim alienation, although CAA is claimed to be for providing citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Implementing CAA in Assam will render the 'Assam Agreement' of 1971 irrelevant, thus those speaking Assamese will be a minority, they claim. The anti-CAA protest flared up in north-eastern states over similar concerns. Thus the Centre will face protest from the BJP ruled states including Assam. It is yet to see what strategy Sangh Parivar will work out to tackle this. Apart from that, this move is an attempt to make Muslim minority in the country more insecure; it won't be wrong to even call it the state’s ‘organised eradication’. It is about time for the rise of new struggles for preserving the ‘life’ of democracy and minorities.