Probably the most absurd allegation levied on the Modi government and the CAA is that the Act is a move to create a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. Those who believe in this idiotic allegation have either no idea what the CAA is or are hell-bent on criticising the government because it suits there agenda. I say this because one glance at the Act will reveal in ample measure how the Act has nothing to do with establishing a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
Let me make a few points that’ll clarify what would’ve made the CAA discriminatory:
Had the CAA included a provision to give citizenship only to Hindus from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and let other minorities suffer then it would’ve been discriminatory.
Had the CAA included a provision to have non-Hindus convert to Hinduism to attain citizenship then it would’ve been discriminatory.
Had the CAA included a provision to bar Muslims from getting citizenship in the future then it would’ve been discriminatory.
Had the CAA included a provision that spoke of deportation of Muslims living in India then it would’ve been discriminatory.
When none of these provisions are in the Act how can it be discriminatory and anti-Muslim?
Another important point is that any Hindu looking for citizenship in India who doesn’t belong to the three nations mentioned in the CAA will have to obtain citizenship through the usual laws. This is at par with any Muslim wanting citizenship.
The CAA doesn’t include just Hindus, it doesn’t even emphasise relief only to Hindus. It is the most inclusive Act as it provides much needed dignity and respect and basic rights to thousands of minorities including Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Sikhs and Christians.
Just excluding Muslims from this Act – which, by the way, is completely justified considering the nations included in the Act are Islamic states – doesn’t make it communal!
Just ask yourself this and answer to yourself in all honesty: Had Sikhs been excluded from such an act then would there have been the kind of reaction that we’ve seen? Burning of buses, destroying public property, chanting anti-Hindu and anti-government slogans, and the kind of international attention this Act received…would it have happened had any of the other religions been excluded? NO!
You know it. I know it. Yet, at times, we fool and delude ourselves into believing otherwise. This isn’t about religion or discrimination; it is only and only about vote-bank politics and pandering to a community for political benefits.
The CAA has absolutely nothing against any religion. It is only and only a HUMANITARIAN gesture.
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