Citizenship Bill intends to spoil spirit of oneness

A voting in the Lok Sabha on Monday allowed the CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill) to be tabled in the House for debate. The idea sounds good at a cursory glance to accord citizenship to non-Muslims who are being harassed in countries like Pakistan.

And these include Sikhs, Hindus, Parsis, Buddhists and others. Unfortunately, the Bill does not consider Ahmadis as victims as India recognises them as Muslims whereas Pakistan does not and tortures and attacks them often.

The Bill, 2019 cleared by the Union Cabinet that wants to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, also shuts India's doors for Muslims, just because they are Muslims. Here is where the problem crops up.

India has embraced all religions with open hands and gave shelter to them, be it Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism and Zorastrianism over centuries. All said and done, this Bill is a threat to the fundamentals of India, and hence the charge of the Opposition that those supporting the Bill are anti-national and want to break India in the name of religion.

Their criticism against the ruling BJP and those supporting the Bill that they are the threat to the unity and integrity of India cannot be dismissed as simply a political criticism. India was born on the basis of equality and explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of religion, and this Bill is an attempt to alter the foundations of India.

This Bill is the product of a mindset that functions on the basis of cultural assimilation and hate and wants to rob India of its Constitution and diversity. Hence, the criticism that the Bill follows an Israel blueprint born out of the Zionist ideology wherein only Jews were given citizenship entitlement and India's Hindutva followers are forcing India become Israel.

This Bill satisfies the dreams of hate preachers like Savarkar, Golwalkar and Hedgewar and kills the vision of Gandhi and other freedom lovers. The aim of the Bill is to divide India, flame the politics of fear, and divert the attention from the issues of national growth and development. This is yet another plank of polarisation politics that has always threatened the peace and tranquillity in the country.

This Bill, if passed will lead to an NRC process, which has miserably failed in Assam and will surely fail in India. This mindset needs to be condemned and all stakeholders in peace and unity of the nation have to rise and challenge the government on this divisive Bill. The BJP is not the sole custodian of Hinduism.

The religion has thrived over several millennia due to its inclusive nature and tolerance. Why cannot the nation accept persecuted Muslims to become part of India if they seek refugee?

Worldwide there is an ongoing debate on how to integrate migrant population. Every persecuted human being has a right to life. War, hatred and political and geographical reasons are driving people out of certain boundaries.

Why draw certain lines now that go against the very idea of India? This are testing time for Indian politics.