- Violent protests against the amended Citizenship Amended Bill, which is now registered as an Act rocked Assam, Meghalaya, West Bengal and Delhi on Friday, forcing Union home minister Amit Shah to cancel his visit to the north eastern states. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs had to also postpone its trip. This CAB is a part of National Register of Citizen (NRC) ACT 2019 of the Indian Parliament that is an amendment in Citizen Bill of India of 1955 and according to this amendment that provides a path to Indian citizenship for religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The intended religious minorities were explicitly listed as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians, raising concerns that Muslims were being marginalized. The beneficiaries had to have entered India on or before 31 December 2014 and should have faced “religious persecution or fear of religious persecution” in their countries of origin. The Act also relaxed residence requirement for naturalization from 11 years to 5 years for these migrants.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party promised in its 2014 election manifesto to provide a natural home for persecuted Hindu refugees. The travails of such refugees have since been reported in the news media. In 2015, the government passed orders legalizing such refugees irrespective of their travel documents and granting them long-term visas. Over 30,000 migrants have availed of these facilities according to the Intelligence Bureau, who are now expected to be the immediate beneficiaries of the amended Citizenship Act.
The Amendment Act faced widespread criticism in India and abroad for being violative of the secular Constitution of India and its promise of equality under Article 14. A petition opposing the bill was signed by over 1,000 Indian scientists and scholars. The Act was also criticized by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Some critics of the Act believe it legalizes religious discrimination.
The passage of the Act caused protests in India. Muslim groups and secular groups have protested alleging religious discrimination. The people of Assam and other northeastern states continue to protest fearing that the non-Muslim illegal immigrants in their regions would be allowed to stay.
Assam is witnessing one of the most violent protests by the people in its history. Demonstrators in eastern India set fire to more than a dozen buses and vandalized at least six railway stations on Saturday, as violent protests against a new citizenship law continued for a fourth straight day.
During the clash, the police baton charged the protesters and fired tear gas shells that left about 25 people injured, including two of its personnel. The protesters, who turned up in thousands, also vandalized a fire brigade vehicle parked a few metres away from the main entrance to the Raj Bhavan (governor’s house) main gate.
At least two police personnel and about 20 to 23 civilians, including women, were injured, East Khasi Hills district superintendent of police Claudia Lyngwa said in a telephonic interview with our India’s bureau chief. Lyngwa, however, denied that security of the Raj Bhavan was breached by the protesters.
A large number of protesters, including Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind leaders, protested at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on Friday against the amended citizenship law, which they described as “anti-constitutional” and “divisive”, and demanded its immediate withdrawal.
Separately, Jamia Millia Islamia University students held a protest against the law at the university. Videos also show the Delhi police firing tear gas shells inside a campus building, scenes of panic and injured students. Many students alleged that the police fired tear gas inside the library after locking them up inside.
A protest was also organised by the Delhi Congress in Seelampur area of East Delhi. The protesters at Jantar Mantar, led by JUH general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani, carried placards with slogans like “Save-Constitution, Withdraw CAB”
U. S. A. and France issue Travel Alert for the safety of their citizens
The United States of America also issued an ‘alert’ for its citizens travelling to the North-east. “US citizens in the north eastern states of India should exercise caution in light of media reports of protests and violence in response to the approval of the Citizenship (Amended) Bill. Government curfews are in place in some areas. Internet and mobile communications may be disrupted,” the official advisory issued by US Embassy and Consulates in India read.
France has put out an advisory saying that its citizens are recommended to stay away from any gathering and regularly follow news to latest information. “Following the vote on the new Citizenship Law (CAB), general strikes, demonstrations and scuffles with the police broke out in several cities in the states of Assam and Tripura. Air transport to Assam is suspended, for the moment. It is recommended to stay away from any gathering, and regularly follow the news and to respect the records of the Indian authorities (curfew in particular),” the advisory read.
Such
events of civil unrest in India — violent crowds, protests and riots — put a
serious strain on the secular foundation of the society.
The citizens’ right to protest is a pillar of Indian democracy. While citizens are allowed to peacefully assemble, however, protests and demonstrations like these sometimes take a violent turn and not only cripple the nation but also puts a question-mark over viability of democracy. When freedom of expression leads to exploitation of rights it becomes dangerous.
In a country like India characterised by several religious, ethnic, language and caste divisions, the police are regularly confronted with large-scale protests, riots and incidents of mass civil disorder. In such events of unrest, protesters may react in a violent way against police and security forces, property, or other civilians.
A nation is able to facilitate its citizens with public property by the Tax Payer’s money. Whether it’s buses, trains or dorms. The tax payers are the citizens and citizens by these protests, are putting fire to their very own money and property, but these protesting people think that they are harming the government, but they are harming to themselves and burning their own property and their nation’s property that nation is their own. The trend of deadly and violent protests in India are prevalent.
Usually violent protests only backfire and make situations even worse. The issues which could be resolved by silently protesting are now resulting into deaths and injuries of several innocent people.
The agitated citizens were heard sloganeering against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central government and demanded that the Act which has been passed and notified earlier this week, should not be implemented at all. The unrest led the Japanese prime minister, Shinzō Abe, to cancel a planned visit to India from Sunday for a summit with Modi.
On Friday, the United Nations human rights office also voiced concerns that the new citizenship law was “fundamentally discriminatory in nature” by excluding Muslims and called for it to be reviewed. If reviewed that US and its allies didn’t say any word when Muslims were picked from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries where Muslims were in majority.
