Foreign Affairs: Moody pushes India towards revolution

Writer Pratap Bhanu Mehta notes in an article published by the American magazine Avers that last week Indians took to the streets of cities and towns across the country to protest against the new citizenship law, which sparked great controversy.

He says that they demonstrated in large numbers, despite the imposition of orders prohibiting the organization of public gatherings, and that the protests that broke out in dozens of universities across India led to the government launching a violent crackdown that resulted in the arrest of thousands, but continued.

The article notes that the recent wave of demonstrations is one of the largest protest movements witnessed in the country for several decades, despite the fact that the government resorted to closing the internet and mobile phone networks in many regions (including New Delhi), but it was unable to contain the range The massive protests.

The writer adds that since her re-election last May, the Hindu national government headed by Narendra Modi has taken a series of controversial political measures and divisions, which included stripping Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status, and the Modi government has become taking more authoritarian measures, prompting the business community In India to express his dissatisfaction with the troubled atmosphere of the country.

Indian Parliament
But the Citizenship Amendment Act passed by India’s parliament on December 11th was the drop that overflowed the cup.

The writer stated that under the new law, members of the minorities of Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Janites, Christians and Persians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to India will be illegally granted an opportunity to obtain citizenship.

However, through this simple clause, the government redefined the Indian national identity that has become linked to religion, which sparked a crisis related to the Indian secular constitution.

Citizenship adjustment
The writer says that the Citizenship Amendment Act is a challenge to the secular character of India, as the groups mentioned in the law must have the ability to become members of naturalized citizens.

He adds that any country can choose the refugees or irregular migrants who wish to grant them the right to citizenship based on a variety of factors, including an assessment of the risks posed by these individuals, the requirements of international law, as well as the historical relations with that country, and many practical facts To migrate.

The author notes that Parliament has clearly linked religious identity to the right to citizenship, for the first time since the adoption of the Constitution of India in 1949.

He stated that the government insists that these minorities are at risk in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, and that it is unlikely that you will find refuge in other places, but this argument conceals some bad intentions with it, because this law:

Firstly - it ignores persecuted Muslim groups in those countries, such as the Ahmadis in Pakistan.

Secondly, he touched on Muslim-majority countries, excluding other possible sources of refugees and irregular migrants, such as neighboring Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and Rohingya law excludes citizenship in India for example.

Naturalization mechanism
The article adds that the Hindu government claims that groups not covered by the law can apply for citizenship by following current naturalization mechanisms.

The author asks: Why should members of all oppressed groups not adopt the same legal mechanism? He says that in light of these considerations, it can be concluded that the purpose of the new law is not only to protect the aforementioned groups, but to exclude Muslims and view them disproportionately with others.

The writer emphasized that the law redefines the Indian national identity, which contributes to India's approach to becoming an ethnic country.

Citizen records
The government claims that the new law will not affect the rights of any current Muslim citizen in India. Legally speaking, its allegations are valid, but the downside to this law, which was accompanied by the suggestion of another measure, is for the government to create a national registry for citizens that includes the legal status of all individuals in India. On this point, one might ask: How will the authorities determine the identity of citizens in a country where many poor Indians lack identification documents?

The writer noted that during the Assam Nationality Documentation Campaign, millions of poor people without birth certificates or any other document struggled to prove that they were citizens of India. This bureaucratic and arbitrary process left many in the concentration camps.

He adds that about 1.9 million people face the possibility of stripping them of citizenship in the state of Assam, but this law enacted by the government reassures Hindus who have proven illegal that they will not be stripped of citizenship, but it does not provide any similar guarantees for Muslims, but that this amendment creates a system The discrimination is legally ratified, which is an affront to India's secular democracy.

Popular discontent
The writer says that the nationality law sparked a wave of unprecedented protests across the country, and that these protests may lead the country to a dangerous turning point, after the Hindu government took a number of repressive measures to contain these legitimate protests.

He stressed that the popular movement against the citizenship law may be a contributing factor in the renewal of India's constitution, but he is likely to be forced to face the headwinds of Hindu nationalism to Modi.

The writer concludes that amending the citizenship law alerted India to the danger it faces and threatens its basic constitutional values, and that the path to recovering and protecting these values ​​may be long and arduous.