A Muslim lady, Haseena Ben who had applied for Indian citizenship over a year ago officially became an Indian citizen on December 18 this year. According to reports, originally a resident of India, she had married a Pakistani man and had been living in Pakistan as a Pakistani citizen since 1999.
Returning to India after the death of her husband, she applied for Indian citizenship after living in this country for some years. This case from Gujarat is just one example which completely deflates the ‘concerns’ being expressed by those vehemently opposing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens.
One actually doesn’t view people according to their religion, but here it was necessary to mention the lady’s religion considering the lies being spread to fuel insecurity among followers of that religion. Despite riots now and then, India has and will remain a nation where followers of all religions are considered equal despite some official provisions which paint a different picture. It is because of the civilisational heritage of this country that despite various follies and disturbances, it is actually one of the most broad minded civilisations, which any person who has travelled properly, observed and interacted with foreigners will acknowledge.
The CAA and NRC may appear to be cause of much disturbance and violence at present but actually the current repercussions, even though unfortunate and preventable, should have good consequences, if we are what we claim to be. The protests against and demonstrations in support of these two aspects should actually be considered akin to a wake up call.
The current scenario proves and reaffirms various aspects and gives us an opportunity to learn and grow. First, difference of opinion should not result in hatred. Sadly, this is not being witnessed on both sides, especially among those opposing the developments.
My interactions with people ranging from the educated and affluent to the uneducated and poor on this subject made me realise that majority of those opposing the CAA have either not spared even five minutes to understand the Act or know the facts but are blinded by their bias.
The so called uneducated are uninterested in it and are busy eking a living and going about their business as usual. This doesn’t mean that they haven’t heard the noise, it’s just that they have more important things to focus on. Experts in the media and elsewhere state that the Modi-Shah duo underestimated the opposition to CAA which has resulted in the current situation.
Have they? Do those surmising so actually think that willy politicians will not consider such aspects? Does the general public even know anything about the business of protests, who actually directs and funds such activities in cases like the current scenario? The fact is that lack of reliable information can be seen on both sides.
However, those opposing the CAA seem to be more obstinate when it comes to comprehending the facts. One has seen various youngsters who have attended protests only to basically socialise, feel cool getting photographed while displaying placards with outdated slogans used decades ago in the west and to get a sense of doing something in their otherwise mundane life disconnected from reality and the nation. However, the youngsters actually can’t be blamed. It is the adults, who, afflicted by ignorance and various other complexes and factors have failed. There is nothing wrong with failure, as long as one is willing to understand and improve but complexes which a psychiatrist can explain better, prevent most adults from doing the needful.
Anyway, such weaknesses will not hold back what is inevitable. India is not going to become a Nazi state and the fears being projected by those addicted to lies and dubious politics are not going to come true.
Talking about Nazism, most do not know how the most prominent Nazi symbol was distorted to project something it was not. The Nazi ‘Swastika’ was never actually a swastik.
Hitler never used the word Swastika, he and all Nazis called it the Hakenkreuz (hooked cross) and it was a symbol derived from the religion they followed.
However, due to obvious reasons, the description of the symbol was distorted to present a different root of the symbol lest the heinous ideology of the Nazis taint the school of thought from which it derived its beliefs even if in a distorted manner- as the politically correct may say. Symbols and ideas are prone to be distorted by politicians and others for their own ulterior motives.
In this era, anyone who has common sense and wants the people and the nation to prosper will take at least five minutes and check facts before indulging in spreading lies and hatred while pretending or wrongly believing that he or she is doing what is good.
It is important for us to use our common sense because what is happening now is actually just the beginning. Much more is going to happen to address aspects like regulating the population and introducing uniform civil code as should be in a truly egalitarian nation.
What Modi-Shah are doing is to actually preparing the ground for what we will work upon in the coming decades. We have to be prepared for that not only for our welfare but for the actual greater good. We have to rise above our biases and hatred for that. For that to be possible, please save yourself from yourself.