What is Happening in India with the CAB and NRC, and Why India is On Fire

Let's begin with the NRC, or the National Register of Citizens that applies to Assam, India. The Indian government has always alleged that there's a huge number of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh in Assam. It is true that 10 million Bangladeshis fled to India to seek refuge during the 1971 war, mostly Hindus. Some may not have returned. 

When the Hindutva supporting BJP came to power, led by Modi, they initially threw their support behind the NRC. The law is that anyone who entered Assam without proper documentation after 24 March 1971 would be declared a foreigner and deported. The party had also swept to power in Assam's state government in 2016, riding on the support of the Hindus and tribespeople. But when the final list of citizens was published, the BJP suddenly changed tracks, saying the NRC was error prone and wrong.

Why?

The reason for that was a lot of Bengali Hindus - a strong voter base for the party - were left off the list, and risked becoming illegal immigrants. And these form the core vote bank of BJP. Out of the 19 million people left OUT of the list, 13 million are Hindu, 5 million Bengali Muslims. Everyone of them claims they are Indian, not Bangladeshi. The BJP is now in a dilemma. 

How do you ensure those 13 million Hindus can vote, when you yourself are saying they are illegal Bangladeshi migrants?

Enter the CAB (Citizenship Amendment Bill).

The Modi government has now passed the bill that says EVEN if you are an immigrant claiming refugee status from Bangladesh, Pakistan or Afghanistan, your case will be expedited and processed. BUT ONLY IF you are not Muslim. Simply put: this is a backdoor way to get those 13 million Hindus in Assam back on the citizenship list, but excluding the Muslims (who will not vote BJP). This is the first time such an exclusively discriminatory bill was added to citizenship criteria in India's so far secular history.

So why are people protesting?

1. The Muslims feel they are being marginalized and made into second class citizens. More on this later.
2. The Hindus who are genuinely Indian claim the CAB will not help them, since they are not claiming refugee status. They just want the government not to make them stateless.
3. Assamese people are protesting a fear influx of migrants from across the border who will now claim refugee status under the new law.
4. Urban folks genuinely worried about how extremely intolerant India is becoming.

Let's dig a little deeper about the first point - marginalizing Muslims in India. 

• Earlier this year, the government scrapped seven decades of autonomy for Kashmir, India's only Muslim majority state. All political leaders were detained, and severe restrictions on speech, assembly, internet and communications were put in place. The state is still under military rule, and human rights organizations have spoken of vast human rights abuses by the Indian army.
• Many Muslim city names have been changed to Hindu names. For example, Allahabad has been changed to Prayagraj.
• Even rail station with Muslim names are affected. The name of India's Mughalsarai railway station, near Varanasi, was changed last year to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, for a right-wing Hindu leader who died there in 1968.
• Official education books now try to downplay the 1000 year old Muslim leadership of India (the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, etc.) and try to emphasize the ancient Hindu history (and the recent ones such as the Marathi empire).
• Bollywood movies now openly make movies where Muslim leaders are portrayed as the bad guys (Padmavat, Panipat, etc.)
• The Assam state register (NRC) threatens to make 5 million Muslims stateless. There's already detention centres built in India RIGHT NOW housing close to hundreds of thousands of Muslims.

Let us not forget the numerous cases of vigilante mob lynching and extra judicial killings. Christians and Muslims are both targeted, but Muslims have borne the brunt of the attacks. The government has turned a blind eye to these killings, not investigating them at all.

Amidst such a climate comes the CAB. And Indian government has said they will now extend NRC all over India, not just Assam. Every Indian citizen will have to PROVE they are actual citizens, and not be using modern documents, but by ANCIENT ANCESTRY. It is hard enough getting documentation in India right now. Imagine having to go back to 1947, or even before (the British Raj) for your documentation. You cannot, and this is where the CAB comes in. You get a free pass if you are Hindu, Christian, Sikh or Jain, BUT NOT IF YOU ARE MUSLIM. 

Now you are property less, vote less, and stateless. Where do you live? The government will build detention centres (just like Assam) but all over India.

"I assure you no Jews will be affected by our Nurember Law." - Hitler in 1935

"I assure you no Muslim will be affected by our Citizenship Amendment Bill." - Amit Shah of BJP, 2019

Sources:

1. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-50757093
2. https://scroll.in/article/946430/bjp-claims-citizenship-bill-will-save-those-left-of-nrc-but-bengali-hindus-in-assam-are-sceptical
3. https://qz.com/india/1769059/why-are-indians-protesting-citizenship-amendment-act-nrc/
4. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/2100513/modis-party-stokes-anti-muslim-violence-india-report-says
5. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-13/why-india-s-modi-has-his-country-s-muslims-worried-quicktake
6. https://www.npr.org/2019/04/23/714108344/india-is-changing-some-cities-names-and-muslims-fear-their-heritage-is-being-era

Canadian Punjabi Newspapers Running "Abortion" Ads

I first heard of this news story from Michael Coren today on CFRB.

Evidence suggests that ultrasound ads may be targeting Indo-Canadian groups to determine the sex of their unborn babies, which in turn may lead to abortions based on sex-selection, as is happening in numerous countries throughout the world.

So far the given news link is the only source I can find to verify Coren.

Personally my belief on abortion is coloured by my religion (OK in first four months under some circumstances - detailed analysis here), but I wonder how can we really be shocked that this gender-selected abortion is now not only occurring in Canada, but is paid for by tax payers too!

I don't care about multi culturalism - getting an ultra sound done to determine if the baby is a girl and then having an abortion if it's a female is wrong. I wonder how all the proponents of those who strictly believe in a woman's right to have an abortion can justify killing that woman in the first place itself.

Related Links:

BBC Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6275770.stm
CSM: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0113/p01s04-wosc.html
Sepia Mutiny: http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/004550.html

What's In A Name? Ask Mr Singh.

This is completely absurd.

Common Sikh names banned under Canada's immigration policy

A Calgary woman waiting for her husband to arrive in Canada is upset by a long-standing immigration policy that forces people with the surname Singh or Kaur to change their last names.

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Karen Shadd-Evelyn, a spokeswoman with Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the policy preventing people from immigrating to Canada with those last names has been in place for the last 10 years.

This policy is discriminatory and needs to change immediately. (h/t: Liberal Catnip)

Let's Not Reduce The Level of Debate

So apparently, now I am a "Pakistan supporter".

All, because, yesterday when Mr Sappani wrote a Pakistan-bashing article on his blog, I merely asked him for facts to clarify his story. He, of course, took the rationale that "what he was saying can be googled" which therefore excused his rant. Whatever, it's his blog, his rant space.

However, asking for facts is akin to "Pakistan supporting".

On January 5, 2007, I wrote against Majid Khan, particularly because he had served in the Pakistan army during 1971, which I felt had committed genocide and war crimes in that war. As someone originally from Bangladesh whose family had been in the Mukti Bahini fighting Pakistan forces, I would be amongst the last to be called a "Pakistan" supporter.

However, when I am accused of just that, Mr Sappani is trying to reduce the level of debate on Libblogs to a more George Bush-like "us versus them" attitude. His anti-Pakistani article was just that - anti-Pakistan. It started from a news article about a debt-ridden third-world country's national airline (PIA), and spiraled into an anti-Pakistan vitriol. As someone who has many Canadian friends of Pakistani descent, I asked Mr Sappani for clarification on his conclusions, one of which included a mark against Pakistan because it was the "only Islamic country with the N-bomb".

Now I am of the mind-set that India is the only Hindu-country with the N-bomb, but I would not use that in an article against Indian nuclear weapons because I consider such a term racist. Moreover, both India and Pakistan has proved themselves responsible nuclear countries so far. Our strategy should be to accept that these nuclear weapons are here to stay, but to promote freedom, education and democracy in those countries.

There are many things wrong with Pakistan. I myself have written about their Hudood Ordinance (which thankfully has now been struck down), but when you have to criticize a single issue, do it on that issue, objectively. For example, I take issue with India's caste system and their nationalist Hindu party making a tough time for converts here. Doesn't mean I go India-bashing or those who disagree are "India supporters". This is a progressive blogspace, we can all disagree in a civil manner here.

If someone disagrees with the Afghanistan mission, or wants to bring them home (Kennedy and Dion) if the mission is not defined, that does not make them any less patriotic. If someone thinks Pakistan's Musharraf is our moderate ally fighting against extremists, that does not make them any less willing to stand up for our soldiers in Afghanistan. Let's leave the 'wrapping ourself in the flag syndrome' to our neighbours down south.