LETTERS: I refer to the letter titled “Dr M taking right stand”, in which the writer attempted to explain about India’s Citizenship Amend- ment Act (CAA) 2019.
She stated that “it is a law that is deliberately discriminatory against Muslim minorities” and “a right is provided for the citizenship of the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian religious minorities but denied to Muslim minorities”.
The statement above is misconceived as the CAA does not apply to the citizens of India who may be Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Christian or Parsi. So the term “Muslim minorities” does not arise.
It strictly applies to a certain class of refugees, which the letter had failed to state, from three designated countries, namely Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan only who are not citizens of India.
It must be noted that even Hindu refugees from the non-designated countries do not qualify for citizenship under CAA.
Many wrongly assume that the CAA is excluding citizenship of Muslims in India. This is at best misinformation. Every Muslim born to Muslim citizens of India are automatic citizens of India. There is no stripping of citizenship from any Muslim in India.
Muslims from the three designated countries or any part of the world can apply to become an Indian citizen under Section 6 of the Citizenship Act 1955.
In fact, in 2014, thousands of Muslim immigrants were granted Indian Citizenship through the normal process. CAA, however, is solely for refugees.
To understand CAA, we must understand the historical background of the relationships between the various religious communities in ancient India.
Hindus and Arab Muslim relations were extremely good during the early days of Islam.
Arab historian Al-Masudi confirms that Muslims in India were honoured, respected and protected by Hindu kings.
From the 8th century onwards, Hindu Sanskrit books on science, mathematics, medicine and astronomy were shared and translated into Arabic. Along with Indian, Greek and Persian knowledge that was expanded by Arab Muslims, it ushered in the golden age of Islam.
Although Islam wasa peaceful religion, when the Mongols and Turkic conquerors embraced Islam, they continued their brutality in their invasions. Hindus and Muslims suffered under their rule. Subsequent attacks and invasions from different invaders drove a wedge between these two communities.
When the Europeans arrived, to ensure their rule was secure, they divided the Hindu and Muslim communities further and all this culminated in India being divided on communal lines into two different nations — India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan (later Bangladesh).
The partition had a devastating effect on the lives of the Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christians.
Massacres, killings and destruction of property occurred, and trains crossing from one nation to the other were ghost trains as the coaches were filled with corpses.
The Sikhs suffered the most. The violence of this episode continued to trouble these communities.
During the partition, not everyone crossed over to India. Some Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities stayed back. However, due to the impact of the partition, problems arose and they returned to India as refugees.
During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, many non-Muslims, fearing a genocide, fled to India and were placed in refugee camps. In Afghanistan, during the Taliban era, thousands of Sikhs also fled to India as refugees.
To settle the problem of this particular classes of refugees who fled to India before Dec 31, 2014, CAA was enacted to give them citizenship.
ARIFF SHAH R.K.
Penang
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times