Prof. Sudhanshu Tripathi
As is appears that India should turn into a refuge and asylum for all immigrants and infiltrators, where so ever they are residing, for which the protest over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and NRC at Shaheenbagh in Delhi and few other places in the country is sincerely being carried over for the past more than fifty days.
While western countries like the US, England, and many more countries are maintaining tight security to protect their national borders from infiltrators and other immigrants, the same policy, which is very much the need of the hour for India, is being opposed by a particular community and their so-called saviours in the name of secularism. In fact, the continuing agitation has had its very violent and gory past in the month of December 2019 wherein many people were killed, including police personnel, besides destruction of hundreds of millions of public property in almost all over the country.
But the real momentum behind the ongoing political show is being provided by the political parties to nurture and consolidate their respective vote-banks, thereby making it a vicious game of vote-bank politics between Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and almost rest of the other political parties. It is in this context, the popular emotions are being aroused by the fire brand political leaders of the contesting parties through their aggressive speeches particularly with a view influence the voters in Delhi, the assembly of which is going to polls on 8th February, 2020. Not only that, these leaders are also having their eyes focused over future elections in India as well.
This is why these political parties are repeatedly harping on the almost these issues by taking sides either in favour or against, just to arouse communal passions which have already drawn deep and wide fault lines between Hindus and Muslims not only in Delhi but also in all over the country. And that has now severely ruptured the not so very healthy evolving yet reasonably peaceful social fabric of our country. Even those political parties which consider this Act appropriate and also very timely are also opposing it as discriminatory to Muslims because it, in their view, is contrary to the noble gospel of Secularism, as enshrined in the Constitution of India.
In fact, the BJP led NDA Government at the Centre is well within its constitutional obligation to take all necessary measures to ensure national security and integrity of the country which is particularly under serious threat due to mounting challenges of terrorism and also global terrorism, particularly continuing cross-border terrorism being exported from Pakistan, and also due to regular intrusions into Indian territory by the Chinese forces.
Further, both Beijing and Islamabad are consistently colluding against India’s national interests as they are hell-bent to cut size the fast elevating profile of India not only in Asia but also at all global forums at this crucial juncture when global geo-politics is shifting towards East. Added to these threats are the ever rising numbers of illegal immigrants entering inside the country’s territory through its porous borders facing Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar etc.. Despite such grim scenario of national security in India, most of the non-BJP political parties are continuing their efforts to let the protest move forward anyhow with the passage of each day so that their respective vote-banks may remain intact or even increase in their favour so as to ensure their victory in the Delhi assembly elections. In is strange that even after completing more than fifty days of protests in Shaheenbagh, these protesters have not yet expressed their desire to talk to the Government with a view to resolve the issue at stake.
They have no delegation as yet to represent them which may discuss the continuing logjam with the Government so as to arrive at an amicable solution. This shows that they have no genuine reason to continue their agitation and just want to brow-beat the Union Government led by NDA so that it may revoke the CAA and future planning for NRC forever. Obviously this will boost the morale of would be infiltrators who want to destabilize the country at the behest of our neighbours, particularly Pakistan and China. In fact, their continuing penetration and consequent settlement inside India has already changed the demographic profile of the country.
As obvious, all these pseudo-secularists are today very much worried due to enactment of the CAA because that will cause them dear in terms of votes in future elections in the country. While the genuine beneficiaries of the act viz. Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsees and Christians are undoubtedly the really needy minorities who are suffering the brutal repression and various other kinds of inhuman and barbarous suppression in Pakistan, Bangladesh and also in Afghanistan, and so are the Ahamadia, Hazara and Pashtoons sects within the Muslim community too which are also suffering the similar treatment by the majority Muslims, particularly in Pakistan. Though these two and such others may also demand the same citizenship rights in India, but they are very much part and parcel of the Islamic states and their concerns are, of course, not that of India’s liability. They must seek remedy in their own respective countries.
Again, as obvious, the BJP may succeed in consolidating its vote-bank through this enactment and thus enjoy the fruits of power for long time to come. But this likely harsh reality very much baffles all these non-BJP groupings as they had long succeeded in keeping the BJP away from power by declaring it as untouchable. Indeed, this likely fear is haunting them very much as their political shops are on the verge of permanent closure. Unfortunately, these non-BJP political parties are earnestly singing the same tone with a view to overshadow the BJP by once again castigating it as untouchable. Despite these prolonged brouhaha, the CAA is now a reality which all countrymen must acknowledge in the larger interest of national security and integrity of the country.
After all, India can’t become a soft pasture for all infiltrators and intruders to enjoy safe-heaven in its territory who then indulge into criminal and terrorist activities against the national interests of the country. Against this emerged grim scenario, the best course will be to defeat such pseudo secularists forever, whichever political party behaves in this manner, so that the true cause of welfare of people at large may be accomplished and common interests of humanity may be served in the right earnest. Evidently, the role of We the people of India, becomes very crucial here who must now unite for sake of unity and integrity of the country as well as common interests of their own by overcoming their petty and narrow selfish interests, defined in terms of cast, community, language and region etc., so that India as a nation may again be strengthened and consolidated. This may happen as nothing is beyond human endeavour.
The author is teaches at U.P. Rajrshi Tandon Open University, Prayagraj (U.P.)
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