The words CAA ad NRC are now floating in the air of every street of India. Knowing that my Muslim fellows have started to feel unsafe in the country they have been living in for years, disheartened me. It is definitely wrong that being born Muslim or Hindu or Sikh makes a person different from others. But the matter of fact is CAA has got nothing to do with religion. India is a secular nation as we all have been taught since our childhood. Every person is equal regardless of what gender, religion, community or cast he/she belongs to. Still, some of the rules and regulations of the country have been customized in order to protect the rights of the minorities, which includes Muslims as well. The Constitution of India has always been very kind to every citizen of this country. But, some uninvited people that have crossed the borders were living in the nation illegally for a long time, while others have to apply for the Visa time and again despite being eligible for the citizenship of this country. So. to make it all clear our government decided to pass the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Clarifying CAA
The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 is intended to prohibit foreign ‘illegal’ immigrants of certain religious communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan to take Indian Citizenship. Those religious communities include Hindus, Sikh, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis or Christians who entered India before 31st December 2014. This does not include Muslims. This will also help the migrants to apply for citizenship faster. On filing the required documents, they will not face any problem in getting citizenship to this country.
Facts About CAA
Here are some facts before you calling yourself anti CAA:
1. Not anti-Muslim
Since 1947, secularly Indian citizens have been enjoying the fundamental rights as provided by the Indian Constitution. Similarly, CAA will not affect any ‘Indian Citizen’ including Muslims. There has been a drive of misinformation that is being used so as to provoke our Muslim community that CAA is anti-Muslim. Muslims have been living in India since partition. A fact that cannot be ignored that Muslims belong to the category of so-called ‘minority’.
At the time of partition when the Muslims who decided to stay back in India were fewer in number. So to protect their fundamental rights, they were given the rights of the persecuted lot. It is important to understand that now the same rights are being given to other communities as well. So ideally Muslims or any other community should not take it otherwise and play against it.
Facts About CAA2. Citizenship to Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan
Masses are being misinformed that Muslims from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan can never get Indian Citizenship. The new legal procedure of acquiring citizenship by any foreigner of any category through neutralization or through Registration stays operational. Not to forget thousands of Muslims coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh have always been lawfully provided with Indian Citizenship in the past few years. If found eligible, they will still benefit from CAA, regardless of the community or number. Just some new formalities have been added to the protocol.
3. NRC or National Register of Citizens
NRC is a register containing the names of all genuine Indian Citizens. At present only Assam has such a register. The government has promised to register the names in NRC in all other states as well. A National Population Register will be created by the Central Government with all the demographic and biometric details of each citizen.
4. Documents required for Registration
An individual is supposed to present documents such as refugee registration certificate, birth certificate, LIC policy, land and tenancy records, citizenship certificate, passport, government-issued license or certificate, bank/post office accounts, permanent residential certificate, government employment certificate, educational certificate, and court records.
Why Protest?
Masses that majorly include Muslims have stepped on roads to protest against CAA. They believe that it is anti-muslim and takes away their fundamental rights. The havoc in the nation is nothing but a result of misinformation that people are being manipulated with. Several Media reporters have questioned protestors on what do they know about CAA and they clearly had no idea about it. They are living in the bubble that CAA is going to harm the Muslim community and bang on, an inhuman protest broke off. Before rebelling something. It is important to know everything about that piece of information. The protesters can not get away with the criminal route to protest and cannot expect the police to not take action.
Giving an affirmation to the true facts of CAA Home Minister Amit Shah said “No Indian citizen needs to worry at all, no one will be thrown out. We will make special provisions to ensure that no Indian citizen from minority communities is victimized in the NRC process. But we can’t leave the borders open as well. Countries are not run like that,”. CAA is not a Hindu-Muslim issue, but some people are trying to give it a different angle just to create disturbances. The act is not to uproot Muslims or any community from India but to check upon any illegal or doubtful citizen residing here. It is important to understand that illegal immigrants eat opportunities of not only Hindus but of Indian Muslims as well. Filteration is important to make sure no illegitimate person gets an entry into our nation.
Also Read: An Incident During CAA Protest
