“And I would like people, as it were, to be more reverential towards the past, to try to understand it; to preserve it; instead of living in its ruins. The Old World is destroyed. That has to be understood. The ancient Hindu India was destroyed.” V S Naipaul

Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 addresses the plight of minorities, who are facing brutalities, persecution, forced conversion, murders, rapes, and all kinds of atrocities in our neighboring Islamic countries, where the idea of secularism, peace and humanity just cannot survive. Under the provisions of the CAA, migrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who arrived in India before the specified date and cited "religious persecution," stand eligible for citizenship. Notably, this applies to individuals belonging to six specific religious minorities: Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian.

Why are Muslims excluded?

Muslims are not minorities in these three countries and enjoy full privileges and are even wage a war against minorities. There are 55 Islamic countries in the world. So, Muslims have enough choices to make and live as per their customs if at all they are persecuted in these three counties. In all these three counties the Muslim population is almost 99 percent in Pakistan, 99.9 percent in Afghanistan and 94 percent in Bangladesh.  Why should they be allowed in India. There are no incidents of persecution of Muslims in these three Muslim countries.

On the other hand, minorities in our neighboring Islamic countries have nowhere else to go, but India. India decided to give refuge to victimized Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jainis, Parsis or Christians. They have only one country to go back while the Muslims have abundant choice to go live.  

In September 2015 and July 2016, the central government exempted certain groups of illegal migrants from being imprisoned or deported. These are illegal migrants who came into India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, or Pakistan on or before December 31, 2014, and belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian religious communities.

USA should examine their own Investigation of Bangladesh Hindu Genocide

USA expressed apprehension regarding India's Citizenship (Amendment) Act, emphasizing close monitoring of its implementation. Matthew Miller, the State Department Spokesperson, conveyed the nation's concerns during a routine press briefing, highlighting the significance of religious freedom and equitable treatment under the law for all societal factions.

Miller said, “We are concerned about the notification of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act on Mar. 11."

“We are closely monitoring how this act will be implemented. Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles," Miller responded to a question.

Response to US Government’s comments on CAA

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for Ministry of External Affairs,  responded by saying  that "Respect for religious freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental democratic principles".

He further said, "As you are well aware, the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 is an internal matter of India and is in keeping with India's inclusive traditions and a long-standing commitment to human rights."

"The act grants a safe haven to persecuted minorities belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh who have entered India on or before 31st December 2014."

Jaiswal said, "The CAA is about giving citizenship, not about taking away citizenship, so this must be underlined. It addresses the issue of statelessness, provides human dignity, and supports human rights."

Why the furor over CAA?

Ever since the CAA is passed many self-serving political parties, crooked politicians, radical students, Muslims who want to make India a Muslim country, the wretched media and mindless secularists have all conspired to rake up controversy and tarnish the image of India and discredit Narendra Modi. They criticized the Modi government for excluding Muslims. But these Muslims are neither prosecuted in these three countries nor are they minorities. In fact, they are the majority religion with all the privileges the minorities are denied.

Modi’s government has dismissed these criticisms that the law is discriminatory. It defends the law as a humanitarian gesture to extend citizenship to religious minorities fleeing persecution and says it would not be used against people who already are Indian citizens. It doesn’t affect the citizenship of Muslims born in India.

Opponents of the law falsely accuse daily that scores of Muslims have been lynched by Hindu mobs over allegations of eating beef or smuggling cows, an animal considered holy to Hindus. Muslim businesses have been boycotted, their localities have been bulldozed and places of worship set on fire. Some open calls have been made for their genocide.

Any rational, reasonable, and objective person would ask himself “Are there any Muslims leaving India because of the alleged persecution?” If they are mobbed or lynched in India as these radicals claim, don’t you think, they could have gone to 55 Islamic countries to live without getting persecuted. But nobody can find any justification to show how many left India for green pastures in those Muslim countries. Probably none. 

In fact, Jamaat’s president Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi Barelvi said: “The government of India has implemented the CAA law. I welcome this law. This should have been done much earlier but better late than never. There are a lot of misunderstandings among Muslims regarding this law. This law has nothing to do with Muslims. Earlier there was no law to provide citizenship to non-Muslims coming from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who faced atrocities based on religion.

“Crores of Indian Muslims will not be affected by this law at all. This law is not going to take away the citizenship of any Indian Muslim. In the past, it has been seen that there were protests. Some political people created misunderstandings among Muslims. Every Muslim of India should welcome the CAA.”

Muslims VS Hindus in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh

For many Hindus in America and in India as well, it seems that over the years, the Democratic Party in USA, radical Muslims as well as the western media have portrayed India as being anti-Muslim and oppressive of Muslims.  Let us present some facts about the composition of Muslims and Hindus in these four countries.

Muslim Population in India:

In 1947 the population was about 7.5 %; 1951 – 9.9 Percent; 2011 – 14.2 % and in 2019 it was 14.9 percent.  So, the percentage of Muslim population has doubled in India since 1947.    In addition, of the world’s Muslim population, 11.9 % live in India, which is second only to Malaysia which has 12.7 % of the world’s Muslim population. Every day Muslims cross the borders of Pakistan and Bangladesh into India. That is not a sign of persecution. 

               Please note that Hindu population has declined in India since Independence while the Muslim population increased.

In 1947, when India was partitioned, the Hindu population in Pakistan was about 24%. Today it is not even 1%. In 1947, the Hindu population in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) was about 30%. Today it is less than 6 percent. In Afghanistan, Hindu population is less than 200,000 that is about 0.3 percent. What happened to Hindu population in these three countries.  Were they made to feel unwelcome and left or were they required to convert to Islam?

               Why not these critiques look at the holocaust of Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh if it intends to be fair with Hindus as much as they are with Muslims.

The Muslim population has grown in India, just as it has in the United States.

Muslim, Christians, and all other religions are allowed to practice their religion freely in India, just as they are in the United States.

Special privileges are given to Muslims in India which include - allowance to travel to Mecca, free education in Islamic faith paid for by government, special terminals for Muslims to go to Hajj, a separate law for Muslims and many more. Does the USA give these kinds of privileges to any religion?   Please note that such allowances are not even given to Muslims even in Muslim countries and are not given to Hindus in India, which is a Hindu country.   These are not signs of oppression.

India has a long history of religious tolerance.  Just to give one more example, people of Jewish faith lived freely, being allowed to practice their religion in India for 2000 years.  Upon the creation of Israel as the Jewish country, the parliament of Israel acknowledged that out of 149 countries which Jewish people lived, India is the only country which has not discriminated against the Jewish people.  Muslims are testing the patience and tolerance of Hindus.

The question is - When are these facts going to be seriously considered so these critiques can start looking at Hindus and India for what we really are:   - a religion and country which has a history of accepting other religions; which does not believe in conversion and let people practice their own beliefs;  which makes immigrants feel welcome on her land.  Facts, figures, and true historical evidence should dictate political policy, not political pandering, or media bias.

2. CAA: Citizenship Amendment Act

Why we Support CAA? Every country has its own immigration policy. Why not India?

CAA was passed into law by an overwhelming majority of the parliament of India in 2019.  CAA is an immigration policy of India which allowed non-Muslim illegal immigrants from majority Muslim countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan) - a path to citizenship.

A brief history – when India was divided into 2 countries, Pakistan was supposed to be a Muslim country and India a Hindu country.  Pakistan declared itself as a Muslim country, while India declared itself as a secular country, not a Hindu country to accommodate other religions. The basis for division was religion.  CAA allowed for religious minorities (non-Muslims) who fled majority Muslim countries to have a legal path to citizenship even though they entered illegally.

Every country uses selective methods to control the inflow of people from other countries. This is nothing new.

USA adopted Lautenberg Amendment in 1990 enabling the resettlement of only Jews from the former Soviet Union. Later it amended allowing persecuted religious minorities such as Jews, Christians, and Bahais from Iran. Later it was amended to say non-Muslim minorities from Islamic Countries.

Now the USA is building a WALL to prevent illegal immigration from Latin countries.

In January 2020 UK like Australia developed a policy which allows only individuals with skills and those who will not burden the welfare system to enter the country. In fact, they should also be familiar with English.

Israel facilitated the entry of Ethiopian Jews into Israel., not other religions.

Hungary had consistently refused refugees from Iran, Syria, and North Africa on the ground that such people would not fit in.

US, Canada, and Europe allowed persecuted Christians to enter their countries from Pakistan, Hindus are not included.

These are just examples of different countries’ immigration policies. And please note that the above examples DO include religion as a criterion.   Again, CAA is an immigration policy of India which allowed non-Muslim illegal immigrants from majority Muslim countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan) a path to citizenship. It was passed by the government of India, and there was no need for VP Biden to comment on this in his policy paper.

As noted, most countries, including the United States, have immigration policies based on religion.  The main concern we have is that of all the immigration policies of all the countries in the world, why comment on this one?  Why not comment on all of them?  This again seems like a target and misunderstanding of Hindus and India.

Let us all welcome with open hands the implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act and prevent the persecution of minorities in the three Islamic counties