India is currently witnessing violent clashes as a new citizenship bill is signed into law. The citizens of India criticized the Amendment bill for openly discriminating against Muslims, thereby making them second-class citizens in India.
What is the CAB?
The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2019 is an act that makes it easier for non-Muslim immigrants from India’s neighboring countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) to become citizens of India. The bill doesn’t blatantly persecute Muslims, but it entitles Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians to have fast-track citizenship if they arrived in India before 2015.
A recap:
This new bill caused protests all over India, especially in the capital, New Delhi. The protests against the act took a violent turn on Sunday, December 15, as a bus and two police vehicles were torched. The protest march started at Jamia Millia Islamia University, and a clash between the police and student protestors ended with violence. Students were fired at with teargas by the police, and over 50 students were taken to the hospital with multiple injuries.
On Friday, the United Nations Human Rights Office voiced this concern and announced that the new citizenship law was “fundamentally discriminatory in nature” and called for it to be reviewed. On the other hand, India’s Prime Minister reassured the citizens that the bill would “not affect any citizen of India or any religion” and added that the legislation is strictly “for those who have faced years of persecution outside and have no other place to go, except India.”
With the current situation, it’s difficult not to have an opinion and act on it, but it is also essential to have a thorough understanding of the issue. Form your opinion and voice them out. Educate others, and inform people, discuss why you feel the way you think. Learn and amplify. Dispel any misinformation and prevent it from spreading. Provoke with dialogues, not with stones. Spreading arson won’t end peacefully for anyone.
It is our duty as citizens to protect our streets, not violate them. The current climate promotes violence and hatred against each other. Show support and speak out, take your words to the streets, and protest your right. Burn the bridge to a dictatorship, but don’t burn the bridge literally. Don’t let people promote discrimination but let them vocalize their thoughts; it’s their right too. Inform them, educate them, maybe change their minds, but don’t turn to violence as a means of gaining safety. Have the courage to speak against injustice, but don’t act unjustly. Prevent the protests from gaining momentum, do not give in to cynicism. A peaceful demonstration will prompt the same results.
Protect the city, protect the streets.