It is not possible to be neutral in these times. I believe the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA), which fast tracks Indian citizenship to immigrants of certain religions, is deeply flawed. Not only it is against the secular nature of the country, but it also completely misses addressing the massive issue of human migration. Migration is not just about foreigners entering India illegally; not even just about Indians immigrating out—often illegally. It is also about internal migration.
When people move to cities and countries, it builds tension between “insiders” and “outsiders”. We need a response to this. CAA takes all this and makes it into a simple issue of providing citizenship based on religion to fix historical injustice of partition — creation of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh on the basis of religion. It is selective, parochial and unjust. Worse, it will divide us along “insider” and “outsider” lines and spread hatred.
The question is when will this end? Or will it only grow and spread like cancer. It should not surprise anyone that in Assam — where more of these people are expected to gain citizenship in the immediate future — the anger is not about the selective nature of CAA. In Assam, people do not want the outsiders — Hindu, Muslim or Jain — because they will take away their lands, livelihoods and threaten their cultural identity. Their fight is for their already scarce and contested resources. But it is also about their identity. This is where the issue becomes so complex...
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| From Down to Earth |
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| New Publications |
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State of India’s Environment 2020
India’s most credible annual statement on the state of affairs in environment and development
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Body Burden: Antibiotic Resistance
State of India’s Health
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Nigeria
Improving the State of Sanitation
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Guidelines and Standards for compost in Zanzibar
Moving towards a zero-waste model
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First Food: Business of Taste
On good food, nature, nutrition and livelihoods
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Modern Times, Ancient Excuses
On the state of US emissions and consumption
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| Highlights from last month |
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Twitter: @sunitanar
