This is not the India Mahatma Gandhi dreamt of when he began his Satyagraha.
This is not the India Babasaheb Ambedkar envisioned when he drafted the constitution.
AND this is definitely NOT the India I was born in!
These people, who claim to be the leaders of this once thriving nation, have managed to systematically annihilate the very spirit of its existence and democracy.
It all started out very normal, in 2014, the year BJP came into power and Narendra Modi took centre stage as Prime Minister, with a promise of 'good days'.
I don't know if the 'good days' ever arrived, but I made several observations.
Modi (of course) dished out a few fancy schemes. Mob lynchings and minority persecution became common. About 20 billion dollars were spent on foreign visits. The economy dwindled. Random rants about Pakistan. Demonetisation. Women were (are) being brutally raped and murdered. Laws were arbitrarily amended for the worse. Filmmakers were accused of 'hurting the Hindu sentiments' when it was clearly not the case. History textbooks and names of cities were changed for no reason. Farmers commited suicide. An entire state was detained. More rants about Pakistan. Detention camps (!) were built. Peaceful protestors were beaten black and blue. Politicians who opposed the government were (are) trolled for no reason. Pushing for a One-Party system. And worst of all, the media either slept through all of it, or was busy putting the central government on a pedestal for no apparent reason or achievement. Journalists who tried questioning the government were shot.
Despite all this, they got re-elected in the centre once again in 2019 and this time all hell broke loose, for the public could now see them for who they were, anti-democratic, anti-secular, extremist, divisive, Islamophobic, fascist brats!
In December 2019, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (now law) was passed. This law provides citizenship to anyone identified as being in India illegally, if they are from a non-muslim community (Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists) and originally from Pakistan, Bangladesh or Afghanistan. This act, clubbed with the National Register of Citizens is dangerous. Under NRC+CAA, millions of people have to present documents proving their Indian citizenship. If you're from a non muslim community and you do not have the required documents, then chill, you'll still be 'Indian'. But if you're a Muslim, you immediately lose your citizenship due to CAA and will be either deported or sent to detention camps. They carried out NRC in Assam and about 19 lakh people lost their Indian citizenship and were sent to concentration camps.
Also, it's not just about the Muslims. Think of the poor people. The illiterate people. The destitutes. The transgenders. The tribals. The people who DO NOT wish to be associated with any religion i.e. athiests. There are so many more.
Some of you might say, so what? Just show the documents and get it done, simple! NO. IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE. IT'S NOT SIMPLE WHEN YOU HAVE TO PRESENT 60-70 YEAR OLD DOCUMENTS IN ORDER TO PROVE YOUR INDIANNESS. Also, do you REALLY think that every person carries the birth certificates, insurance policies and other documents of their ancestors? Think again.
I am a Muslim and I'm scared. For the first time in my life; I'm scared to be in my own skin, of my own identity. I'm afraid of calling myself an Indian. The possible outcomes of the implementation of NRC+CAA makes me shiver. Who knows, I'll be gone from the face of the earth. Or left to rot in a detention camp? Or something else?
Remember the last time concentration camps were built?I don't think I need to remind you of it.
BJP is a fascist part which rose to power largely because of its favour of 'Hindutva' and follows the ideologies of the RSS. This includes the building of a Hindu state. A quick google search will tell you how impressed the RSS leaders and BJP fathers were with Hitler and supported his Nazi system.
These new laws are eerily similar to the Nuremberg laws and Reich Citizenship laws of Nazi Germany, which dictated who all were eligible to be Reich citizens. It excluded Jews, the same way the CAA excludes Muslims. All of it was done (is being done) legally following constitutional norms by those in power. The Nuremberg laws were, in many ways, the beginnings of Genocide against the Jews.
With the Citizenship Amendment Act, Modi and Co. Is trying to bring the system in India too. It's a step towards their dream of a 'Hindu state'. The act is fundamentally discriminatory in nature, undermines the constitutional right to equality and discriminates on the grounds of religion. Also, now that everyone is after NRC CAA, nobody is asking the real questions, about the state of the economy, the rising prices, the never ending crimes against women...the list goes on.
A genocide against the Muslims is well underway in India.
Ever since the bill was passed by the parliament, students of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi have been actively involved in peacefully protesting against it. They've been joined by students from educational institutions all over India, plus the general public, who understand what this new law really is. The BJP has been trying hard to stop and discredit these protestors. The police, acting on Modi and Co's orders is resorting to extreme violence in order to stop the students and protestors. The police have open fired on the students, molested the female ones, sprayed tear gas and beaten students mercilessly(many have ended up in hospitals with broken bones, injuries, one guy lost an eye). They are provoking the peaceful protestors to resort to violence and then putting them in jail for crimes they did not commit. BJP, and their blind supporters (bhakts) are spreading fake news through their social media and labelling the protestors terrorists. The government has shut down internet and other modes of communication in several parts of the country, the whole state of Assam has blacked out. We don't know what's happening there.
Now we understand what Kashmiris have been going through. Cut out from the rest of the world (since almost 140 days, a record for any democracy), under constant watch of the military, stripped off their basic human rights and what not!? We are sorry Kashmir, we failed you.
I salute the protestor's spirits, they haven't lost hopes or taken backfoot because of the violence instigated against them by the police; they've stuck to their cause and are responding with almost superhuman strength! I pray for them all day.
If you are reading this, please spread this! Tell about the situation of India to everyone. Raise awareness. Be respectful in disagreements but demolish opposing arguments using pure logic. Stand united! If you can, participate in the protests. If you're already doing it, kudos to you! Remember, DO NOT RESORT TO VIOLENCE. If you're outside India, please help us and tell people about this state of affairs in India. Educate people about the ill effects of this law. Please! I request you please help us! We need to show these fascists the power of the people. We cannot just silently stand by as Modi and Co make a joke of our constitution and morals! This cannot, and should not continue!!! This is not about being a Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Sikh or Jain or Parsi, it's not even about being political, it's about being an Indian! It's about being a human.
....And now, coming to the Ostriches, those who have their heads buried in the ground, those who are pretending there's nothing wrong happening in the country right now, those who think that NRC+CAB are not anti-national, those who are still supporting the BJP, those who are silent because they don't want to make political statements, I have only one thing to say to you; when we are silenced, I hope you regret being silent.
And never think that Allah is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. He only delays them for a day when all the eyes will stare, in horror...