The writer comments on a PBS NewsHour segment discussing ongoing Indian protests and the country's secular identity. The writer criticizes the media for not paying enough attention to discrimination faced by religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The writer also notes that the segment did not mention large pro-Citizenship Amendment Act rallies in India or wide public support for the act. The writer argues India's constitution originally did not include the term "secular" and questions whether protecting Hindu institutions from state seizure can truly be considered secular.

1. Comments on Friday December 27, 2019 PBS NewsHour broadcast
To: viewermail@newshour.org
Cc: alyssa@alyssaayres.com
Bcc: thebahuofbengal@gmail.com, presswingeoi@gmail.com, info@hafsite.org
Dear PBS NewsHour,
I am writing with respect to the segment on What ongoing Indian protests say about the country’s
secular identity, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-ongoing-indian-protests-say-about-the-
countrys-secular-identity, on your Friday, September 27, 2019 broadcast. I have copied Alyssa Ayres,
whom Lisa Desjardins interviewed for this segment, on this email.
My comments:
• I'm embittered that the media pays so much attention to the status of Muslims in India but
cares not one whit about the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Tell your
listeners about discrimination and abuse that religious minorities face in the Islamic countries of
Pakistan and Bangladesh. Religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh are not migrants,
but refugees. Tell your listeners about the precipitous drop in the number/percentage of non-
Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh. These are the reasons that the Citizenship Amendment
Act is needed.
• While Ms. Ayres focused on anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests, which she called
“inspiring,” she said nothing about large PRO-Citizenship Amendment Act rallies in major cities
of India. Nor did she say anything about wide support for the CAA among the Indian public.
• Concerning the “secular identity” of India, please note that "secular" was not in the preamble of
the original Constitution of India. According to Wikipedia, “secularity” is the state of being
separate from religion, or of not being exclusively allied with or against any particular religion:
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secularity. Many Hindus chafe at the clauses in the
Constitution of India that omit protection of Hindu institutions from state seizure. This is not
secularism.
A video of two hijab-clad university students who were protecting a man from police went viral. Here's
Ladeeda Sakhaloon, one of the two ladies, said about secularism:

2. Comments on Friday December 27, 2019 PBS NewsHour broadcast
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Clearly, Ms. Sakhaloon is a protester who is not agitating for so-called secularism.
Do better. Report news that supports the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Yours sincerely,
xxxx
Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bouma-of-Bengal-161615384026398/
Twitter: @TheBahuOfBengal
To learn more, consult:
Charter of Hindu Demands – Introduction, https://hinducharter.org/introduction/, which discusses
inequities in the Constitution of India
Human Rights Report | Hindu American Foundation (HAF), https://www.hafsite.org/resources/human-
rights-report, which covers human rights conditions for Hindus around the world, including Pakistan and
Bangladesh. HAF has been publishing these reports since 2005.