When it was tabled in the Parliament, it was a Bill called ((CAB), and when passed by the Parliament and signed by the President, it became an Act called (CAA). *On ground, there was no problem till the "B" became "A", because the Opposition was hopeful of defeating the Bill. Thereafter, India started burning by the fire of hatred against the Modi govt, because defeat is difficult to digest. Moreover, the Opposition found it an ideal opportunity to incite the sentiments of the Muslims as well as the pseudo-secularists with the aim of reversing the vote swing. Perhaps never again can they hope for such a golden opportunity. These were very complex issues made simple by the Modi Sarkar, or simple issues made complex by the Opposition Parties. Or was it vice versa ? Well the perception will vary depending upon the political party that you support.

1. CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT BILL (CAB)/ACT (CAA) AND NATIONAL REGISTER
OF CITIZENS (NRC) :_* _By Brig BL Poonia, VSM (Retd).
*Part 1.*
When it was tabled in the Parliament, it was a Bill called ((CAB), and when passed by
the Parliament and signed by the President, it became an Act called (CAA).
*On ground, there was no problem till the "B" became "A", because the Opposition was
hopeful of defeating the Bill. Thereafter, India started burning by the fire of hatred against the
Modi govt, because defeat is difficult to digest. Moreover, the Opposition found it an ideal
opportunity to incite the sentiments of the Muslims as well as the pseudo-secularists with the aim
of reversing the vote swing. Perhaps never again can they hope for such a golden opportunity.
These were very complex issues made simple by the Modi Sarkar, or simple issues made
complex by the Opposition Parties. Or was it vice versa ? Well the perception will vary
depending upon the political party that you support.
* Though CAB is relatively simple, yet not as simple as booking an Ola or Uber cab.
*It's aim is to protect the interests of those members of the "minority communities" of
Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who have been forced to seek refuge in India, being
victims of 'Religious Prosecution'. The bill simply provides them a relief by granting them Indian
citizenship in a reduced time frame of seven years instead of the earlier time frame of 12years.
This is very much within the ambit and scope of Human Rights (relating to life, liberty, equality
and dignity) as enshrined in the UN charter.
* The Muslims have not been included since they do not form a part of minority
communities in these three countries.
*However, one may argue as to how to do justice to the cases like that of Taslima
Nasreen, who too, though belonging to the majority community of her country of origin, ie
Bangladesh, is a victim of 'Religious Prosecution'. She had been issued multiple 'fatwas' by the
fanatic Muslims of many countries for her novel 'Lajja' (Shame), and subsequent books
thereafter. Bangladesh had revoked her passport 25 years ago. For the past 25 years, she has been
compelled to seek refuge in various countries.
* After living for more than a decade in Europe and the US, she moved to India in 2004,
during the Congress regime. However, she was banished in 2008, although she had been living in
Kolkata on a long-term multi-entry visa or 'X' visa since 2004. Initially Shivraj Patil and later P
Chidambaram were the Home Ministers of India in 2008.
*Finally, as a last resort, she obtained the citizenship of Sweden. The reason for her
banishment from India was, that in 2007, after an attack on her by Muslim fanatics in
Hyderabad, Taslima was kept under house arrest by the West Bengal govt and thereafter asked to
leave India. This was to apease the Muslims. This was the easiest and the simplest way to resolve
a sensitive problem, with total disregard to humanitarian approach.
*_
*Part 2.*
Well, such cases like that of Taslima Nasreen could have been handled by granting
citizenship based on the Citizenship Act 1955, the way Adnan Sami was granted Indian
citizenship with effect from 01 Jan 2016. But Taslima Nasreen was denied the same. Why ?
Because the fanatic Muslims of India didn't want her to be an Indian citizen. Moreover the
Congress govt and the likes of Mamta Banerjee can't risk losing their assured vote bank. They

2. can't afford to give citizenship to the victims of 'Religious Persecution' like Salman Rushdie and
Taslima Nasreen. But today they are the ones who are inciting the Muslims for not being
included in the list of those communities which can seek citizenship of India for 'Religious
Persecution'.
* Taslima Nasreen had thanked Mr Amit Shah on Twitter, for granting her the visa and
stated that his predecessor, Shri Rajnath Singh had "assured" her that "she would get an
extension for 50 yrs."
*She further stated, "India is my only home. Hope you (Amit Shah) will come to my
rescue. Even though I am a Swedish citizen, I belong to this part of the world, psychologically
and mentally. I have everything here, in India, not just my books, my readers, everything. Now I
believe I have a home, which consists of a family of people, men as well as women, who bravely
oppose the forces of darkness and ignorance (she has three lakh twitter followers, and lakhs and
lakhs of more followers, cutting across the religious lines, who appreciate her moral courage).
The hearts of the people of India are my home, my country, and my safe refuge."
* When asked as to why doesn't she apply for Indian citizenship now, she replied, "To do
that I have to first give up the Swedish citizenship, since dual citizenship is not permitted in
India. And my worry is that due to the political pressure of Muslim fanatics of India, if I am not
granted Indian citizenship, I will lose the Swedish citizenship too."
*Today let the Modi govt grant Indian citizenship to only two people, ie Salman Rushdie
and Taslima Nasreen, both of whom are the victims of 'Religious Persecution', and see how the
Congress Party, Mamta Banerjee and the other Opposition Parties including the ones, like Nitish
Kumar's JDU and Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Jan Shakti Party who had even supported the CAB in
Parliament, would change colours and incite these very Muslims to burn India : All to gain the
Muslim votes.
* And the pseudo-secularists who are protesting alongwith the Muslim fanatics have not
understood the political game plans of the Congress leaders like Sonia, Kapil Sibal,
Chidambram, Rahul and Piyanka Gandhi, and TMC's Mamta, and RJD's Lalu & Co, and AAP's
Arvind Kejriwal, the UPA supporters.
*But there is a section of sane Muslims, both in India and abroad, who openly oppose
protesting against the CAA, stating that no injustice has been done. Those parties and the fanatic
Muslim leaders who today are inciting people to burn India, would again burn India with flames
of larger intensity if the Muslim victims of 'Religious Persecution' are granted Indian citizenship,
because they would invariably be accompanied by multiple 'fatwas'. Accept it or not, this is the
bitter truth.
* This was about CAB/CAA, the simpler part. Now let's come to the more complicated
part, *ie the NRC.*_
*Part 3.*
The roots of NRC lie in the liberation of Bangladesh.
*After the liberation, in the historic meeting between Mrs Gandhi, the then PM of India
and Sheikh Mujibur Rehman of Bangladesh, the latter told Mrs Gandhi that he would take back
the refugees who had fled the earstwhile East Pakistan after 25 Mar 1971. He, however, stated
that he would not take back any one who had migrated to India before 25 Mar 1971; the date of
creation of Bangladesh govt in exile. This meant that lakhs of Bengali Hindus and Muslims who

3. had illegally migrated from East Pakistan into India from 1950, when India had become a
Republic, till 25 Mar 1971 could not be detected and deported. Mrs Gandhi agreed, thereby,
regularising at one stroke lakhs of immigrants from East Pakistan.
* The illegal migration from Bangladesh continued into Assam. The cut-off year for
detection of illegal migrants from East Pakistan was 1951 as per the provisions of the Citizenship
Act of India. The National Register of Citizens was prepared on the basis of 1951 being the cut-
off year. And it was on the basis of this Register that detection and investigation of cases under
Foreigners Act were carried out.
* Eight years after the liberation of Bangladesh, a very ordinary event triggered a huge
spark. In 1979, Mr Hiralal Patwari, the sitting MP of Mangaldoi constituency in Assam died.
When the issue of bi-election came up, the people of Assam represented to the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) that the electoral rolls of Mangaldoi constituency should be revised since
there was a large number of foreigners in the constituency.
*After inquiries conducted, the CEC announced that the bi-election would be held only
after the electoral rolls were revised. At this juncture, the politicians took over.* Mr Morarji
Desai had to step down as some of his coalition partners decided to defect. Charan Singh became
the PM with the Congress support.
*The Muslim lobby pressurized the Congress to prevail upon the CEC to conduct the
polls without revising the electoral rolls. The Congress succumbed to the lure of the political
gains, and the CEC under pressure from the Congress leadership wilted and announced tamely
that he would conduct the elections in Mangaldoi on the basis of 1976 electoral rolls.* The
Congress had stood like a banyan tree in the political life of Assam, allowing nothing to grow
under its shadow.
*In Assam the result of this was electrifying. The different groups of students and youth
bodies combined to form the Assam Gan Parishad (AGP) and started the Foreigners Movement.
This was a unique movement that resembled the Quit India Movement of India. Meanwhile, the
issue of cut off date of 25 Mar 1971 was creating a lot of simmering debates. The Foreigners
Agitation Movement started in 1979. During this agitation, the leaders of All Assam Students
Union (AASU) were continually pressurized by the Congress Party to accept 25 Mar 1971 as the
cut off date, but they refused to accept it. "No Revision, No Elections", said the agitators.
* After four years of agitation, in which lakhs of people courted arrest and shook the
whole state, the Central govt, under the Prime Ministership of Mrs Indira Gandhi decided to
force an election in Assam.*_
*Part 4.
This election of Feb 1983 was a farce. For the people of Assam, it was a blood bath.
More than 4000 people were killed in firings by the police and CPOs on crowds agitating against
the election. From 02 to 21 Feb 1983, the State of Assam was at war.
* In an atavistic frenzy, the Assam caste Hindus, and the Bengali Muslims and Hindus
fought pitched battles in the dry paddy fields with spears, bows and arrows.
*On the flat fields of a sleepy village called Neillie, occurred perhaps the worst pogrom
on a single day. The Neille massacre toll alone accounted for more than 1700. Bodies were
scattered acre after acre, field after field. In some cases, entire families were wiped out. In one
case a family of seven laid out neatly near the bank of a canal : father, mother and five children.
The youngest was an infant not more than a few months old; he had been beheaded. Indira

4. Gandhi flew to Nellie to comfort the wounded and assure the victims of her support. But she was
not in the least remorseful for calling the elections.
* This blood bath meant nothing to her, she simply blamed the students for the tragedy,
saying they had created a climate of violence.
*However, the election results were predictable : Congress won a landslide victory. The
youth of Assam had decided that they would have no option but to take to the gun. And thus was
born, the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), as a result of the blood bath of an election.
* They contacted the Naga militant group NSCN in Dimapur, and soon the first cadres
were on their way to the NSCN camp in the Sagaing Division of Burma for training.
*The Central Govt had one more jolt for the Assamese people. Smarting from the spirit
shown by the Assamese people, they legislated an act called the Illegal Migrant (Determination
by Tribunal) - (IMDT) Act in 1983, ostensibly to facilitate the detection of foreigners in
Assam.This was a cruel joke on the Assamese people. Infact, this Act made it virtually
impossible to deduct a foreigner. Under the IMDT Act 1983, it was for the Police to prove that
the suspect was a foreigner, not for the accused to show that he was an Indian.
* In all such Acts across the world, it is the suspect foreigner who has to prove that he is
a national. For 14 years since 1971 there was no legal basis for making 1971 as the cut off year,
but two years after the 1983 election and continual attrition on the leaders of the agitation in
Assam, they finally decided to sign an accord with the Central Govt.
*The Assam Accord was signed in 1985, and announced by Rajiv Gandhi, the then PM,
from the Red Fort on 15 Aug. Regrettably, the leaders of the agitation who had stood off the
blandishments of the Centre for years, succumbed to the lure of power and agreed to accept 25
Mar 1971 as the cut off date. The Citizenship Act of India was promptly amended and the cut off
year was now shown as 1971 and not 1951, courtesy the Assam Accord 1985.
* The Govt of India had finally found a way out of the impasse after keeping the issue
burning for 14 years, and regularising the massive infiltration of 20 years (1951 to 1971).
*Meanwhile, the IMDT Act had been challenged in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in
the Supreme Court. The Court finally decided the case in 2005, after 22 long years, and ruled
that the IMDT Act was unconstitutional and repealed it. But the Central Govt (then led by
Congress Party), did nothig to conduct an NRC since Assam Accord of 1985. The AGP was
happy enjoying power. Now the same NRC had to be conducted by the Modi govt, under the
supervision of the Supreme Court of India. By now 34 years had elapsed since the signing of the
Assam Accord, and 48 years since the cut off date of 25 Mar 1971. Three generations of the
infilterators had lived in Assam and the fourth generation was growing up. They had no
documents to prove that they were Indian citizens, nor any to prove that they were Bangladeshi
citizens. The whole exercise proved futile. And the Congress had the last laugh. Now the
questions are : a. Where do they go now ? b. And who is to be blamed for this ?
* While I will not sit in judgement, but having given the entire background of the the
illegal migrants and its repurcussions in Assam, *I leave it to the judgement of each reader to
form his/her own opinion on :
a. Whether the Central Govt of the day should go in for conducting NRC throughout the
country ?
b. Should the Opposition Parties incite violence to oppose the constitutionally enacted
Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) ?
c. Or shall we follow the writings of our reverred Indian scripture Maha-Upnishad :
महोपनिषद् , - "उदारचररतािाांतु वसुधैव कु टुम्बकम " - "सारी दुनिया एक पररवार "?

5. * Give it a cool thought as it's a matter of serious national importance. *However, while
you do that, let's examine as to why do the Bangladeshis prefer to infiltrate into India ?*_
*Part 5.
The North-East has been described as Asia in miniature, a place where the brown and
yellow races meet and mingle. Migration is a world wide phenomenon affecting even Europe
and USA. All creatures of this planet including mankind, tend to rush to areas which can ensure
their survival, where political boundaries lose their meaning.
* As far back as 1921, CS Mullen, the Census Commissioner for Assam wrote on
migration, in a census report : "It looks like a marvel of administrative organisation on the part of
the Government, but it's nothing of that sort. The only thing I can compare it is to the mass
movement of huge body of ants." More than any other nation in the world, Bangladesh
represents the Malthusian nightmare; overpopulated, with growing landless community, and not
enough to feed itself, or too many people on too little land. Despite its teeming fertility, its rivers
flowing with fish and its rich soil, Bangladesh is one of the poorest nations in the world.
* The soil is so rich that it sprouts vegetation at the drop of a seed, yet that has not
prevented Bangladesh from becoming a festering wound of poverty.
*Nature can be as brutal as its bountiful. Bangladesh appears to be perpetually moving
through an unending cycle of floods, death, devastation, drought and famine. Marauding rivers
burst their banks and change their course with impunity. And when their peak seasons and flows
coincide, the Bangladeshi cup of misery flows over to India.
* Historically, the not-so-thickly-populated state of Assam has long attracted the Bengali
Muslim migrants in search of land. Today, the islands of Brahmaputra River are fully occupied
by the Bangladeshi migrants.
*Economic and political calculations have been upset as the migrants put pressure on
scarce resources and services such as housing, power, drinking water, sewage and sanitation. It is
not a question of throwing out a few million migrants, but also a question of the crisis in
Bangladesh, an unending cycle of poverty, overpopulation and hopelessness that is fuelling these
flows of people in India.
* This, as much as any other factor, is creating the social storm which is tearing society
apart in Assam, Tripura and other parts of the North-Eastern India.
*The Buddhist Chakmas and Hindu Hajongs refugees had come to India from
Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts) in mid-1960s, having lost their homes and land to Kaptai
Dam Project, followed by religious persecution. They came to India via Lushai Hills (Mizoram)
and were placed in relief camps in Tirap, Lohit and Subansiri districts of then NEFA, now
Arunachal Pradesh. The state govt opposed the re-setting of these refugees, claiming it would
change the demography and be a strain on the resources. When they had come, they were 20,000
in number, now they are about one lakh. Though cleared for citizenship now, they can't own land
in Arunachal and will have to apply for Inner Line Permit. This poses another set of questions :
a. Where do the go now ?
b. Who is to be blamed for this ?
* However, the problems need to be viewed even within Bangladesh itself, where
settlement of Muslims on tribal lands in Chittagong Hill Tracts has led to alienation and armed
revolt.
*Now it has come to lndia too, where the pressure of numbers is fast outstripping
resources and facilities, such as housing, land, energy, water-supply and sanitation. But when the

6. absorptive capacity of any society ends and tolerance is exhausted, the disruptive reaction of
awakened and embittered local populations begins to rise. And that's why there is so much
opposition to the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) in Assam, as they will have to absorb the
maximum numbers.
* But the opposition of CAA in other parts of the country (other than the seven sisters of
the NE) is simply politically motivated to exploit the Muslim vote bank.
*After Assam* (though AGP is shedding crocodile tears, as they were the ones who had
let down the people of Assam by keeping quite on NRC for greed of power since 1985), West
Bengal has the maximum number of Bangladeshi migrants, but since they form the core vote
bank of Congress, TMC and the Left parties, there is no opposition to this issue.
*Politics in India has come to mean the ability to speak into the hearts of millions without
a word coming from the heart, to utilize the traumas of individuals and society to draw political
mileage, and to free one's soul from the burden of conscience. And that's how and why they can
incite violence and destruction of public property to exploit their narrow political gains.