India Hindsa Bharat: 2019

Monday, December 23, 2019

India: Laws which Discriminate Against People

Constituent Assembly, which drafted and made the law for India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, was sitting and debating the laws and rules in the backdrop of partition, and migration of people. In the overwhelming absence of Muslim inside the constituent Assembly, it was left to the likes of B R Ambedkar and Jawahar Lal Nehru to follow the spirit of ‘Equality before Law’. Muslim members of the Assembly could only dissent and disagree and in the end it did not matter. Discriminatory constitutional provisions, and laws are result of such an exercise, which shows majoritarian view.

Here are some of the Laws which are discriminatory in nature against Muslims and minorities.

Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019

It excludes Muslims, while allowing other illegal migrants to seek Indian citizenship. The Law seeks to grant rights to Hindus, Jains, Parsis and several other non-Muslim religious groups who migrated from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Fifth Ordinance, 2016

The act passed in 2016 targets Muslims and is aimed to deny the children, successors, descendent from being the legitimate heirs to the land and properties spread over India. Though there are no exact figures to find, the value of the property may be more than INR 100 Lakh Crores.

The Enemy Property (Amendment and Validation) Fifth Ordinance, 2016 amends the Enemy Property Act, 1968 and the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971. The interest of the central government in passing the Act was to particularly stop Raja of Mahmudabad from inheriting his ancestral property worth 60,000 Crores. It could not pass the Act, so it promulgated series of Ordinances in January, April, May and August 2016. Indian government had designated properties belonging to Muslims migrating to Pakistan as ‘enemy properties’.

The Ordinance bars civil courts and other authorities from entertaining cases against enemy properties.

( Raja of Mahmudabd has been fighting the battle for 45 years, and after he won the court battle, he was stumped by the ordinance passed by the government in 2016. The new ordinance wants to confiscate property of Muslims, denying them the law of Inheritance, equality, and punish them for the decision of their ancestors. If it is not draconian law?

It is noteworthy that properties of Muslim Nawabs who allegedly sided with the British during the 1857 Revolt has also been declared ‘Enemy Property’. All Hindu, Sikh Rajas and Maharajas continue to enjoy and inherit their ancestral property, even though many of them like Raja of Patiala, Raja of Mysore, Sindhias sided with the British in 1857 and afterwords.

ARTICLE 341

This is discriminatory against Muslims, as it denies right of Reservation to Muslims, and Christians. For long people have been demanding for the amendment, as Sikhs and Buddhists were included later on.

Muslim Women (Protection of Rights & Marriage ) Bill 2019

Indian media was devoting 24x7 news to Triple Talaq. The Bill made a family issue , civil matter a criminal offence. It was a loss of face for the atheists-liberals brigade, as they had campaigned against the Divorce rights. And it was to target the Muslim community. In 2018, the Government promulgated ordinance, and after victory in 2019, it was the first bill passed by the government. Instead of solving and resolving family dispute through mediation and arbitration , its aimed to destroy the family and harass the male. Its a retrograde step and denies the principle of gender neutrality, like 498A.

Anti-Conversion Laws

Many states in India and the centre has passed Laws ( Freedom of Religion Act) to stop Hindus from converting to Christianity, Islam and other religions. However, there is no restriction if Muslim, tribal or others join Sanatan Dharma. In 2014-15 , the radical Hindu outfits and its affiliated organs carried out aggressive campaign to lure Muslims into Sanatan Dharma, in what was called Ghar Wapsi. After the murder Graham Steins by Dara Singh in Odhisa, dozens of Adivasi were converted into vedic Dharma by Shankaracharya of Puri. Of the 29 states in India, seven—Gujarat (2003), Arnachal Pradesh (1978), Rajasthan (2006), Madhya Pradesh (1968), Himachal Pradesh (2006), Odisha (1967), and Chhattisgarh (1968)—have adopted a Freedom of Religion Act commonly referred to as an anti-conversion law.

These acts outlaw conversion by use of force, inducement, or any fraudulent means; aiding any person in such a conversion is also banned. If any person wants to convert, he has to inform the District authorities in advance, and only after letter and approval, the conversion will be allowed. These acts are in violation to freedom of religion envisaged in Article 25.

The Special Marriage Act of 1954

It includes provisions that deny converts to non-Hindu religions (e.g.,

Judaism, Islam, and Christianity) rights and privileges. If either parent of a Hindu child converts to Christianity or Islam, that parent loses the right to guardianship over the child.

The Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act of 1956

It disqualifies converts from Hindu to be the guardians of their own children. Similarly, under the law, a Hindu wife who converts to Christianity or Islam loses her right to marital support from her husband. Conversion from Hinduism can also be a basis for divorce.

Article 19

Article 19 of the Indian Constitution protects freedom of speech, expression, and association. However, the Indian government despite being secular has only shown interest in promoting and celebrating Hindu rituals, festivals, and Rath yatras.

FCRA, 1976

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 1976 and amended in 2010, is used to target the NGOs and civil society organisations, which are associated with minorities , or work for them. After 2014, The government has closed many NGOs working for Dalits, Tribals and minorities. The Act has been used to also target charities. NGOs which criticise the government policy and question are targeted.

ARTICLE 48: PROTECTION OF COWS

During the Constituent Assembly debates, Cow was debated and the house agreed to promote the view that it was holy. Pandit Nehru in his book Discovery of India argues that cow and horse are equally sacred. Article 48 and most Indian states (24, as of 2015) have laws in place which restrict or ban cow slaughter. Since, 2014, the issue has been in the mainstream media, and many Muslims, Dalits, and tribals have been killed / lynched on mere suspicion. People can google and find the various facts related. For poor, beef is a critical source of nutrition, it is also critical for poor farmers to keep animals when it is not productive and barren.

The Hindu Marriage Act of 1955

Sikh, Jain, and Buddhist communities are deemed Hindu per Article 25 sub-clause (B). Muslims, Christians, and Parsis are denied this and are discriminated against.

The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological. Sites and Remains Act, 1901 & 1958

Ancient Monuments Protection Act , and other Acts of the Archaeological Survey of India are discriminatory against the Muslims. The Act has allowed the ASI to put its board in most of the medieval mosques, Eidgahs, and Qabristan, which prohibits prayers. For long time, the community has been asking for the right to pray in such places, as the space has shrunk and new places of woship has not come up. National Commission of Minorities have also requested the Government to allow prayers in the mosques and Eidgah. n Khirki Mosque, and Eidgah in Begumpur are example of neglect, and apathy.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986.

Aftermath of the Shah Bano episode, the case highlights the interest of the nation in the family affairs of Muslims.

Indian secularism is not visible in laws, cultural trends and practices . From time to time, the government make laws which are tyrannical in nature discriminatory towards its minorities. Like anti-Semantic Laws in Europe, SC & ST protection act, India requires to have Laws to protect lives of Muslims and other minorities.

India Inc. and MUSLIM

Trading, Business or Tijarat is Sunnah and is encouraged as a means of life in Islam. Still, Muslims lag behind in this and account for a very low share in India. One reason maybe that Muslims traditionally occupied in three professions for centuries—Ruling class (Rulers, nobles, and courtiers), Tax Collector, Military, and justice department. Even after centuries of rule, the banking, trading, and even the actual collection of revenue remained with non-Muslims. This explains the rise of Hindu Rao in Delhi and the role of Jagat Seth in Battle Passey and afterwards as fixers and manipulators.

Muslims own 8% of the country's total assets while their share of households stands at nearly 12%. This two-year-long study was jointly conducted by the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), Jawaharlal Nehru University and Indian Institute of Dalit Studies from 2015 to 2017, and is based on NSSO data from 1.10 lakh households across various states.

An ET Intelligence Group analysis indicate Muslims constitute a mere 2.67% of directors and senior executives — 62 of the 2,324 executives — among the BSENSE -1.04 % 500 companies. The number of Muslim-owned registered Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) has come down in the country from 10.24 per cent in 2009-10 to 9.1 per cent in 2014-15, as per the Annual report of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise. Muslim representation in the unorganised MSMEs, which is around 2-crore strong, is 12 per cent.

The traditional businesses operated by Muslims included industries such as silk and sericulture, hand and power looms, the leather industry, automobile repairing and garment-making. However, many of these have been hit by liberalisation. The Clean Ganga project has mostly affected the Muslims trading in tannery and other leather related products.

The only region which has produced most of the businessmen is Gujarat, where the Bohra traders, Khojas and other Shia sects have excelled in business. Even Sunni Muslims of Gujarat have done fairly well in their choosen areas. In northern region, where the bulk of the Muslims were either Zamindars, Taluqdars or belonged to peasantry class, such stories are seldom to be heard. As rightly pointed by Akaar Patel, Gujaratis dominate the business class among Muslims in India. The fact that among Indian Muslims, the Gujarati Shias dominate in matters of business shows that it is not religion but linguistic community and caste that make the difference.

There are also Sunni businessmen in India, but few. The dominant community here is again Gujarati, like the Memons of Kutchch, who do business around the world. Bollywood’s Muslim producers also tend to be Gujarati, like the Nadiadwalas.

Hamdard - Rooh Afza, the delicious summer drink was out of market in Ramzan 2019. The Group is facing court battle among various claimants for ownership of the Hamdard. It was founded in 1906 by Hakim Abdul Majeed to make Unani medicine. The Group is known for various well known ready to use home remedies for cough, bad throat, pain relief, and stomach illness. It has also opened Hamdard University in Delhi.

Wipro : Azim Hashim Premji, Chairman Wipro Limited, is the richest Muslim businessman in the world. He is second richest citizen of India after Mukesh Bhai Ambani of Reliance Group. An electrical engineer from Stanford University, Premji transformed the vegetable oil family business into a world class company after diversifying the business. He founded the software division of the company in Bangalore and has been awarded ‘Padma Bhushan’. He has been very generous, and has donated 39% shares of its company to Azim Premji Foundation. His father, Late Mohammad Hashim Premji turned down request of Md Ali Jinnah to move to Pakistan. Both of them are from Khoja community. Despite owning the second largest business house in India, Azim Premji lives Spartan life. He shuns luxury and pomp and is comfortable to take auto rickshaw for local travel, and economy class for distant travel.

Himayalaya—Since its launch in 1934, Himalaya group has covered many milestone and is one of the trusted brands among herbal and ayurveda segment. Founded by M. Manal, it boasts of various medicines including Serpina. The company caters to health and personal care needs of consumers in 90 countries. It has been in business for 90 years.

M A Yusuff Ali (Lulu Group): Yusuff Ali Musaliam Veetti Abdul Khadir is the founder and Managing Director of the ‘Lulu Group International’. The Parliament Mosque in New Delhi was renovated by him recently. His business is spread across the world, with base in UAE, and is counted among richest Indians. He was honored with the ‘Padma Sri’ award. Lulu Group joined hands with Dubai Cares and adopted schools in Gaza and Nepal. He contributed and took initiative to open a multi-faith funeral centre for the Indian community in Sharjah. He often travels in his chartered plane, and is generously contributor to charity organisations.

Wockhardt group - It is owned by Dawoodi Bohra Dr. Habil Khorakiwala. The Khorakiwalas also founded the first departmental stores in India, Akbarally’s. It is one of the top ranked pharmaceutical company in India. The firm engages in an endless list of CSR activities and has a workforce of 7500 people from 14 nations. Educated at Purdue University, he runs a billion-dollar firm that makes generic drugs. Like other members of Bohra, he is traditional and is engaged in charity and other social work for the community. He avoids the company of progressive and reformers to avoid any clash with the sect and its spiritual leader.

Cipla – This company has rich heritage. It was founded by Khwaja Abdul Hamied, who was educated at Berlin University. He married a Jewish Farida. They hail from Kutch area of Gujarat and own one of the well known pharmaceutical firm, which claims to sell medicine to the people at affordable prices. Yusuf Hamied and other family member run the business. His father was a follower of father of Nation Gandhi Ji. He formed the Indian Drug Manufactures Association in 1961. His efforts resulted in a better growth in the pharmaceutical industry in the country. His company is the lowest-selling company of AIDS medicines. He also established a Care unit for Cancer patients in Pune.

Gulrez Alam- He founded Resultrix in 2008, which is a leading service provider of search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), affiliate and social media marketing. They are certified partners with Google AdWords and Google Analytics. Resultrix has also been listed as a Microsoft adExcellence Company.

Abu Asim Azmi /Farhan Azmi – He is owner of Infinity Hotels, which is the parent company of Koyla, Café Basilico, Basilico House, and ChaiCoffi. He is married to Bollywood actress Ayesha Takia. His father Abu Asim Azmi is also a politician.

Faisal Farooqui – He co-founded Zarca Interactive, an online survey software, MouthShut.com and Dealface.com. He has received various awards and titles, like the Manthan Award by Govt. of India . He also pioneered auto rickshaw advertising.

Irfan Razack - He established Prestige in 1986. It is now a public company, with over 90 million square feet of properties gracing its profile. He has received various awards including Real Estate Excellence Award (2008), the Best Developer Award (2009) by Karnataka State Town Planning Development.

AJMAL- In 2013, Badruddin Ajmal emerged as the opposition leader in Assam Assembly, and was widely seen as one of the contender for the top post in the state. He is head of Ajmal perfume, a group with business interests in India and abroad. He is also head of the All India United Democratic Front.

Nowhera Shaik. -Nowhera Shaik is controversial businesswoman and the founder of Heera Group. An Indian politician and current president of the All India Mahila Empowerment Party, She was arrested in 2018 for running a Ponzi scheme running in over 4000 crores.

Fishfa Group- Fakhruddin and Sajjad Husain are founders of the Group, which is best known glass supplier in India. They founded Fishfa Glass more than three decades back. According the the website, Backed by more than forty years experience in the glass industry, he is the cornerstone of Fishfa Glass’ success and progress through the years. His works and accomplishments speak for themselves – he has transformed the Fishfa Group into one of India’s top glass business houses based on trust, quality and service. Sajjad Husain is Vice Chairman and Sakina is operations Director.

VANJAX – It is supermarket for Hydraulic Tools, Equipment, Devices and Machines. Fakhruddin Vanak, is chairman of the industrial trolley and lift manufacturer. It is owned by Bohra and they follow Syedna, who proclaims, ‘strengthen the hand of those who are coming to power’.

Deep Group- Sharif Memon is owner of Deep Group, one of the biggest builders in Ahmedabad with around 65 lakh sq feet developed in the city. He named his building Al Burooj.

Lakhani, Ismaili, Tundiya & Co. - Kareem Lakhani is one of the most prominent Muslim chartered accounts in Ahmedabad. Since 1999, the Lakhani, Ismaili, Tundiya & Co has been in business. He was once so poor that he used to sell milk to make a living and lived in a slum called Ram-Rahim Nagar.

Zafer Sareshwala,- He is head of Parsoli Motors, a BMW outlet in Ahmedbad. He is considered to be close to Narendra Modi, and was rewarded with the post of Chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University.

Ali Hussain Momin, Internet, Gujarat- He owns Spider Communication which does printing and public relations and owns Muslim business networking platform Ummat. It has a turnover of Rs 50 crores in 2018. The firm also got the hospitality business of Vibrant Gujarat.

Maniar & Co, - (Safibhai Maniar, Gujarat )- Safibhai Maniar is the owner of Maniar & Co, which deals in material-handling equipment. His entire business set-up was gutted in 2002, but he has survived all riots with the philosophy – ‘ pay your taxes and ensure your business’.

Shahnaz Hussain – Her name is the brand name and a household name for ladies who are looking for herbal care for skin and beauty. She is herself the brand ambassador for products. She heads the largest organization of its kind in the world, with a chain of over 400 franchise clinics, shops, schools and spas worldwide, as well as Ayurvedic formulations for skin, hair, body and health care.

East-West Airlines- The owner of the Airlines was gunned down by Chota Rajan gang in Bombay. The business was run by the Wahid family. It is in air taxi business.

The Al-Kabeer group- It is run by the Allana family. It is one of the top meat exporter and also involved in other products. It is one of the five top export houses of the country.

Patel Roadways- Areef Patel is owner of this firm which one of the top transport companies of India. PATEL INTEGRATED LOGISTICS LTD. a part of the Multifaceted House of Patel’s, is in its sixth decade of operations. It provides Logistics solutions across the country.

Mirza International ( Kanpur)- The owner of the Red Tape Brand started their leather business in 1970. They are one of the large exporters of leather goods in India. It has presence in over 23 countries and sells its products in over 400 outlets in India. It has turnover of 480 crore in 2018.

LOKHANDWALA – The Lokhandwala Group of Companies, headed by Mr. Siraj Lokhandwala, is a trustworthy household name in Real Estate in India. It made a beginning with "Crystal Shine", in Santacruz in 1978. It has transformed Mumbai's horizon into architectural complexes. The group has used novel technologies on building better homes that last a lifetime. They have given name to a gigantic Bombay colony, and are one of India’s biggest builders.

LINK LOCKS – It is the brainchild of Mr. Zafar Alam. After pursuing his Mechanical Engineering from A.M.U, Zafar Alam, founded the company in 1970 in Aligarh, INDIA. It is well known brand in lock segment.

Arsalan Hotel ( Calcutta) - Arsalan , The restaurant group is owned by Akhtar Parvez and Ayesha Parvez. They have outlets in Kolkatta and Dubai. It was started in 2002 by Akhter Pervez. “We cook with love and that’s the secret behind our success. And we are planning to expand in Rajarhat” .

Nazeer Foods ( Delhi) – A well known Mughlai & Indian restaurant company in Delhi / NCR, it was founded in 1975 by Aftab Ahmed. He started a business of supplying poultry products to 5 star hotels in Delhi. He started restaurant business in 1987, and boasts of many branches in Delhi / NCR.

Karim Hotels ( Delhi)- Since 1913, the group claims to provide royal food to the common people of Delhi. It has been featured in Time list of top hotels in Asia, and has been featured in numerous stories, documentaries. It is popular destination for food lovers in Delhi / NCR.

Shahnawaz Merchant – He is the managing director of Aeliya Marinetech Private Limited, which is considered to be Asia's Largest Ship Breaking Yard Alang. The 12000 Sq. feet warehouse / stockyard is located nearby Alang Ship-breaking yard.

B. S. Abdur Rahman Group- They are owner of B S Abdur Rahman University and other business interests. They have around 36 years of experience in successfully running academic institutions.

Ayaz Basrai / Founder, The Busride – After passing out of the National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad), he founded The Busride, an independent design studio. His venture touched almost every field of work including films and advertisements. He also runs The Gypsy Kitchen.

Azhar Iqubal - Co-Founder and CEO, Inshorts : After dropping out from IIT –Delhi, he started up with News in Shorts App along with Anunay Arunav of IIT Delhi, and Deepit Purkayastha of IIT Kharagpur in 2013. The app provides an experience, of knowing it all, without reading it all.

Gulrez Alam / Global COO, Resultrix- Social media and e-commerce are essential weapons for the success and sustenance of companies. Without SEO and SEM, they would be as good as a gun without bullets. Gulrez Alam has spent more than a decade of making social media and e-commerce useful to his clients.

Irfan Alam – (Sammaan); He is Founder of Samman and won a contest where the people were asked to showcase their business ideas. He was called “Business Bazigaar”. In his company, the rickshaw pullers hold at least 51 percent of the stakes. He has organized the most scattered income generating sector in India - the rickshaw operators. He was invited for Presidential Summit, 2010 at Washington by the US President Barack Obama.

Irfan Razack / Managing Director, Prestige Group - The Razack Sattar family deals in the clothing, and shelter. Irfan Razack is Mr. Sattar’s eldest son. He studied commerce and graduated from St. Joseph’s College (Bangalore University) and was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by St. Joseph’s Old Boys Association. Later on, he completed a course in Jordan by the United Nations University International’s Leadership Academy (UNU/ILA).

Javed Akhtar (CEO, Travelport) - The relationship between employee productivity and employee satisfaction is crucial for any company. He saw a tremendous opportunity in it , and Travelport was born. All the elements of loyalty and promotions programs have been covered. He wants to open travel offices in malls, and other places to add convenience to quality.

Jawed Habib / Managing Director, Jawed Habib Hair and Beauty Ltd (JHHBL) - Nazir Ahmed, Jawed’s grandfather, cut the hair of the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Lord Mountbatten. Jawed started units in remote places and trained a handful of students at a time. He has over 200 saloons and 41 academies across India. He has diversified and has entered into haircare and beauty business.

Jazeel Badur Ferry - Co-founder, Eventifier- He wanted to build an app related to stock market integrating the SMS feature. This resulted in Eventifier, to archive the pictures and social media discussions threads while the event was on. It is considered to be one of the promising start-ups in India.

Mohammad Hisamuddin (Co-Founder, Innoz Technologies and Quest) : He wanted to unlock the treasures of SMS apps, and it resulted in Innoz and Quest. Quest is an Android and iOS based application that function as a search engine where people answer questions posed by other people. Innoz has been recorded the largest offline search engine, 2013, in the Limca Book of Records. He has won a number of awards, including Nasscom top 8 emerging technology companies in India 2010, top 10 mobile application developers in India 2010, and top 10 emerging product companies 2011.

Navaj Sharief – Founder of Ammi’s Biryani, the traditional homemade biryani packed in a box and delivered to you! He has not looked back after starting Ammi’s Biryani in 2008. Ammi’s Biryani has over 30 outlets spread across Bangalore and Chennai.

Shahnaz Husain/ Founder, Shahnaz Husain Group – Her name is now a well known brand for beauty and herbal solutions in India. She has her branches in many countries and is hers is one of the trusted brands in beauty sebgment.

Syed Mohammed Beary - CMD, Beary’s Group: Beary’s is involved in total reality, property development, and turnkey solutions, infrastructure and construction engineering, shariah as well as education. The BGRT is India’s first sustainable green building research park. They have as many as 16 educational institutes across the coastal towns of Karnataka. The group has won multiple awards over the years.

Sirajuddin Qureshi / CMD, Hind Industries- Apart from being the chairman of the Group, he is the President of India Islamic Culture Centre, New Delhi. He reportedly donated 2 crores to the organisation, located on Lodi Road. He has defeated Salman Khurshid and Arif Mohammad Khan to retain his grip on the IICC, and is considered to be close to RSS / BJP. In 2010, Sirajuddin Qureshi was invited by US President Barack Obama for an entrepreneurial summit in Washington.

Monginis = Zoher Khorakiwala is the chairman of the group which has made cakes affordable. Zoher joined the family business in 1972 and has transformed it with innovative ideas.

ANSARIS- Mumbai’s Mid Day newspaper group sold by the Ansaris in 2010. The Ansaris owned the Group which published Sportsweek, Mid Day & Inquilaba for 72 years.

MJ Akbar- He was the co owner and Founder of Asian Age. Later on he got his share and worked in Deccan Chronicle. He now published a weekly.

CAA , CAB , NRC and the People

The political discourse does not depend on facts and figures. Political groups can spin stories, dig in past and thanks to social media and WhatsApp University, an army of youth can be created as foot soldiers on any narrative, and even falsehood. After the bitter spell of post 1935 discourse, post-Mandal narrative, India is witnessing a new dawn in post-2014 public discourse. Its pathetic that secularism, progress, values, integrity, morality which is not only required for a particular group, but all groups have given way to regressive ideas, hate, majoritarianism and divisive agenda and Islamophobia. Western world realised the perils of hate, anti-Semitism after world War II, and US realised this threat after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. India, sadly have not been able to tame and control hate, communalism, divisive agents, even after three nations--Myanmar (1935), Pakistan (1947) and Bangladesh (1971) were born out of what was United India! In post-1947 India, PM Indira Gandhi, former PM Rajiv Gandhi, CM Beant Singh were victim of terror and hate

Indian Parliament has passed NAA -2019, in December 2019. The Act singles out Muslims from the list of prosecuted people, who are 'illegal Migrants', and shuts door for them. The idea of welcoming all non-Muslim illegal migrants is devoid of rationale and reason. Muslims are one of the prosecuted group in China (Ulghyur), Pakistan(Mohajir, Baloch, Ahmediya), Bangladesh(Urdu Speaking Muslims), Afghanistan(Hazara, Tajik), Myanmar(Rohingyas), Sri Lanka, and Maldives. Even Tamil Hindus, who are calling for separate Tamil Land in Sri Lanka are victims. Despite such facts, the CAA is enacted. And then it is also announced that 'NRC is coming', and it is repeatedly told that all except Muslims will be given Citizenship. So, this is in opposition to the what is the slogan ' Sabka Sath, Sabka Viikas'. Where it began?

Lets go back and find out. Muslims comprise 34% of Assam’s population. This has been the envy of the right wing groups and political parties for decades. It has been exploited by AASU/ AGP, and ULFA to target people. The right wing radical groups and political party turned the issue of illegal migrants into a communal one by promising citizenship to Hindu migrants, and denying the same to Muslim migrants. It led to huge electoral gains for the right wing groups and catapulted the right wing to power in Assam. Independent observers believe that NRC, CAA is aimed to reduce influence of Muslims as a political group.

Some Party promised that only it can stop Assam going ‘Jinnah’s way’ by implementing NRC and amending the Citizenship Act. Since then, the government at the Centre and in the State has been working in unison to deprive large number of Muslims of citizenship and to fulfil what it calls halting rise of Muslim population in Assam. In the list published on 31 August 2019, around 19 Lakh are not mentioned. In India, Lakhs of people are facing a dark future as their names have been omitted from the NRC. Some of these people, say 40-50 per cent, may regain their citizenship if they are not Muslims, as the new Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill), 2019 stipulates. The twin issues of NRC and CAB/ CAA 2019 is a contested issue in Assam, as Hindu migrants and Muslim migrants from Bangladesh are being treated unequally despite being equals.

The right wing came to power in 2016, promising the deportation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. They also promised to give citizenship to Hindu refugees, and made the citizenship issue communal by denying the same to the Muslims to further the Majoritarian agenda. What is NRC?

National Register of Citizens (NRC)

The first NRC was published in 1951 by recording particulars of all the persons. The current process of updating the NRC is the result of a 2009 PIL filed in the Supreme Court by NGO, Assam Public Works (APW). The APW claimed that 4.1 million illegal Bangladeshis had found their way into Assam’s voter list. Till 2019, the state has identified 1,13,738 individuals as D-Voters.

NRC is a roster of all those who settled in Assam up to the midnight of March 24, 1971. The Assam Accord mandated that those who settled in the state after the cut off date of March 24, 1971 would be weeded out and stripped of citizenship rights. The Supreme Court ordered the Assam government to update the NRC by a deadline and monitored its progress. The first draft of the roster was published on 30 July, 2018.

The Supreme Court ordered Assam government to update the NRC by a deadline and monitored its progress. Subsequently, the first draft of the roster was published on 30 July, 2018.

1. The Decision to Update the 1951 NRC At midnight on August 15, 1985, when the All Assam Student Union (AASU), the Government of the state of Assam and the central Government of India signed the Assam Accord. On May 5, 2005 a decision to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951, pursuant to the section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (Annexure-I), and Rule 4A of the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National identity cards) Rules, 2003 was taken.

in June 2010, a pilot project was carried out in Barpeta (Barpeta district), and Chaygaon, (Kamrup district). The pilot project was stopped, after a protest march by All Assam Minority Student Union on July 21, 2010.

About 68 lakhs families comprising 3.29 crores applicants have applied for inclusion of their name in the NRC.

There is no definition of Original Inhabitant (OI) either in the Citizenship Rule, 2003, the Citizenship Act, 1955, or in the Constitution of India. The NRC authority has carried out the process of identification and segregation of OI arbitrarily. A specific Application Receipt Number (ARN) has been issued against each household who have applied for registration in the NRC. There are many instances of mismatching of names lodged against the ARN. As a result, a sizeable number of applicants have been dropped out in the complete draft of NRC.

Following points are matter of concern need genuine consideration:

A. The NRC authority has failed to publish the prescribed documents, including the NRC 1951 and the voters’ lists up to 1971 in full form.

B. The NRC authority has failed to make the verification process free of arbitrariness.

C. The findings of the Family Tree verification have been used in a one-sided manner.

D. The NRC updation procedure is not error-free.

E. About 400 thousand applicants have failed to submit their claims.

F. There is a sizeable number of “doubtful” voters who have been marked “D”

G. Acquisition of citizenship by birth has not been enforced for applications filed by the descendants of persons who had been declared foreigners, and cases are pending before the Foreigners Tribunals.

H. The case of poor and illiterate people with no documents to prove their citizenship.

The NRC update exercise in Assam, began in September 2015 under the Congress government in the state, following the Supreme Court’s instructions. The NRC, first published after the 1951 Census, is now being updated keeping 24 March 1971 as the cut-off to essentially identify those who entered Assam illegally from Bangladesh after that date. Applicants have to submit documents to prove that their names appeared in the NRC of 1951, or in any of the electoral rolls of Assam until 1971, or in any of 12 other documents, issued before 1971.

The first draft of the updated National Register of Citizens was released on 31 December 2017 and the apex court directed the government to complete the whole process by 30 June 2018. An updated version is expected by August 31, 2019.

FEAR

The indigenous Assamese people feel the immigrants, will reduce them to a minority in their own land. But migration to Assam has been there for centuries. British occupied Assam in 1826, they imported Bangla-speakers for clerical work from West Bengal. Many labourers also migrated to work in tea gardens. In the 20^th century, there was ‘Grow More Food’ campaign, which also resulted in large number of Bengali peasants settling in Assam. It is assumed that there has been an increase in the population of Assam after 1906, and mostly it has been Assamese vs. Bengali. However, there has been attempts by vested interests to blame Muslims. This has been fuelled by colonial history of Edward Gait, which was published in 1906. However, this view is considered biased and is contested and countered by others.

Historian of Assamese origin Yasmin Saikia says, ‘Today, in place of history, Muslims have become a political category. The spectral haunting of the alien ‘Bangladeshis’ who are deemed the representatives of the Muslim problem in Assam is generating fear, distrust and even hatred’ .[1] There has been lot of disinformation with regard to the origin of Muslims of Assam. Yasmin Saikia writes, ‘The current politics of excising the Muslims from the Axamia community transforms them into the Other. The Muslims of Assam are a composite community constituted by at least four different groups: Muslim-Axamia (also called Goriya, Tholua or Khilonjia), Bengali speaking or Bhotia, up-country or Juluha (from UP and Bihar), and immigrant Muslims, referred to as Miya. The history of these diverse communities is important to know because they are a window to understanding Assam's composite culture created by Hindu, Muslim, Ahom, and many other groups that call themselves Axamia’.[2]

Yasmin blames Colonial Historian Edward Gait and his History of Assam (1906) for giving a wrong narrative of the Muslims in the state. She says, ‘ The "othering" of Muslims happened in the colonial period.The colonial government's greed for revenue collection encouraged migration from Bengal for increasing agricultural productivity, which, in turn, changed the demographic composition of Assam’[3].

About the origin, She further says, 'Muslim settlement in Assam followed multiple pathways over eight centuries. Further, the conversion of the Kamata ruler, Chakradhvaj (1455-1485) to Islam provided new fillip. Muslim are called Bongals or Goriya and they lived in the midst of other groups in the Ahom kingdom. She also talks of her own family as an example of assimilation in Assam. She says, 'My father's family history is a case in point. The progenitor of the Saikia clan, Sheikh Azimuddin came from Delhi and was inducted into the service of the Ahom king through a land grant, title, and all its benefits in perpetuity. He became a Saikia and an Ahom noble in 1595. The Saikias, like other Muslim families who served the Ahom kings, are recorded, but several other unrecorded narratives of assimilation and integration also survive to this day'[4]. Despite the various narrative about the origin of Muslims in Assam, some sections continued to claim about the rise of Muslim population. After independence, such voices grew but were subdued in the name of integration. The Bangladesh creation in 1971 further provided fillip to such narrative against the rise of Muslim population in Assam. During 1970s, there was lot of noise about ‘illegal Bangladeshi’ migrants in Assam.

Assam Accord:

In 1978-79, local leaders complained about rapid increase in the number of Muslims in electoral rolls. It led to demand by various bodies, including AASU to check the electoral rolls, identify the foreigners, and publish revised voters list. The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) / AGP built their political fortune on the Assam Agitation against illegal immigrants. The six-year-long agitation, culminated in the signing of the tripartite Assam Accord by the AASU, the Central Government and the Assam government on August 14, 1985.

The accord fixed March 25, 1971, as the cut-off date for the detection and expulsion of foreigners, illegal migrants irrespective of religion. It also called to seal the India-Bangladesh border to check illegal immigration. All Assam residents who had entered the state until January 1, 1966, would be deemed citizens. Constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, as may be appropriate shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the culture, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people. It is agreed that the NRC of 1951 should be taken as the cut off for defining “Assamese people” eligible for the proposed safeguards. Those who came in between 1951 and 1971 are Indian citizens, but not indigenous people.

In 1987, the United Muslim Front (UMF) lodged complain against the state AGP government for carrying a false campaign in the name of ‘Bangladeshis’. The UMF presented data before the Central governmet to prove that the AGP agitation and its exercise lacked proof. It stated that of the 2,45,167 cases of suspected foreigners investigated by the police between December 1985 (AGP came to power) and January 1987, only 7,771 were forwarded to the tribunals. And only 528 persons were declared foreigners. "So where are the lakhs of foreigners the AGP has been shouting about?" the UMF asked.

On May 5, 2005, the three parties, AASU, the state Government and the central Government, held a meeting in New Delhi in connection with the implementation of the Assam Accord and agreed to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) of 1951. It has been an Assamese-Bengali conflict, and not a Hindu-Muslim one, that is at the core of the tension surrounding illegal immigrants in Assam. Those excluded from the NRC will not automatically become foreigners. They have to be so declared by an FT. Once declared foreigner by an FT, a person is sent to a detention centre. Assam has around six detention centres, which run out of district jails.

While the NRC is being updated, the Central Government has also amended the Citizenship Act, and the exercise is aimed to provide relief to non-Muslims and exclude Muslims.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019 / CAA, 2019

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2019 (CAB) has amended the Citizenship Act of 1955. Now its CAA, 2019. The CAA, 2019 Bill seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis migrating from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to India before December 31, 2014. Migrants from these communities were earlier given protection against legal action in the years 2015 & 2016 and long term visa provision was made for them. Citizenship will be given to them only after due scrutiny and recommendation of district authorities and the State Government. The minimum residency period for citizenship is 7 years.

As per the 1955 Act, for citizenship by naturalisation, an applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, and for 11 of the previous 14 years. A reading of the CAB does not throw light on the basis of creating a new group of intended beneficiaries for citizenship.

The Government does not seek or explain why or how non-inclusion of the Muslims in the classification of beneficiaries would not be discriminatory or violate Article 14. It ignores the point that Rohingyas in Myanmar, Ahmadias in Pakistan, Shia Muslims in Bangladesh, Hazaras in Afghanistan, and Sunnis in Iran are facing religious persecution. Indian Muslims who migrated to Pakistan also face persecution in Pakistan, and are called Mohajirs.

The Ministry of Home notification mentions "religious persecution" for creating a new group of beneficiaries. The refugees of Sri Lanka and Myanmar are excluded on the ground that such countries would be dealt with by the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued on 29 December, 2011. The SOP calls for giving Long Term Visa (LTV) after due security verification to people facing persecution on various grounds. It clearly shows different solution to the same problem.

The amendment in the Citizenship Act of 1955 is said to benefit more than 30,000 people belonging to the Non- Muslim minority groups, who are staying on Long Term Visa in India. Those seeking citizenship ‘will have to prove that they came to India due to religious persecution.’

Inequality?

In Assam, the CAB violates the Assam Accord of 1985 and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Both (Assam Accord and NRC) are religion agnostic and set the cut-off data at March 24, 1971 for being declared as a foreigner or claiming citizenship.

The bill is giving preference of citizenship on the basis of religion, which is against the tenets of Indian Constitution, and violates Article 14, which guarantees right to equality. The bill also contradicts the 1985 Assam Accord, which states that illegal immigrants coming from Bangladesh after 25 March 1971 would be deported irrespective of their religion. The CAB violates the right to equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution, which reads: "The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India."

The law will not be confined to the state of Assam but will also provide relief to persecuted migrants who have come through western borders of the country to states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh. The beneficiaries of Citizenship Amendment Bill can reside in any state of the country and the burden of those persecuted migrants will be shared by the whole country.

At least 46 organisations, including supporters of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) observed a 12-hour bandh across the State to protest against the Centre’s bid to amend the Citizenship Bill , during the Assam bandh in on October 23, 2018. The Assamese and other indigenous communities in Assam say that the Bill is against the spirit of the Assam Accord as well as the National Register of Citizens being updated.

The general sentiment in Assam with respect to the bill has been that it will defeat the purpose of the NRC. The Sentinel, a leading local daily, warned in its editorial on January 5 what the Assamese people think of the citizenship bill: ‘The perverse decision of the Centre to ram through the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 against the wishes of the people of Assam will result in the migration of millions of Bangladeshi Hindus to Assam’.

The BJP is clearly eyeing the votes of Bengali Hindus, who were once a Congress vote bank, comprising less than 10% of Assam’s population of 3.29-crore. Many Bengalis, however, feel the Bill will do them more harm than good, specifically if 1951 is taken as the base year by the Assam government for a move to define who are ‘Assamese’ and ensuring political, land and other rights for only “sons of the soil”.

Citizenship has been the biggest pain point of Assam's political and social life during the past several decades. In 2018, the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) left over 3 million people out of the roster. The citizenship bill and NRC, do feed into each other. Once the NRC is updated to draw up a list of “illegal immigrants” the government will be able to legitimise and give citizenship to all the Hindus (and other groups) identified as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, while excluding the Muslims. It is this fear of being left out, being deprived out, which is haunting the Muslims of Assam. Are they Bangladeshis?

In 2016, inside the state Assembly, BJP MLA Ramakanta Deuri reportedly called his Congress colleague Sherman Ali “Bangladeshi”. Most of the Bengali-origin Muslim in Assam are afraid. One of them writes, ‘I also feel immense fear. when I first visited Guwahati. It was here that I first realised that I have another identity, a subordinate identity. I was a miya, a Bengali-origin Muslim, seen in Assam as an outsider, a suspected Bangladeshi’[5]. In Assam, the term “Miya” is used as a slur to brand Assamese Muslims of Bengali heritage as migrants from West Bengal, or worse, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.[6]

M K Gandhi started his political career against the discrimination being faced by the Indian Community in South Africa, and it included the Asiatic Act. The Act violated the rights of the Indian and other Asian community and discriminated against them in South Africa. And its travesty of justice that in his own land, an issue of Stateless people has emerged as a threat to the Muslims. India's tradition of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" the world is one family, and ‘Atithi Deva Bhava (Guest is manifestation of god) is also being tested.

For Muslims in India, struggling for life with dignity and self-respect, the NRC and CAB 2019 are the latest challenges. It is to be seen, if the community can deal with the issue in coherent manner, or simply watch as History is being made by the Majoritarian government in implementing its core Hindutva Agenda and deprive the Muslims of its numbers strength in Assam.

[1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/northeast-india/muslims-of-assam-presentabsent-history/5C1FA887C07576F096D944405D206B9A / Yasmin Saikia, Arizona State University

[2]

NRC and Muslims

Muslims comprise 34% of Assam’s population. This has been the envy of the right wing groups and political parties for decades. It has been exploited by AASU/ AGP, and ULFA to target people. The RSS and BJP turned the issue of illegal migrants into a communal one by promising citizenship to Hindu migrants, and denying the same to Muslim migrants. It led to huge electoral gains for the right wing groups and catapulted the non-Congress to power in Assam.

The BJP promised that only it can stop Assam going ‘Jinnah’s way’ by implementing NRC and amending the Citizenship Act. Since then, the right wing government at the Centre and in the State has been working in unison to deprive large number of Muslims of citizenship and to fulfil what it calls halting rise of Muslim population in Assam.

In the list published on 31 August 2019, around 19In India, around 40 Lakh people are facing a dark future as their names have been omitted from the NRC. Some of these people, say 40-50 per cent, may regain their citizenship if they are not Muslims, as the new Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2019 stipulates. The twin issues of NRC and CAB 2019 is a contested issue in Assam, as Hindu migrants and Muslim migrants from Bangladesh are being treated unequally despite being equals.

The BJP came to power in 2016, promising the deportation of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The BJP also promised to give citizenship to Hindu refugees, and made the citizenship issue communal by denying the same to the Muslims to further the Majoritarian agenda.

National Register of Citizens (NRC)

The Supreme Court ordered Assam government to update the NRC by a deadline and monitored its progress. Subsequently, the first draft of the roster was published on 30 July, 2018.

About 68 lakhs families comprising 3.29 crores applicants have applied for inclusion of their name in the NRC.

Following points are matter of concern need genuine consideration:

A. The NRC authority has failed to publish the prescribed documents, including the NRC 1951 and the voters’ lists up to 1971 in full form.

B. The NRC authority has failed to make the verification process free of arbitrariness.

C. The findings of the Family Tree verification have been used in a one-sided manner.

D. The NRC updation procedure is not error-free.

E. About 400 thousand applicants have failed to submit their claims.

F. There is a sizeable number of “doubtful” voters who have been marked “D”

H. The case of poor and illiterate people with no documents to prove their citizenship.

I. Who will be vulnerable: Adivasi , Dalits, Muslims

FEAR

Assam Accord:

In 1987, the United Muslim Front (UMF) lodged complain against the state AGP government for carrying a false campaign in the name of ‘Bangladeshis’. The UMF presented data before the Central government to prove that the AGP agitation and its exercise lacked proof. It stated that of the 2,45,167 cases of suspected foreigners investigated by the police between December 1985 (AGP came to power) and January 1987, only 7,771 were forwarded to the tribunals. And only 528 persons were declared foreigners. "So where are the lakhs of foreigners the AGP has been shouting about?" the UMF asked.

While the NRC is being updated, the Central Government has also amended the Citizenship Act, and the exercise is aimed to provide relief to non-Muslims and exclude Muslims.

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill (CAB), 2019 / CAA 2019

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2019 (CAB) seeks to amend the Citizenship Act of 1955. The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 Bill seeks to grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis migrating from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to India before December 31, 2014. Migrants from these communities were earlier given protection against legal action in the years 2015 & 2016 and long term visa provision was made for them. Citizenship will be given to them only after due scrutiny and recommendation of district authorities and the State Government. The minimum residency period for citizenship is 7 years. This is passed by Indian Parliament in December 2019, and is now CAA-2019.

The Government does not seek or explain why or how non-inclusion of the Muslims in the classification of beneficiaries would not be discriminatory or violate Article 14. It ignores the point that Rohingyas in Myanmar, Tamil Hindus & Tamil Muslims in Sri Lanka, Mohajirs, Baloch, Sindhi, Ahmadias in Pakistan, Urdu-speaking Muslims in Bangladesh, Hazaras, Tajiks in Afghanistan, and Sunnis in Iran are facing religious persecution. Indian Muslims who migrated to Pakistan also face persecution in Pakistan, and are called Mohajirs.

Inequality?

In Assam, the CAA /CAB violates the Assam Accord of 1985 and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Both (Assam Accord and NRC) are religion agnostic and set the cut-off data at March 24, 1971 for being declared as a foreigner or claiming citizenship.

The political party is clearly eyeing the votes of Bengali Hindus, who were once a Congress vote bank, comprising less than 10% of Assam’s population of 3.29-crore. Many Bengalis, however, feel the Bill will do them more harm than good, specifically if 1951 is taken as the base year by the Assam government for a move to define who are ‘Assamese’ and ensuring political, land and other rights for only “sons of the soil”.

For Muslims in India, struggling for life with dignity and self-respect, the NRC and CAA / CAB 2019 are the latest challenges. Many wonder why Muslims are being pushed to the wall. One after another non-issues are being highlighted to deflect attention from the real issues for political polarisation and votebank. It is to be seen, if the community can deal with the issue in coherent manner, or simply watch as History is being made by the government in implementing its core Hate Agenda and deprive the Muslims of its numerical strength in Assam, and target elsewhere to cement and corner a dedicated votebank for itself.

[1] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/northeast-india/muslims-of-assam-presentabsent-history/5C1FA887C07576F096D944405D206B9A / Yasmin Saikia, Arizona State University

[2] https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/who-are-the-muslims-of-assam/296831 / YASMIN SAIKIA22 APRIL 2016

[3] https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/who-are-the-muslims-of-assam/296831 / YASMIN SAIKIA22 APRIL 2016

[4] https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/who-are-the-muslims-of-assam/296831 / YASMIN SAIKIA22 APRIL 2016

[5] Growing up Miya in Assam: How the NRC weaponised my identity against me, ABDUL KALAM AZAD 23 September 2018 , Carvan

[6] https://caravanmagazine.in/communities/assam-against-itself-miya-poets-asserting-identity-intimidation-fir / Assam Against Itself / Intellectuals attack Miya poets asserting their identity, leading to intimidation and FIRs /AMRITA SINGH/02 August 2019

https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/who-are-the-muslims-of-assam/296831 / YASMIN SAIKIA22 APRIL 2016

[3] https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/who-are-the-muslims-of-assam/296831 / YASMIN SAIKIA22 APRIL 2016

[4] https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/who-are-the-muslims-of-assam/296831 / YASMIN SAIKIA22 APRIL 2016

[5] Growing up Miya in Assam: How the NRC weaponised my identity against me, ABDUL KALAM AZAD 23 September 2018 , Carvan