By H H Mohrmen
It is not easy to totally discard the allegation that the timing of the passage of the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) by both the houses of the Parliament was a deliberate and a well thought off plan targeting an important Festival of the people. It surely is no coincidence that the Bill was passed and made into a law just before the coming of the Festival celebrating, hope love and peace. More fodder was added to the fire of suspicion when the Bill was immediately given assent by the President. But the important question is, why is the Modi Government in hurry? What is the need of this mad rush to make the CAB into an Act? It is not as if the world would come to an end and all hell would break loose if the Bill is not passed immediately, or would it?
Is it then wrong to draw a parallel between the timing of the Government abrogating Article 370 which was just before the coming of the festive season of the majority population of Jammu and Kashmir and the making into law of the controversial CAB which also culminated in the festive season of another minority community in the country? These coincidences are too obvious to be pushed to the backburner. The protest against the CAA in the Northeast and in Assam in particular has taken not only the central government by surprise but even the BJP government in Assam did not expect the kind of protest that the state witnessed.
It is well understood that politicians particularly those of the ruling dispensation would blame the crowd and charge that the protest was a sponsored one, but how can we prove that? The point is that any person, group or a party which has under its command the crowd of that magnitude which acts spontaneously at its beck and call is indeed very powerful and the government of the day should indeed be afraid of it/them. But everybody knows that it is a typical trick employed by those who are against the protest to discredit the protestors, or else how could one explain what happened three decades ago when crowds came from both sides of the divide to bring down the gigantic Berlin wall?
The protest against CAA is a unique protest of its kind and others can reason and try to explain the factors that led to the protest, but only the people of Northeast can understand and also describe the real factors that led to the public eruption. The people who live in this landlocked region are proud of their unique culture and identity and they also have a special connection with the land they live in. Hence any attempt to tamper with their long cherished tradition and their profound relationship with the land will meet with this kind of protest. The people of the region are called tribals not because they are still savage but because they still share this common trait of being proud of their ethnicity, culture and identity and cherish their profound relationship with their land.
The Northeast has raised the first fist of protest against the Modi government and later the protest spread all over the country. It may be noted that the protest against the Modi government started from the foothills of the Himalayas which is home to the innumerable indigenous tribes distinct from one another yet united by the feelings that they belong to one region. The tribes are not only distinct from one another but were mostly independent of each other in the pre-Independence period and joined hands with Independent India and became part of the Indian Union during the Independence movement or even later. The strike is also a slap in the face of those who question the ‘northeast’ identity and those who conclude that there is no such thing as a Northeast identity and even deny the existence of the people who live in the space which is sometimes called the Seven Sisters.
The protest against the Act is considered a success because it has not only sparked a similar kind of protest elsewhere in the country, but more importantly it has compelled both Modi and Shah to cancel their proposed trip to the region. Politicians would therefore do themselves a favour if they try not to take the region for granted and bracket it like any other region of the country. The Northeast is different and they have a different feeling to the country which is difficult to understand by the people from the different parts of the country.
By nature the people of the region are welcoming and hospitable but they can be easily offended if their welcoming spirit and open-handedness is exploited and this brings us to the crux of the problem which is the feeling of being threatened by the passage of the CAA Recently in a CAA related discussion, a friend asked me which community I felt posed more threat to the ‘jaidbynriew’ or the indigenous community. This question is laced with poison which implies that if i don’t hate ‘A’ I have to hate ‘B’, and there is no other option. My answer was, “I oppose the CAA because i think it is unconstitutional and my layman’s understanding of the Constitution is that everybody is equal in the eyes of the law and the Constitution that I know respects all religions.
The point is if we are to have a mechanism to protect and preserve the unique culture and identity of the people and the land they belong to then it should not be based on any prejudices. It should be fair and irrespective of one’s caste, creed and gender. One feels that the flaw in this Act is that it is biased against one community. The foundation of any discrimination is hate and hate only begets hate. This is the difference between the present dispensation and its predecessor, while the latter tried to appease a certain community; the current government is thriving on disgust and looking down at the other community.
If the Congress as alleged is appeasing the minority, it is an open secret that the BJP is trying to please the majority population of the country. There is no difference between the two. They are only using different approaches to achieve one goal. It is understood that all parties will want to stay in power and use all the tricks of the trade to ensure that they stay in power, but at what cost? Can it be at the cost of dividing this great nation? Or more importantly can it be at the cost of the Constitution and democratic principles.
The protest is a positive sign because the public have demonstrated to politicians where the real power lies. In a democratic country power is with the people and they have to use it diligently. A democratically empowered people are those who ensure that the tricks used by politicians are by the book and as per the Constitution of the country. What CAA has done to the citizens of this country is to wake them up from their slumber and protest to uphold the spirit of the Constitution and strengthen the democratic principles of governing this country. Because hate knows no bound, today it could be community ‘A’ tomorrow it could be community ‘B’ and this will go on forever because hate only begets hate.
Therefore as the season of Christmas draws closer let us remind ourselves of the core message of Christmas which says; ‘Glory be to God in the highest, peace on earth and goodwill to humankind.’ As we sing the glory of God, let peace prevail and let us extend goodwill to one another and with all. That is when we celebrate the triumph of love, hope and peace over hate, and that to me is the spirit of Christmas.