The good side of the ongoing citizenship law protests in various parts of the country is that the spirit of democracy is thriving. There is no democracy if people’s voices are not allowed to be aired. However, this is not to say that anarchy can be let loose. More or less, the present protests are largely peaceful but there are also the elements seeking to take advantage of the situation and unleash violence. This must be checked not just by the security forces who have fanned out to sensitive areas but also by those who organise the protests.
It is a testament of the spirit of unity beyond religious and other divide in India that the protests are led not only by Muslims – the main aggrieved party – but also by a cross-section of social activists. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought to give a class character to the present protests by saying this was less of a Hindu-Muslim fight and more of an issue of the common man. He has a salient point. The poor are the ones who would now find it difficult to prove their citizenship credentials should the NRC become a reality as it likely will, as most of them live in shanties with no proper civic recognition, and are caught in the daily grind for existence – be it in West Bengal or the North-Eastern states, or in the South where many of the marauding tribes and/or those of Bangladesh origin are now part of the workforce. Over the years, they have become part of the society.
The US has notably refused to intervene in the CAA or NRC exercise even by way of casual advice. The observation from the Trump Administration spokesperson a day ago is noteworthy; that India has “its own systems to take care of such disputes, namely a free press, a vibrant democracy and a court system to review all legislations.” Praise also came to India in the statement that, “the world’s largest democracy is debating so openly and publicly.” It was also pointed out by the US at this juncture that most other nations today do not have such a luxury —“You don’t have that kind of a conversation in most countries.”
Notably, the government is handling the situation with a mix of firmness and restraint. Things went out of control in West Bengal and some other spots, no doubt, and there were attempts there to tamper with rail tracks in dangerous ways by protesters comprising mostly of Bangladeshi settlers. High alert is called for to check such tendencies. But dissent must not be curbed. Let the debate go on.