Saddam Hussein
In an audacious move, Lok Sabha (House of the People) – the lower house of the Indian parliament – passed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill on December 09, 2019, with 311 voting in support and 80 against. The bill will now be presented in Rajya Sabha (Council of the States) – the upper house of the Indian parliament.
According to the bill, citizenship would be granted to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis and others who have fled from religious maltreatment in mainly Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, provided they can prove who they are and show evidence that they have resided in India for at least six years. Though, Muslims in the same position would either be deported or jailed.
Opposition parties stood against the proposed law that would, for the first time, create a legal pathway to grant Indian nationality on the basis of religion. Commenting on the subjective nature of the bill, Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, while rejecting allegations that the bill was anti-Muslim, said, “the Citizenship Amendment Bill does not include Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan only because they are not minorities there”. Nonetheless, the statement only serves the purpose of a face-saving excuse to mask the ugly face of Indian establishment.
In response, Badruddin Ajmal, leader of the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), said his party will go to the Supreme Court if the bill is passed in both the houses. All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi also opposed the bill, saying it violates people’s fundamental rights. Owaisi created a stir by tearing up a copy of the bill, saying it intends to make Muslim migrants stateless. “This law is worse than Hitler’s law. The Muslims are getting dominated”, he added. Likewise, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury of the Congress party said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra, or Hindu nation.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) meanwhile condemned the legislation in a statement, saying it is in complete contravention of various bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India, particularly one concerning security and the rights of minorities in the respective countries. The latest legislation is another major step towards the realization of the concept of ‘Hindu Rashtra’, which idealized and relentlessly pursued by the right-wing Hindu leaders for several decades. It is driven by a toxic mix of an extremist ‘Hindutva’ ideology and hegemonic ambitions in the region. The continuing persecution of 8 million unarmed and innocent Kashmiris, collectively incarcerated and penalized by 900,000 Indian occupation forces, goes to further illustrate this blatantly extremist mindset.
It is pertinent to note that under Modi’s regime, many cities perceived to have Islamic-sounding names have been renamed, while some school text-books have been altered to downplay Muslims’ contributions to India.
In contrast, what seems more upsetting is United States (US) different responses towards the same category of issues. In a latest report on American strategy in the Indo-Pacific region, released in June 2019, the US Department of Defense (DoD), views the China’s systematic mistreatment of Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other Muslims in Xinjiang – including pervasive discrimination, mass detention, and disappearances – with deep concern. However, when it comes to Indian brutalities in Kashmir and alarming state of insecurity for minorities in India, US suffices with customary statements only.
Last month, President Trump also signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019 into law. That bill would require the State Department to certify once a year that Hong Kong is sufficiently autonomous to retain its special US trading consideration – a status that helps its economy. He signed another bill as well, banning the sale of munitions like tear gas and rubber bullets to Hong Kong police. Earlier, the US also condemned the unjustified use of force in Hong Kong and called on Beijing to protect Hong Kong’s freedom.
Does this mean that US is deploying ‘double standard’ as a policy; whereby, it is ignoring Indian atrocities against minorities and ruthless lockdown in Kashmir? Does this mean that all the mud-slinging at Beijing is just a political tool for image assassination and harnessing state interests?
It appears that US establishment has a great fascination for the book “48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene; in particular with one of its laws of using “selective honesty”. However, it does more harm than good, in this specific case, as it exposes Washington hypocrisy, undermining its moral authority to have a significant say in global affairs.
The author Saddam Hussein is a Development Economist, while he serves as a Research Fellow at Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), and Program Officer for CRSS’ sister organization – Afghan Studies Center, Islamabad. He tweets @saddampide.
