Through this article, I will tell you in detail, as to what the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Bill ) and NRC(National Registry of Citizenship) is all about and how it has nothing to do with Muslims.

Partition of India in 1947

India, before 1947 was an undivided country, consisting of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which I call the “Greater India”. Present-Day Pakistan and Bangladesh had many areas that had more Hindus than Muslims. Some cities in present-day Pakistani Punjab had areas that were majority Sikh. A line was drawn by a Mr Radcliffe, who had little knowledge of religions of India (Greater India). It was done in a hurry without taking into account demographics, the effects or aftermath. Many errors were made. Many Hindu, Sikh majority towns, villages were included in Pakistan. Sindh (with the major city of Karachi) had a large Hindu population.

The Hindus/Jains of Karachi never supported the partition or wanted it. Since there was no voting for the partition and the line partitioning India and Pakistan was drawn in a hurry by a British man, Sindh became a part of Pakistan much to the anger of the local Hindu Sindhis and Jains who had lived there. Sindhi Hindus are the oldest continuously inhabited civilization of the world, tracing their lineage back to Indus Valley Civilization, the first civilization of the planet.

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As we all know riots, arson, rapes, killing, violence was enormous during partition. People, on either side, had to abandon everything overnight and run with nothing to the opposite side. Lakhs were killed, women were raped, property worth millions was gutted. People who did manage to reach the opposite side virtually had nothing with them, penniless and without documents. People who were millionaires became paupers overnight. Migration from Punjab of Pakistan was possible due to the road connectivity. The same was not possible for the Hindus in Sindh. There was a big desert between them and India. Not only would they have to walk in violent towns but also take a long journey via a cold desert, where they would certainly die due to thirst or starvation. The walk to India via Punjab would mean taking a long, violence infested trip to Pakistani Punjab and then to India. It was certain death, again. They would be killed. Even if they wanted to, they could not come to India. So, due to the lack of any method to get to India, fearing for their lives they stayed back in Pakistan.

Similar errors were made while drawing the partition lines in Bangladesh. Many Hindu majority cities, towns were included in East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), while many Muslim dominated cities and villages were included in India. There is an area called the Chittagong Hill Tracts which was a Buddhist dominated area that also included many hill tribes from North East. The same mayhem occurred, and violence occurred here as well. While many crossed over during partition, many Hindus and Buddhist people remained in what is now Bangladesh. This area still has a large Buddhist population. Many Muslims from other parts of India (not Punjab or West Bengal) also went to Pakistan as they wanted to be part of the “Islamic Nation”.

Even after the deadly partition, many people did manage to take their family members who were left behind but it was not easy. A lot of influence, money was needed. Not all could afford it, especially when they had been left penniless.

Even when many Hindus from Sindh (the majority of whom were poor, uneducated and Dalits) wanted to go to India, Mr. Jinnah did not let them. he famously said,” If these Dalits leave Pakistan, who will clean our toilets?”

A ghastly, deadly, unfortunate division had taken place which impacted millions. Many Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Parsees, Buddhists and Christians (of India origin) people suddenly saw themselves in a new country of Pakistan, Bangladesh, something they never wanted or consented to.

Mr Jinnah had promised in his manifesto that all minorities would be taken care of in the newly created Islamic country of Pakistan. Not that it was expected but equal treatment of all is expected in any country, be it a secular democracy or a theocracy, ruled by a religious book.

After Partition, both the countries went about with their governments and people. Visas were needed to travel to either of the countries, which were hard to get and required political connections and money. India and Pakistan fought 3 wars and have developed enmity and great animosity with each other. Bangladesh was helped by India in liberation and became a separate country after the war in 1971. Many Hindus came to India from newly created Bangladesh in 1971. It was partition part 2, they came leaving behind everything with no documents. With the war in Bangladesh in 1971, civil war had also erupted. Many Bangladeshis, of all religions, came to India, fleeing the war and genocide by Pakistani forces and settled in Assam and Bangladesh. This caused major issues in Assam who saw huge infiltration by Bengalis in their state which threatened to dilute the cultural demographics due to mass immigration of people from a different culture. Hence Assam accord was signed to not give citizenship to anyone who had entered India from Bangladesh after 1971. Many people who had come to India continued to live illegally, without citizenship. Bangladesh has become a training ground for ISIS. Few years ago, there was an attack in an upmarket cafe in Dhaka by ISIS and all people there were asked to prove their religion by reciting Kalma. An Indian girl, Tarishi Jain, who could not recite the Kalma was gunned down. That happened in the capital of Dhaka. The act never saw a tweet by UN.

While the relationship with Bangladesh has more or less been good, the same cannot be said about Pakistan. Not only have we fought three official wars, but we also exchange fire every day at the border. It is the dream of every Pakistani to destroy India, conquer it and convert it into the prophecized “Ghazwa-e-Hind” Islamic land free of kaffirs.

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Afghanistan, as we all know was a Hindu country once, which later became a Buddhist country. While most Hindus from Afghanistan migrated to Pakistan and India, a handful stayed back. There was a large Sikh population in Afghanistan which also dwindled, more so after the emergence of the Taliban.

China, as we all know has been an enemy country. First, they annexed Tibet, due to which His Holiness The Dalai Lama and lakhs of Tibetan Refugees were given asylum in India, and later had a war with India in which we lost a part of Ladakh to China.

PIO and OCI

Let’s first start with PIO (Person of Indian Origin) and OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) Cards.

PIO card was started in 2002 to make it easy for people who had Indian ancestry to come to India, without the need for Visa. It was like a Green Card for India where people with Indian heritage could come to India anytime, without any duration limitation and do all activities such as work, rent, buy property, open bank accounts, etc. Even the spouses of PIO cardholders are eligible for PIO card. You can even get a PIO card via marriage. However, one could not vote, contest elections or apply for government jobs.

Then came the OCI Card in 2005. It is similar. PIO card will cease in 2020 and after that only OCI card will be used. OCI is not extended for two countries, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Which means that if you or any of your ancestors have ever held citizenship of Pakistan or Bangladesh, then you would not get an OCI card (hence explains the Aatish Taseer saga. He was born to Mr Salman Taseer, a Pakistani citizen, a fact he hid on his application form). Even spouses of an Indian citizen or PIO/OCI cardholder would get PIO/OCI card except the person who was from the countries mentioned in the exception list.

You can read more here: https://www.mea.gov.in/Portal/CountryQuickLink/703_PIO-OCI.pdf

So, if you were an Indian citizen who gave up your citizenship or had parents, grandparents or great grandparents who were ever a citizen of “Greater India”, then you would qualify for PIO/OCI Card. A person married to a person who is either an Indian Citizen or a PIO/OCI cardholder would also get it (if they have never held citizenship of the countries banned).

People belonging to 8 countries did not qualify for PIO card. They are: Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and Iran.

So, if or any of your ancestors EVER held citizenship of any of the above-mentioned countries, then you did not qualify for PIO card.

All Indians whose ancestors were taken as slaves or plantation workers to work in Myanmar (erstwhile Burma), Malaysia, Thailand, Mauritius, Guyana, Suriname, South Africa, other countries of Africa, UK, qualified for PIO, except those who chose citizenship of any of the 8 countries (as Pakistan allows dual Citizenship).

Examples:

A person of Indian heritage (could be of any religion) in South Africa whose parents had gone from India to any South Africa, would get a PIO card, provided they had never opted for citizenship of any of the 8 countries mentioned above.

A person of Indian heritage (could be of any religion) in Netherlands whose ancestors had gone to Suriname (which was a British Colony and later became a part of Netherlands) from Greater India, would get a PIO card, provided they had never opted for citizenship of any of the 8 countries mentioned above.

A person of Indian heritage (could be of any religion) in Myanmar whose ancestors had gone to Myanmar from Greater India would get a PIO card, provided they had never opted for citizenship of any of the 8 countries mentioned above.

So, let’s put it this way, a Muslim man born in Canada to parents who went from Greater India could get PIO. A Christian person born in the UK to parents who migrated from Greater India could get a PIO, a Buddhist in Thailand whose ancestors belonged to Greater India could get a PIO.

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But a Hindu, born in Canada to parents who migrated from Pakistan/ Bangladesh after partition will not get PIO. A Sikh born in Afghanistan to Sikh parents, even if they were Indian Citizens, would not get PIO card. A Buddhist born in Australia to parents who migrated from Bangladesh would not get a PIO card. Does this mean India is Anti Hindu/Sikh/Buddhist? NO

The exclusion of the 8 countries was done for various reasons.

With Nepal, we have an agreement that lets citizens from both countries travel visa-free and lets Nepali citizens enter, live, work in India without the need for a visa. They can open a bank account and rent property.

A similar agreement exists for Bhutan:

Sri Lanka, which is a Buddhist country has a sizeable Hindu population and a complicated history. They were never a part of Greater India. Also, the migration of Hindus in Sri Lanka was not sudden but has been happening for thousands of years now. So technically, even though they speak Tamil, they were never a part of Greater India. Also, with the LTTE issue that existed, having visa-free Nepal like agreement would make matters worse.

China again is an enemy country. We have fought a war, they seized Aksai Chin in Ladakh, and they are after Arunachal Pradesh.

Iran again has not been favourable to India.

Also read: The Right Track: Congress' politics of inter-religious conflict

But these 6 countries have been removed for OCI and only Pakistan and Bangladesh remain. So, If you or any of your ancestors ever held a Pakistani or Bangladeshi Citizenship, then you will never get an OCI card. Period. That is the reason the OCI card of Aatish Taseer was revoked.

Regarding Pakistan and Bangladesh, the whole of its population qualifies for PIO Card as it was part of Greater India. Hence, we could not put any conditions.

So, let’s see some examples again.

Muslim Mr Mathahir Mohammed, the PM of Malaysia, has a paternal ancestor who went from India to Malaysia, hence he is eligible for an OCI card.

2. Mixed race Christian Nicky Minaj, whose paternal ancestors came from India, is eligible for an OCI card.

3. White Christian Sir Sebastian Coe, the British world record holder athlete, whose maternal grandfather was an Indian, is eligible for OCI card.

4. Olivia Coleman (the actress in the series The Crown) whose maternal ancestor was born in India to a white father and an Indian mother, is eligible for OCI card.

5. Muslim Fareed Zakaria and his family, the CNN host, would be eligible for OCI, as he was an Indian Citizen

6. American Christian Nick Jonas, due to his marriage with Priyanka Chopra is eligible for OCI.

7. British Christian George Orwell, (the famous writer) would be eligible for OCI as he was born in India.

8. Australian Shaun Tait, Sri Lankan Tamil Muttiah Muralitharan, are OCI cardholders due to their marriage with Indian citizens.

9. Tony Fernandes, the Christian Malaysian billionaire, owner of Air Asia, born to a Goan father, is an OCI cardholder.

10. Emilia Clark, Danaerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, (whose grandmother was born in India of Indian heritage), is eligible for OCI card.

11. Diego Luna, the Narcos Mexico star, whose grandmother was born in India, is entitled to an OCI card.

All Indians who take citizenship of any country apart from Pakistan or Bangladesh, are eligible for OCI card.

But a Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Sikh, Parsee, Christian or even a Muslim from Pakistan or Bangladesh could never get an OCI.

Does that mean OCI is anti-Hindu /Jain/Sikh/Buddhist/Parsee?

No. It was just due to an unfortunate incident and legal hassle, which exists due to the partition of 1947. It was something most Hindus, Sikh, Jains, Parsees, Buddhists did not vote for or want it. Something they were forced to accept.

The oppression /discrimination of the minorities in Pakistan /Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

As ALL of us are aware that after partition, both Pakistan and Bangladesh, which were created for Muslims, did not treat the non-Muslims well. With time both the countries have become increasingly Islamic and hostility towards non-Muslims grew at an exponential rate. Afghanistan, as we know, was taken over by the Taliban, the most radical extremist Islamic organization.

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Islam prohibits the worship of idols and considers it a sin. So, in an increasingly Islamic state where radical Islamists take over all religions which worship any idol are not seen positively, in fact, are called derogatory terms. We saw the demolition of prehistoric life-size Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan. After liberation from Pakistan, even Bangladesh was thrown to Islamic dominance. Eventually, all religious minorities were treated in a second-class manner in Pakistan and Bangladesh, even though the countries had promised them that no discrimination will happen. That applied to all religious minorities. Many other religions exist in these countries. Jews, Yezidis (which have come from Iran fleeing the ISIS war), Bahai (30,000 of them), Shinto, Kalash tribes, Balti Tribe, Kho Tribe, Shina Tribe. Yes, these other religions also exist in these countries.

Coming back to the atrocities against non-Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan: Afghanistan took to the extremist route ever since the Taliban took over. Not only were all Muslims forced into following radical extremist form of Islam, all minorities knew that life would be tough. All Hindus and many Sikhs fled to India, without any documents. Some Sikhs stayed back, hoping for the best, but much to their dismay things just went from bad to worse. Afghanistan was not included in PIO Card, so even though they were of Indian descent, they could only visit as a tourist, could not shift to India, open a bank account, rent a place, buy property, do any job. The Hindu and Sikhs had an oppressed and threatened life. They could not practice their religion openly. No permission to celebrate festivals in the open. It had to be done privately. They were not allowed to burn their dead. They had to travel to Pakistan to burn their dead (not to mention the huge bribes they had to pay on the way). Imagine living in a country, being a citizen of a country where you can’t even give a dead relative a decent ending. They have been constantly jibed at with slogans like “Go back to India. Why are you here? We will Kill you, eliminate you.” Imagine living in fear for the welfare of your child, your wife, women of your family, just because of your religion.

Pakistan: Pakistan fares no better. Ever since partition, the discrimination against non-Muslims started immediately. Non-Muslims were “promised”, “assured” by Mr. Jinnah that all minorities will be treated equally. That fell flat from day one. Non-Muslims were oppressed, suppressed, treated like second-class citizens. A Dalit leader named Jogendra Nath Mandal migrated to Pakistan, he even became a politician, minister for law and labour in newly created Pakistan. He fled back to India in 1950 citing anti-Hindu policies and mindset of the Pakistani Government, Muslim people in Pakistan. This is in 1950. And it happened to a prominent minister in Pakistan. Now can you even imagine what an average, poor Hindu (which is 90% of minorities in Pakistan) face on a daily basis. Ever since then, the condition of minorities in Pakistan went from bad to worse at an alarming rate. They were repeatedly treated like second-class citizens. They would be addressed by derogatory terms like “Kaffir” (which means non-believer of Islam, in a demeaning way). They were called idol worshippers (idol worship is banned in Islam and considered a sin). Forced mass conversion of minorities (Hindus, Christians, and others) became a norm. Women would be kidnapped, many times gang-raped just for not being Muslims. Women would be picked up, forcefully converted to Islam by Muslim men, backed by religious orgs, prominent figures. Men from families of minorities would be kidnapped. The families would be given an ultimatum to convert to Islam or the kidnapped family person would be killed. Most of the minorities were uneducated, poor, and would land up taking loans from local money lenders, and when they could not pay back or even default a little on the high interest, they would be beaten up, kidnapped, given an ultimatum that they would be killed if they did not convert to Islam. This happened for 70 years. Unchecked, with no legal measure, no help from the government in Pakistan for these religious minorities, these persecuted minorities lived under oppression, suppression, discrimination with no media highlighting their plight, no one to help. Most of them converted to Islam under pressure. Those who did not face discrimination and suppression every day.

Non-Muslims were called names, they were not allowed to wear religious symbols. Hindus who wore sindoor, bindi, mangalsutra, OM locket were beaten up. They could not celebrate their religious festivals, if they were seen celebrating Holi, Diwali, Christmas, they were beaten up. There were different wells for non-Muslims. They had different glasses and utensils. If they ever went to any restaurant, they had to inform beforehand that they were kaffir to not be served in the plates, glasses meant for Muslims. Govt hospitals would have different thermometers for Muslims and non-Muslims. Imagine living with that kind of discrimination. Inhuman! That is what minorities faced in Pakistan. Temples would be repeatedly destroyed. When Babri Masjid was destroyed in 1991, hundreds of temples were destroyed in Pakistan, thousands of Hindus were killed, their properties destroyed. Minorities lived in fear. In school, the children were taught that any religion apart from Islam was a satanic cult and they should stay away from them. Children were brainwashed to hate their religion and embrace Islam. Parents, in fear of kidnapping and forced conversion, stopped sending their daughters to school.

Again, let me remind you, these people had no legal means to come to India and settle down. Getting a visa (tourist) was long and cumbersome and cost a lot of money. Even when PIO card came into existence, and later OCI card, Pakistan and Bangladesh were excluded from it. A person of Indian origin anywhere in the world, or even a person who married a person of India origin was given a passage to India, to come to settle, work, rent, drive, open a bank account. But non-Muslims of Pakistan, who were part of the Greater India, who never consented to partition or had a say, had no means. They could not come and join their original motherland. They suffered in silence. They had no help from anyone. United Nations seemed too busy to care or even highlight the issue. Congress in India could not care less.

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We have recently seen how Shoaib Akhtar himself accepted that Danish Kaneria, a Hindu national player of Pakistan was mistreated by his teammates for being a Hindu. His Muslim teammates refused to eat with him because he was a Hindu? Imagine if this is level of discrimination, second-class behaviour is meted out to a national icon, who is in the upper crust of society, then what would be the condition of the poor, uneducated, minority in Pakistan. We have seen the videos of Nankana Saheb where a Muslim Leader along with his followers threatened to kill all Sikhs and change the name of Nankana Saheb to a Muslim name because an FIR was filed against his son who had kidnapped a Sikh girl in Pakistan and forcibly converted her. A few days later a Sikh man was killed because they had raised the issue. That is the condition of all minorities in Pakistan. Suppressed, oppressed, discriminated against, treated like second-class citizens, women kidnapped, raped, forcibly converted to Islam.

Bangladesh — The same thing happened to minorities in Bangladesh. Suppressed, oppressed, discriminated against, treated like second class citizens, women kidnapped, raped, forcibly converted to Islam. Tasleema Nasreen described an incident in her book that a group of Muslim men went and barged inside the house of a Hindu man and started gangraping her 14-year-old daughter. That father unable to see what her daughter was going through pleaded with folded hands to the rapists to rape her one by one and not gang-rape her all at once, as she was only 14 and she would die. Imagine!

Many of them fled to India during 1971 but remained without any proper document as they were not granted citizenship. With no document they remained illegal immigrants, they could not open a bank account, rent a place, buy property, do any job apart from menial, daily labour odd jobs.

It was only with the advent of social media, mobile phones with a camera that these atrocities have come to light. Ever since 1947, many minorities (mainly Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsee) came illegally to India and lived under fear of being imprisoned and being deported back to Pakistan. They did odd menial jobs, could not open a bank account, rent a place, buy property. Imagine living stateless in a country that was once your own country, that you were once part of.

What was mighty United Nations doing when the minorities were being persecuted in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh? Why was no issue raised in the US or any international forum? When one illegally made mosque, Babri Masjid, was brought down in India, all hell broke loose. Not just India, but when hundreds of temples were destroyed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh, strangely, everyone went into hibernation. Hypocrisy much? Pakistan recently passed a law where a non-Muslim could never become head of state, President, Prime Minister or Chief Justice. Recently Multan Bar Association passed a law that a non-Muslim cannot become the President of the association. I never saw any statement from anyone. No tweet from United Nations? No word from any international org. No reaction from the “secular, respect all religion, no discrimination” brigade in India. In all job postings, it is mentioned that the top jobs, posh jobs are for Muslims while the non-Muslims are left to apply for menial jobs like toilet cleaning, housekeeping, etc. Blasphemy laws were routinely used to target and arrest any non-Muslim who dared say or post anything against Islam, Prophet Mohammed or Allah. The most famous case being that of Asia Bibi, who had drunk water from a well-meant for Muslims. She was accused of having committed blasphemy and sentenced to death. She was given an option of converting to Islam to evade the death penalty, which she outright rejected. Her case dragged on for years. Because she was a Christian, Christian countries, organizations, even Amnesty International came to her rescue (strangely Amnesty International has never raised their voice for Hindus and Sikhs being targeted in Pakistan or Bangladesh). Vatican, US, UK, Canada got involved. Mr Salman Taseer (father of Aatish Taseer, who considers India communal and radical, spoke in favour of Asia Bibi and was gunned down by his bodyguards). Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian minister in Pakistan was gunned down as he had spoken against these oppressive blasphemy laws which were used to imprison minorities. In the end, Asia Bibi was pardoned (under International Pressure) and granted asylum to Canada. Canada came to her rescue as she was a Christian. God forbid had she been a Hindu or a Sikh, who would come to her rescue? Nepal? The US? Singapore? Has any country, organization has spoken highlighting the atrocities and suppression of non-Muslims in these 3 countries, especially Pakistan and Bangladesh? Was there ever a tweet from the UN, Amnesty International? No! Never!

Every day, an average of three underage girls are kidnapped in Pakistan, forcibly converted to Islam and married off as the 3rd or 4th wife to some man 25 years older to her. Minorities are beaten up and killed over trivial matters. This is the state of every minority (i.e. non-Muslim community in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan). The Christians in Pakistan were Hindus who converted during British Raj or even recently, so technically a part of Greater India. Recently, a South Korean Buddhist , who was living in Afghanistan to preserve the ancient Buddhist relics was killed in Afghanistan .

Why has no “liberal, secular” person ever taken out a protest rally over the condition of minorities in these countries? Muslims are showing so much solidarity for their fellow Muslims who have been left out of CAA, why have they never condemned the atrocities done on minorities in these countries by their fellow Muslims? Why?

Sorry, but someone has to come to the rescue of these persecuted minorities. Someone has to give a life of dignity where they are treated as second-class citizens, denied equal opportunity, suppressed, oppressed, discriminated against, beaten up for following their religion, celebrating festivals, live in fear for being kidnapped and forcibly converted. Inhuman conditions. So, isn’t it natural that some legal way was made to provide a safe dignified life to these persecuted minorities? And what is so wrong about India coming to the rescue for these “6” minorities, who was as Indian as the rest of us before 1947. They happened to become a part of a new country for no fault of theirs, not as per their choice but due to a hasty and unfortunate partition which was forced upon them, something they did not consent to. If people from any country, of Indian ancestors, have rights to come to India and settle down without any legal hassle, we needed to have something similar from Pakistan and Bangladesh. Help our brothers and sisters who had been left in a helpless state.

Does CAA give fast track citizenship to Hindus from US? Sikhs from Canada? Indian Christians from Australia? Parsees from the UK? Jains from Singapore? Indian Buddhists from Thailand? No. Firstly because they are covered under OCI/PIO and secondly, they are happy there. They do not wish to take Indian citizenship. Can a Korean who converts to Buddhism, get Indian citizenship or a PIO or even an OCI card? No. Can an American who converts to Sikhism (like Leonardo de Caprio’s mother has), get Indian citizenship, PIO or OCI card? No. So where is the preferential treatment for these 6 religions?

They still have to follow the OCI procedure. India does not allow dual citizenship. If you want Indian citizenship, then you have to formally apply, fulfil all checkpoints and upon receiving your Indian citizenship, need to submit your previous citizenship.

CAA was created specifically for countries omitted in OCI. Technically Sri Lankan Hindus should have also been covered, but that is a very complicated matter. Also, Sri Lanka being a Buddhist majority country would need a separate law as CAA includes Buddhists as well. But the Buddhists from Sri Lanka is neither a minority nor of Indian descent.

As I had mentioned earlier, there are 7–8 more religious minorities in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Should they have been included in CAA? No. Why? Because they were never part of Greater India. They have no Indian connection and were not of Indian heritage.

For Jews, there is a country called Israel. All Jews are given fast track citizenship if they are facing any persecution in any country and seek asylum. Considering that Jews have not been included, does that make India /Modi/Shah anti-Semites and Hamas Sympathizers?

Bahai and Yezidis have headquarters in Iran, the Middle East and they also have a vast network all over the world. The Yezidis (along with Kurds and Druze) has officially been recognized as war refugees (due to the war with ISIS) and can seek asylum via the UN. Many of them have been rehabilitated in Europe.

The Kalash People, even though they practice an offshoot of Vedic Hinduism, have lived in their natural habitat forever. Those hills, where they live even today, which are deep in west Pakistan, has always been their home. They have mostly been isolated from the rest of human civilization most of the time. Same for other tribes. Hopefully, they are not disturbed or harassed by Pakistani Muslims in the way that happened to the rest of the minorities.

India is not a natural home for other religions apart from the ones mentioned in CAA (the six religions), they were never a part of Greater India or have a connection to India.

Have these religions been included in CAA? No.

Does that mean by not including Jews, India is Anti-Semite /Hamas Sympathizer? That would be so awkward, if not funny.

Does that mean India hates Jews, Yezidis, Bahai, Kalash, Shinto, Kho, Shina people? No.

India is not their country of origin. They were never a part of Greater India. India is not a natural home for them. They have no connection to India.

Initially, Christians were not included in CAA as there are many Christian countries in the world (25+ official ones) to come to the aid of Christians. But many Christians submitted a proposal requesting Christians to be added as many of them had relatives, family friends who were left behind during partition. There were a large number of Catholics from Goa who were taken to work in Karachi and were stuck during partition. Many lower-caste Dalits converted to Christianity. Even Mr Derek O’Brien himself admitted in the parliament that he had his catholic cousins in Pakistan who stayed there after partition. Few migrated to Canada (the affluent ones I presume). But all the ones who did not migrate to Canada converted to Islam (or let’s call it bluntly that they were either forced to and had no other option due to persecution). As we can see that the Christian O’Brien who lived in India, continued to practice his faith with no issue, prospered, became a famous quiz master, TV personality, and MP. While the ones who were stuck in Pakistan had to convert. Also, for any (native) Pakistani, (not Irani, Afghani), India is a natural home. We were the same country, speak the same language, eat similar food, watch the same movies, have a similar culture and lifestyle. Can you imagine a poor, uneducated Urdu speaking Christian trying to start a new life in English speaking Canada, German-speaking Germany, where they have no relatives?

Let me give you some hypothetical examples. If tomorrow, Ladakh starts a freedom movement and manages to become a separate country in haste with no access given to any Hindu or Muslims to join India, and if we hear later that non-Buddhists are being tortured, discriminated, suppressed, forced to change their religion, that women were being raped, kidnapped, forcibly married off, should India not start a CAA type process to offer option to minorities (which will also include Indian Muslims who became a part of the new country ) to join India back? Yes.

Another hypothetical example, if tomorrow some random war starts with China and they take control of Arunachal Pradesh (which they have been eyeing) and an international border is drawn in a hurry and the residents become Chinese citizens without their consent or choice. Now as you may be aware China, does not allow its citizens to practice any religion and tortures them. So if tomorrow we find out that our former Indian brothers and sisters are being suppressed, discriminated, tortured for following their religion, should we not have some CAA type legal way to give them an option to come back to India and take citizenship, which will also include Indian Muslims , as they will fall in the category of persecuted minorities of Indian heritage?

CAA is not a visa-free access mechanism akin to PIO or OCI. It is about giving former Indians, living as a minority and facing persecution because of their religion, an option to correct the wrongs of the past and choose the country they wish to be a part of. Something that should have been implemented a long, long time ago.

So, let me re-phrase the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for you.

CAA gives fast track citizenship to

6 religious minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains, Parsees, Christians),

who are citizens of 3 countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan) which are not included in OCI,

who are facing persecution because of their religion,

who were part of Greater India,

and for whom India is a natural and only home.

So, tell me again, what has CAA got to do with Muslims?

Are you trying to say that Muslims are persecuted, suppressed and oppressed in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan for being Muslims?

-That Muslims in these 3 countries are not allowed to wear their religious symbols (skull cap, Burqa), attire in public and not beaten up for celebrating their festivals (Eid, Ramazan, etc.)?

-That Muslim girls are kidnapped, forcibly converted and married off to Muslim men?

-That Muslim boys are brainwashed and converted to Islam?

That Muslims are discriminated against in jobs and only allowed menial, low-level jobs, while the plum high paid jobs go to non-Muslims?

That Muslims live in constant fear of being attacked, killed, raped, converted for following Islam?

This is the definition of persecution and tells me how Muslims from these countries fit into the “persecuted minorities” definition.

And CAA is for persecuted minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.

So please stop pretending to be this fake secular person when there is no argument for opposing CAA. Please get off your self-created moral high ground where you are demanding Muslims from Islamic countries to be included in CAA. Please educate yourself first.

How is helping persecuted people discrimination? Discrimination on what ground? Being the non-persecuted or being the persecutor? For belonging to the group that persecutes, suppresses, oppresses minorities? So, if I save a deer from being killed by a lion and get it home, I am guilty of discriminating against the lion?

So if tomorrow I find that a woman is being raped and her family being beaten up, and if I rescue that woman and her family and get her to my home, I should also get the oppressors who were raping and beating her up? And if I don’t then there will be a long line of “Liberal, secular, Leftists “, marching outside my home and calling me communal, fascist. Does it even make sense? Is that even an argument? The only reason anyone should be even protesting on the streets is to highlight the persecution of minorities in these 3 countries, forcing the UN to take action, blacklisting the persecutors and punishing them. But wait, dear liberals want such oppressors to also be included in India. Sorry, it would be rather funny if it were not so utterly stupid.

Where were the protests and marches when Kahsmiri Pandits were raped, threatened and kicked out of Kashmir? I know all of you have condemned it, but sorry condemnation never put any Kashmiri Pandit back in their hometown. Even today Kashmiri Pandits get death threats for attempting to go back home. What is the count of Kashmiri Pandits who have resettled in Kashmir? Zero!

When the Internet was banned in Kashmir, all liberals were out on streets protesting the oppression of Kashmir. Why has there never been a single march demanding Pandits back in their home? Why have Kashmiri Muslims never been made accountable for their crimes? Why has no secular person ever pointed out the Islamic Terrorism that caused Pandits to leave the valley? Sorry, dear secular, liberals, statements condemning violence is not enough. Your inaction, lack of any activism on the Kashmiri Pandit issue and your hyperactive activism about omitting Muslims from CAA show your hypocrisy. No excuses. No explanation.

Coming back to all other religions (which have not been included in CAA) from these 3 countries, not just Muslims.

— Can they apply for asylum /refuge to India? Yes. Lakhs of Afghani Muslims live in India and they hold UN refugee cards. They come for medical treatment as there are very few good hospitals in Afghanistan. Medanta in Gurgaon is filled with Afghani patients and their relatives. They all live there. There are so many Afghan nationals that two Afghani restaurants have opened in that area. All legal stay.

Tasleema Nasreen, the Bangladeshi Muslim writer, who wrote Lajja, exposing and highlighting the persecution, sexual violence of Hindus in Bangladesh, was given a Fatwa and ordered to be killed, fled Bangladesh and sought asylum in India. She was granted asylum. She has Swedish citizenship yet prefers to stay in India. She openly exposes how Hindus are treated in the most inhumane manner in Bangladesh, how Hindu women are an easy to target for Bangladeshi Muslim men to rape and kill and how the system, government, and police have failed to fetch justice for Hindus.

Can all other religions, Muslims included, from these 3 countries, who are the majority (and who oppress minorities) apply for tourist /student Visa? Yes.

Can all other religions, Muslims included, from these 3 countries, who are the majority (and who oppress minorities) apply for business Visa? Yes.

Can all other religions, Muslims included, from these 3 countries, who are the majority (and who oppress minorities) apply for citizenship? Yes. Adnan Sami, the Pakistani singer, and composer had been living and working in India for a long time. He would also tweet very positive things about India. Irked by his behaviour, Pakistan decided not to renew his passport when it expired. He applied for Indian citizenship and after fulfilling all the criteria, he was granted Indian citizenship. And to remind you, he was granted Indian citizenship much before CAA was passed.

Some persons said CAA is discriminatory making a parallel with an H1B visa. That pseudo wannabee, who has never worked in the USA or any other country and thinks she knows it all as she lives and works in South Delhi, stated that how would Hindus feel if Muslims were given preference in H1B visa. Oh, dear low IQ person, H1B is a work permit visa. Also, miss wannabee did not know that even in the H1B visa there are much lesser background checks for countries that are not known to harbour terror groups. So, technically an Indian any day has a much higher chance than a Pakistani, Afghani or a Somali. Insider info, even an Indian non-Muslims goes through much lesser checks than an Indian Muslim. Fact!

So, time to take out a protest march over the USA maybe? Also, discrimination can be understood when everyone wants something, and few people are given preference based on religion, race and ethnicity.

Sorry, but is India the utopian promised land for Muslims that they are dying to get to and that they have been discriminated against? Is India the promised Jannat that Muslims would love to reside in? No.

If tomorrow Yemen or Gambia decide to give CAA type fast track citizenship to Muslims, should Hindus protest?

Is India some economic superpower like US, UK, Sweden, Canada, Singapore, Denmark, Australia, Dubai, that Muslims would love to come here and be put on a lower platform? No. Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan are Islamic nations, for Muslims. Pakistan and later Bangladesh was created specifically for Muslims from Greater India. Those who wished to be a part of Pakistan went there. Those who wished to be a part of India stayed here. And some unfortunate non-Muslims of Pakistan, Bangladesh who got caught in the violence due to their location and landed up in Pakistan. These 6 religious minorities have been pleading since 1947 to be allowed to join India instead, but no law like CAA existed. Even when PIO and OCI laws were drafted, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan were left out. Technically, CAA should have been called, “Persecuted Minorities Rehabilitation Bill”.

Are Pakistani Muslims dying to come to India? No. How many Pakistani Muslims to India have applied for asylum, citizenship? Ever since the 1950s thousands of Hindus, Sikhs from Pakistan have been coming to India, many times illegally and many times legally on tourist, pilgrimage visa (and then refusing to go back to Pakistan, begging asylum). Isn’t it strange that India gives legal asylum to Tibetan Buddhists who came fleeing to India, but not to persecuted minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh, who were at one point part of Greater India? Isn’t it shocking that a Pakistani Muslim Adnan Sami gets work permit and citizenship of India, but our brothers and sisters, the ones who tragically became part of Pakistan and Bangladesh suffer in those countries and live illegally in India unable to work, open a bank account, rent a house? Imagine living a life of an undocumented, illegal immigrant in a country that was your own.

Let’s even forget for a minute that these 6 minority religions were once a part of Greater India. Someone has to come to the rescue of these religious minorities living a despicable life in these 3 countries. For that matter, any minority, anywhere in the world, living under such conditions should get help, asylum. Have we ever heard from any country that they will take in these persecuted minorities? Offered asylum, fast track citizenship? Christians have a better opportunity because they have many countries where they get preferred fast track citizenship via their missionary network.

All persecuted minorities have someone to take care of them. Egypt, which is an Islamic country has Coptic Christians who are a minority. They are regularly persecuted, suppressed, discriminated against, their churches destroyed. They have been offered help by many Christian countries (even from the ones who share no history with them. Syria, an Islamic country, used to be a Christian country. Very few Orthodox Syrian Christians remain in Syria, but they are also regularly persecuted, suppressed. Russia (which is the Only Orthodox Christian Country left in the world), and Hungary, (even though have no shared heritage or cultural ties with Syria) has offered help. So, is Russia anti-Muslim? Did we see any protest in Russia as to why only Orthodox Christians were being rehabilitated and not the Syrian Muslims? No. Giving help and asylum to persecuted minorities is no discrimination against the majority which is, in fact, guilty of persecuting the minorities, where the government has failed in protecting the minorities. I mean how stupid to protest a humanitarian act? Why is anyone doing it?

Every country extends CAA type fast track citizenship to its descendants living in other countries. As we know Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and a few Germans were the initial settlers in Latin America, along with other Europeans. Anyone who can show a lineage to Europe qualifies for citizenship (many countries allow dual citizenship, unlike India). So many people in Latin America, actually have citizenship of Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal. The famous Leo Messi could only manage to get to Barcelona training when he managed to get a Green card to Italy as one of his ancestors had come from Italy. All white people in the USA have Europe ancestry. So, most of them can claim Green cards like long term visas and dual citizenship to many European countries. Ditto for Canadians, especially French Canadians. Something similar exists in Australia, New Zealand. Every country gives long term residential visas to children of its descendants, living in other countries. We have PIO/OCI, but as mentioned earlier, Pakistan and Bangladesh were not included in them, hence the need for CAA. So far, CAA only covers the six minorities who came to India till 2014. i.e. came either legally or illegally and have not returned. But if you ask me, CAA should be extended to all six minorities till forever. Let them always have an option to come back to India whenever they feel like it.

Every community which faces any persecution (be it based on anything, political, religion, ethnicity, separatists), should have some haven to life without persecution. Look at the Uighur Muslims in China, they are being persecuted, raped, killed, forced to denounce and give up their faith. Has anyone come to their rescue? We saw all Indian Muslims protest the CAA. Have we seen any protests, over the issue in China, by Muslims, or the so-called liberal, seculars of India? What is happening in China is a gross violation of human rights and of its citizens. Has any country come to their rescue? Has the UN condemned it? Has Saudi Arabia offered to take in any Muslims? Has any Muslim country offered to take in any Muslims or even protest China’s treatment of these Muslims? When the Internet was banned in Kashmir, all Muslims of India and Pakistan (along with Turkey and Malaysia) were frothing with rage? Where is any protest, condemnation for China? Have the Bollywood stars who led the anti CAA protest, Farhan Akhtar, Diya Mirza, Ali Fazal, Richa Chaddha said anything against China? Not a word. Why? Why this double standard and hypocrisy? Oh, wait, because if they dare open their mouth against China, China will dictate all Chinese brands to ban these actors and their movies all over the world. Oh yes, it’s all about the Benjamins. When a Muslim player who played for Arsenal, Mesut Ozil, tweeted against the Chinese actions against Uighur Muslims, Arsenal got banned from China, they lost brand endorsement. Shahid Afridi, who has been speaking about Kashmir (which was nothing more than Internet ban), was forced to delete this tweet within minutes due to fear of Chinese.

Mr Ali Fazal was protesting the CAA, as he is so hurt about Pakistani Muslims not being given citizenship, but the hypocrite, whom I am certain supports Palestine's cause did not waste an opportunity to show off that he is working with Israeli Sabra Jew, Gal Gadot. Oops, hypocrisy much.

Farhan Akhtar runs an NGO (more like a social media campaign for himself) called M.A.R.D. (Men against Rape and Discrimination). Why has he never spoken about the rapes of minority women and the discrimination of minorities in these countries? Sorry baby Akhtar, your hypocrisy and silence make you a ‘Namard’ at best.

Yup, that is the “liberal, secular” brigade for you: hypocrites and double-faced.

So, yet again, let me explain CAA to you.

CAA gives fast track citizenship to

6 religious minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhist, Jains, Parsees, Christians),

who are citizens of 3 countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan) which are not included in OCI,

who are facing persecution because of their religion,

who were part of Greater India,

and for whom India is a natural and only home.

Now, let’s discuss NRC (National Registry of Citizenship)

Illegal immigration only happens from countries with which any country shares a border or is close enough to be reached via foot.

The USA shares a border with Canada and Mexico. 99% of illegal immigrants in the USA come from Mexico as Canada is a well to do, rich country. All Canadian citizens have visa-free entry to the USA, to technically no Canadian legal resident is an illegal immigrant in the USA. Mexico, on the other hand, has a vast number of unemployed, poor people. A great number of illegal immigrants also come in from Cuba, as it is reachable via a boat ride. The USA has tried to make its borders very strict and unbreachable but that has not yielded great results. People manage to cross the fences, dig tunnels, swim-up a sea, take a boat. When you share a large border with any country it is impossible to keep a check on illegal immigrants. Happen in most countries. North Korean illegal immigrants are found in China. Illegal immigrants from Africa take dangerous boat rides and cross into Europe via sea.

India shares its borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. With Pakistan and China, we have a heavy military presence throughout the border, so illegal immigration is not possible. With Nepal and Bhutan, we have treaties that all Nepalese and Bhutanese citizens have visa-free entry to India. With Myanmar again the illegal immigration is low as a long rule of Military regime has made the citizens very scared to break a law, the Indian states bordering them have hostile demographics and terrain to cross and there are no great job opportunities for them. In a nutshell, a bad ROI.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, has easy access. The border is porous, you can just walk into Bangladesh and vice versa. With many enclaves and exclaves, disputed border territories, the flow of people is very steady. The current west Bengal government is sympathetic to the illegal immigrants (who become their vote bank once they get citizenship). Both my maids, illegal immigrants from Bangladesh have voter IDs, Aadhar cards, citizenship. They had been given free land by the current West Bengal Government and get money every month. Oh yes, the money which legal citizens like me pay as taxes to the government hoping for better roads, more free colleges, cheaper electricity was given to the illegal Bangladeshis. Wow!

Bangladesh has a border with Myanmar as well. But Bangladeshis prefer to come to India (illegally), as they have better job opportunities. They come to India as the border is very porous, open and easy to cross. They speak a common language (Bangla), can write the same script (Bangla), understand Hindi. Trust me if Myanmar had better job opportunities, they would-be crossing illegally to Myanmar. If they had a border with China and if there were better job opportunities with more lax laws for illegal immigrants, they could cross over to China. That’s how illegal immigration works.

So, Bangladeshis come to India, get all ID cards and go work all over India, especially metro cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Bangalore, pretending to be Hindu by changing names, putting bindi and sindoor.

Illegal immigrants should never be allowed in any country. They are security, financial risk. National registry of Citizen or NRC is about removing all illegal immigrants from India. Simple. Nothing to do with any religion.

If tomorrow 20 Chinese are found living illegally in India, they would also be deported. Does that mean India is anti-communist and that NRC is a secret plot to kill Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat, and Brinda Karata? No. If tomorrow illegal immigrants from Myanmar are found in India, and they turn out to be Buddhist (CAA does not cover Buddhist from Myanmar), they will also be deported. Does that mean India is anti-Buddhist? If tomorrow Hindus from Sri Lanka are found living in India without proper documents and deported, as CAA does not cover Hindus from Sri Lanka, will that make India anti-Hindu? Can a Canadian Citizen, born to Indian parents come to India without PIO/OCI card or travel Visa? No, they will not be allowed to enter India. Even if they manage to sneak in illegally, they will be deported or put in detention centres till their papers are sorted out.

For those who read the news, a few months ago, 140 Indians were deported from the USA as they were found to be living illegally. Few Nigerian (Christians) were found to be living illegally in India after their visa had expired, were deported back. Time to brand India racist and anti-Christian? An Iranian Muslim man was recently found to be living in India without documents for 11 years. He had converted to Buddhism and lived with no legal stay permit. He was arrested and most likely will be deported. Does that make India anti-Muslim, anti-Buddhist? The USA, as we know, is predominantly Christian, with Protestants and Baptist being the majority, while Mexico is Catholic. So, when the USA deports illegal Mexicans, does that mean the USA is anti-Catholic? If a Jewish person from Pakistan is found living illegally in India, they will also be deported back. If a Shinto person from Bangladesh is found to be without proper documents living in India, they will also be deported back. If a Yezidi from Afghanistan is found living in India illegally, they will also be deported back. Does that mean India is anti-Yezidis?

NRC is about removing illegal immigrants from India. Period. Nothing to do with any religion. Majority of the illegal immigration in India happens from Bangladesh and Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country, so the majority of illegal immigrants happen to be Muslims. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan and the war started, millions of Afghanis crossed over to Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, all border countries. All lived like refugees with no documents, doing odd jobs to survive. United Nations stepped in as there was a war going on. most were given refugee cards and money. Now all countries are working to deport these illegal Afghanis back to Afghanistan. Does this mean that Islamic countries like Pakistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan are anti-Muslims? No. Recently, I saw the news about hundreds of Pakistanis living illegally in Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey being deported back. So is Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey anti-Muslim? Denmark, Germany, France have started deporting hundreds of illegal immigrants from their country back to Africa. Most of the illegal immigrants happen to Muslims, while a minority also happen to be Christians, so does that mean these countries are anti-Muslim? No.

Rohingyas: Let’s come back to Rohingyas. Rohingyas are Muslims from Myanmar. There was some violence going on in Myanmar, so they fled to their neighbouring country, Bangladesh, which was close to their state. From Bangladesh they crossed over to India have been living here illegally since then. Again, they are illegal immigrants. I understand they have violence going on in their state, in their country, Myanmar, but so is the state in half of Africa, middle east. Venezuela has collapsed. How many people can India help? With a population of 1.3 billion, we are already 70 years too late for population control. We have limited land, agricultural produce, infrastructure. Even Bangladesh has certified them as a security threat, housed them on an island and is going to send them all back to Myanmar soon.

There is a vast difference between an asylum seeker and an illegal immigrant. An Asylum seeker is one who is seeking residency (i.e. giving up their previous citizenship) due to the persecution they face in their own country. Pedro Pascal, the actor who played Oberyn Martell in Game of Thrones comes from a family of political asylum seekers. His parents were pro-democracy supporters in Chile, in the regime of a military dictator. His family was on the hit list and they sought asylum on political refuge grounds and were granted residency in Denmark. Later they migrated to the USA under the refugee quota. Tasleema Nasreen, who exposed the crimes of Muslims against Hindus in Bangladesh, was given death threats, she applied for asylum in India and was granted. Gays, lesbians often apply for asylum from Islamic countries to more neutral countries, as LGTB people are punished to death in Islamic countries. We recently saw how that Saudi Girl, who blocked herself in Thailand, was granted asylum in Canada, as she was oppressed in Saudi Arabia.

Gulalai Ismail, a women’s rights activist, who was exposing crimes against women by Pakistan Army was receiving death threats. She was given asylum by the USA. All North Koreans who manage to escape, are given asylum by South Korea and the USA. Even for oppressed North Koreans (which is 99.9999% of the country), there is a CAA like option offered by South Korea and America. Someone has to come to the help of the oppressed, supressed. Kurds, Yezidis have been rehabilitated in Europe.

Now that we have seen in detail, about CAA and NRC, tell me again how it is anti-Muslim. And if you are a legal citizen of India (you could be from any religion, Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, Jain, Parsee, Jew, Shinto, Bahai, Scientologist, Atheist, Agnostic), nobody is throwing you out of the country. No citizen of India will be deported or put in a detention centre. Period. But if you are in India illegally or got your citizenship, other documents illegally, then sorry you need to leave. Period. No apologies, no excuses.

Yes, many people have been pulled up for the lack of documents of their documents not being proper. A lot of Hindus have also been pulled up. Have they been let go simply for being Hindu? No. A Hindu girl had written a long post about how her mother had been put on the NRC list as her name had different spelling on 2 official documents. Yes, that is a serious issue. They later produced all documents which showed that it was an error and she was then acquitted.

Documents: I saw a lot of noise about documents. How will poor laborers produce it? Sorry to burst your ignorance but I find hard to believe that if you are a legal citizen, you don’t have documents to prove it. Every poor person in India is entitled to money via MNREGA. They get 1 rupee a kilo ration (rice, dal, wheat, sugar) for every family member, every month. Every person I know, right from my hometown in Bihar to Delhi, Gurgaon makes sure they get their monthly freebies. My parents run a hospital and all the staff, the nurses, compounders, cleaning staff, even patients have all their documents in place, go every month and get their money and ration. Most are uneducated but have all documents in place. Till a few years ago all poor people would get money to vote for a certain party. They would all take money and vote. My servants and cook have documents for their bedridden parents who are all above 90. All lower caste people who get any reservation have their documents. Muslims, who are minorities get a reservation, are entitled to money, special reservation, Hajj subsidy, money for madrasas, etc. Everyone has documented it. Even illegal Bangladeshis who have come to India, have documents. Census takes place in India every 10 years. All data of every person residing in India is taken. Family, relatives, land ownership, vehicle ownership, etc. Every school 10th exam, 12th exam, college degree, property ownership, government job, government application is stored with the government. Yes, the government has a record of every human that lived in its territories. Mughals had a vast census of all Indians. Even British people did an extensive data recording while they ruled India. Every person and their data was recorded, including name, religion, caste, family, relations, property, everything. Few of my family members have been fighting a court case for a vast piece of land for 200 years and they have all the documents, the initial ones being in FARSI, the language which was used by Mughals as the initial ownership documents go back to Mughal era. In the last 10 years, an official document has become mandatory for just about everything, taking a train, buying a SIM, applying for any govt scheme, job, just about everything and anything. Even if you lose your documents, the government will have a copy and you can get it. The only condition that you may not have your documents is due to the following reasons:

You came as refugees from Pakistan in 1947 (which has long been regularized).

You came from Tibet during 1959, 1960, 1961 (or later, which has long been regularized). Many Tibetan Buddhists still come to India from Nepal, but are granted UN refugee status.

You came from Bangladesh in 1971. The Assam Accord was signed and that has been looked into.

Or any other person who pretty much lands up at any immigration centre seeking asylum.

Let me reiterate it, even if you lose your documents, the government has a copy of all official documents. At least in the last 70 years. So please stop this rhetoric. Once and for all.

Financial reason to not let illegal Immigrants in: Now let me give you more reasons to not let illegal immigrants come to India.

Every person in the country is a cost to the country. Roads, bridges, electricity poles, electricity supply, water supply, hospitals, schools need to be built. In Indian govt hospitals, all surgeries are free of cost. Even medicines are given free. Govt schools are not only free but midday meals are also given to every child. With the increase in population, comes the additional cost of building more hospitals, schools, and all other infra. All poor people are entitled to money every month. All poor people get almost free ration (Re 1 per kilo rice, dal, sugar which they sell in the black market for Rs 10 a kilo) every month. Where does all this money for this come from? The taxes we Indian citizens pay. So, if we have 10 crore illegal immigrants, they will on average produce 15 crore children. New schools will need to be built, teachers to be hired, food purchased and cooked. More roads, an increase in the cost of hospitals, an average of Rs 50,000 crore will be spent on them. Yes, that is a realistic figure. Imagine how much money is spent on illegal immigrants. When the government wanted to raise the fee of JNU by mere rupees, all liberals went hysterical, protests happened. Free education, right of people. Now imagine how many JNUs could be built and funded by the government from the money spent on illegal immigrants. At one point we argue that India does not have enough money to feed all poor people, not enough schools, and then we want crores of illegal immigrants to stay and live off our taxpayer’s money? India is not like Europe or the USA which has shortage of manpower to work in their farms, factories, where they want people to work. These countries are well off, they can afford to spend millions on these illegal immigrants. India cannot afford that luxury.

India is already an over populous country. With uncontrolled mass immigration comes more challenges. We need more food. We need more houses. When property prices go up, farmers prefer to sell their agricultural land to builders. Less agricultural land means less food production. Food becomes expensive and the food needs to be imported. If there are not enough jobs (I always hear people shouting how the economy is doing bad and there are no jobs), people take to crime. Unemployment leads to a spike in crime, with murder, loot, kidnapping become common. People start involving themselves in drug trade to feed their families. When drugs flood the market, remember it will be your children who will be addicted to it. Women are forced into sex trade. Children are sold. Children are kidnapped and organs are harvested. Can we afford that with crores of people pouring in in an overpopulated country?

Security Issues due to illegal immigrants: One of the other important factors to consider while debating on illegal immigration is security. When someone comes legally, after applying for a visa, citizenship, you have their documents, details of their past life. Every embassy is tied up with some agencies who do background checks to check if they don’t have any criminal cases, financial frauds. If their documents are proper and not faked etc. When they come legally, you know where they would be in the country, where they will work, where they will stay, how long they are in India, etc. When someone is undocumented, you have no idea who they are, what connections they have, the validity of their name, age, background. How sure you that the illegal Bangladeshi running a tailor shop is not an undercover agent for some terrorist group who has been trained and sent to India? Are you aware that 200,000 refugees who went to Europe, pretending to be victims of war have gone missing and no one knows where they are? Multiple sleeper terror cells have come up all over Europe. They are regularly caught by anti-terror cells while planning some big attacks. A Yezidi girl who was captured by ISIS and kept as sex slave for months and later rescued by US forces, actually saw her capturer roaming the streets of Germany. He had also come as a war refugee. Let us not forget that Pakistan is an enemy country. An average Pakistani Muslim wants to destroy India, capture it and turn it into an Islamic country. (For those who are not aware, Ghazwa-e-hind is a prophecy written in Quran where it is mandated to all Muslims to capture India and turn it into an Islamic Nation). The majority of Pakistanis support Ghazwa-e-Hind and wish to make it a reality. We have fought three wars with Pakistan. Do we want easy, no-frills access to people from that country to come to India? Like one Ajmal Kasab was not enough, we need 50,000 more of them. Let 50,000 terrorists come and take citizenship, set up a business, get money, train more and do 50,000 more 26/11 type blasts. Wow. Seriously? Women, who come illegally are forced into sex trade. Children have been killed and their organs harvested. With uncontrolled mass immigration comes the risk of disease. Typhus and measles have made a comeback in the UK. Pakistan has cases of polio. Do we want that to come to India?

All this “Love not War, World Peace, One World” sounds very good and morally correct, may even help one win a Miss World title, but it is not the burden of India alone. India, like every other country, pays money to the UN and provides security troops who are sent to assist wherever needed. We have a country to run and we have limited money, resources, land and enough problems of our own.

So, yet again, I will request you all to read this article with patience, clear mind and without personal biases and think rationally. Do NOT fall into the trap of politicians who just wish to polarise people for their vote bank gain. I am not supporting this because I support BJP. Many posts and evidence show that all this CAA and NRC process had started during Congress regime. For me the party is immaterial. I would've supported Congress if they had implemented CAA and NRC. I will support Mamata Banerjee if she implements UCC. I will support Mr Owaisi if he implements Population Control. Support policies that are good for the country. Think like an Indian, and for what is best for India. Because these policies directly affect every Indian citizen, financially and legally.