The debate over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 (“CAB”), has once again exposed the hostility of the Leftist/ liberal/secular forces towards the Hindu community.
The same Leftist/liberal/secular forces were crying hoarse demanding that India give refuge to Rohingya Muslims, on the basis of compassion. But they have no compassion for unfortunate Hindus & Sikhs, who have been forced out of their homes in Pakistan & Bangladesh, due to religious intolerance. Such is their hypocrisy and doublespeak!
Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are self-proclaimed Islamic nations, where minorities are disadvantaged by statute. Not just that, all minorities including Hindu, Sikhs & Christians have faced religious persecution on an ongoing basis, in both the countries. Pakistan, which was founded on the principle that Muslims cannot live with other communities, has witnessed large scale persecution and pogroms of all minority communities (https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/07/opinion/pakistans-religious-minorities-continue-to-suffer/).
Bangladesh, which is supposedly an example of a tolerant and liberal Islamic republic, has also witnessed a large no. of incidents involving the massacres of Hindus since 1947, some of which are mentioned here. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Persecution_of_Bengali_Hindus).
The Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 resulted in one of the largest genocides of the 20th century. An article in Time magazine, stated that “The Hindus, who account for three-fourths of the refugees and a majority of the dead, have borne the brunt of the Muslim military hatred”.
The book ”The Blood Telegram: Nixon,Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide” exposes how the Pakistanis specifically targeted Hindus during the public uprising in Bangladesh in 1971, but shockingly, the Indian government covered this up! (https://indianexpress.com/article/world/world-others/not-bengalis-hindus-were-pakistani-targets-in-1971-bangladesh-war-claims-new-book/)
This article by Saswati Sarkar succinctly captures the atrocities faced by Hindus in Pakistan & Bangladesh, and the ‘conspiracy of silence’ by the media on this issue. (https://www.dailyo.in/politics/the-missing-hindus-in-south-asia-and-a-conspiracy-of-silence/story/1/1149.html)
Similarly, Hindus & Sikhs were brutally repressed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, because of which they had to flee their homes.
It in this historical context, that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019, needs to be seen.
In light of all these facts, it is astonishing that Leftists have no sympathy for Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs who have sought refuge in India, due to religious persecution over the years. Their so called sympathy for minorities, and love for human rights, presents itself only when the affected parties are Muslims, but never when the victims are Hindus.
One reason that secular forces including the media were giving for opposing CAB, is that Muslims from Pakistan & Bangladesh will not be given refuge in India ! On one hand, seculars have been shouting from the rooftops all over the world, that Muslims are not safe in India, and are living in an atmosphere of fear. And yet, here they are arguing that India should go ahead and provide refuge to even more Muslims !!
Well, logic was never the strong point of leftists, even though they never stop singing paeans to their intellectual superiority.
Slyly, the secular forces were couching their opposition against the CAB in constitutional terms, arguing that it is ‘discriminatory’ against Muslims. Well, it could be argued that it is discriminatory against Christians from New Zealand also, or against Jews from Israelis as well, as it doesn’t promise them refuge in India ! The premise of the CAB is not a blanket right to Citizenship in India, but support for persecuted minorities in India’s neighbourhood!
Basically, all these arguments were red herrings being raised by Leftists to hide their actual motivation. The Islamization of Assam and West Bengal has been happening uninterrupted since independence, and a few more decades could tip the scales permanently in favour of Muslims.
http://indiafacts.org/will-assam-muslim-majority-next-40-years/
http://indiafacts.org/demographic-changes-is-bengal-sitting-on-a-volcano/
The CAB comes as a jolt to those who are supportive of demographic changes in Eastern India, So, the actual motivation behind the opposition to CAB, is to ensure that the Islamic takeover of Assam & West Bengal continues unimpeded.
The intention behind the opposition to CAB, is also to deny the status of victimhood to Hindus. For in the twisted worldview of the Leftists, only Muslims can suffer from persecution, but never Hindus. According to this perverted mindset, Hindus are always the perpetrators, and Muslims always the victims. At the core of this worldview, which is abetted by all secular political parties, is the belief that Hindus do not have even basic human rights.
It is also an eye opener, that all those political parties that have been vociferously crying for the rights of illegal Bangladeshi Muslims in the NRC case, are actively campaigning against CAB which would give relief to Hindus. This is a lesson for Hindus, that no secular party will stand up for their rights. This is downright treachery against the Hindu community by the secular parties, all of whom rely on majority Hindu votes, to grab power.
From now on, any concern expressed by Leftist & secular forces for minority rights will ring hollow, considering their concern for minorities is highly partisan and patently communal in nature. This issue also raises several questions about the Bengali intelligentsia, a large number of whom are themselves refugees from Bangladesh. They have never shied away from highlighting the causes of Palestinians, but now stand as mute spectators when the future of their fellow Bengal Hindus is at stake.
