Statement on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019
The Progressive
Students’ Federation of India (PSFI) is strictly opposed to the Citizenship
(Amendment) Act, 2019, which amends the Citizenship Act, 1955. We can clearly
see that this act is a communal one, with a vicious attempt to transform India
into a Hindu Rashtra. We regard this transformation as a regressive one.
Several people against the amendment have been brutally beaten and arrested by the police. We condemn this repressive act of the government and the state.
Several people against the amendment have been brutally beaten and arrested by the police. We condemn this repressive act of the government and the state.
This amendment says
that any person belonging to Hindu, Christian, Jain, Sikh, Parsi or Buddhist
community from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan, who entered into India on
or before the 31st day of December, 2014, even if his/her travel documents have
expired or has incomplete or no documents, can apply for Indian citizenship. A
question like this may arise: if the person can apply for Indian citizenship
even if s/he has no documents, then how can s/he prove the date of his/her
entry to India? It suggests that the government will provide citizenship to any
non-Muslim irrespective of his/her entry into India. Another question like this
may arise on the Government’s Hindutva agenda: if the Government talks about
providing citizenship to five religious communities other than the Hindus, how
can we say that it is an attempt to build a Hindu Rashtra? No one is unaware of
the intention of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to build a Hindu
Rashtra. The inclusion of the other five religions in the act is just to show
that the Government is really worried about the minority groups in those
countries, and that it does not focus only on the Hindus. They may allow the
non-Muslim minorities other than the Hindus just because the number of people
belonging to other communities is very much less than that of the Hindus; this
will not affect the building of a Hindu Rashtra. The RSS has a history of
persecuting the minorities and instances of forcefully converting them into Hindus
in India. They can do the same with the new citizens of India, who will be
granted citizenship through this amendment. Since those people will be very
less in number, they will also be easily dominated by the Hindu fundamentalist
groups and will be forced to change their religions to Hinduism. This is how
the RSS will execute their saffron agenda.
The
Government of India says that this amendment will help those who face
persecutions in their day-to-day lives. As a matter of fact, there are also certain
Muslim groups that face persecutions in these countries. But the RSS considers
the Muslims as one of the major obstacles in their way to build a Hindu Rashtra.
So, the Government is unwilling to include them in the amendment.
There
are persecuted groups not only in these three countries, but also in other
countries that share their boundaries with India. However, the Government is
focusing mainly on the Hindus and including the other groups whose number will
not negatively affect their saffron dream.
Even Tamils
are persecuted in Sri Lanka. But the Government will never welcome them. The
reason behind it is simple: the Government also wants to make a Hindi Rashtra.
The RSS is not only Hindu nationalist, but also Hindi nationalist. They
recognise the Tamils as an obstacle in their way to build a nation with Hindi
as its national language. Though they might find the immigrants from Bangladesh
as obstacles in this case, they welcome them just to use the Bangladeshi
immigrants to create a Hindu Rashtra.
The
amendment also excludes the Tibetan Buddhists and the Uyghurs of China. It
excludes the Rohingyas of Myanmar. If the people, belonging to these persecuted
groups, who are in a large number are given citizenship, then they can in no
way serve the purpose of the RSS. These people can help the RSS in neither of
their two goals (one of building a Hindu Rashtra and the other of making Hindi
the national language of India). If the Government is really worried about the
Buddhists of Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, then why is it not worried
about those of Tibet? When the Government is asked about these persecuted
groups, it says that they never had anything to do with India. The Government
says that those who could not return to India after its partition in 1947, it
is a chance for them, since they have been being persecuted for long for
belonging to minority groups. But we would like to remind the Government that neither
Afghanistan had anything to do with India’s partition!
Behind the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019
There are two groups behind this amendment act — one is an
economic class, the Indian capitalists, and the other is a Hindu Fundamentalist
group, the RSS.
It is
known to everyone that the Government is led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, the
political wing of the RSS, and controlled by the Indian bourgeoisie. The ruling
party, i.e. BJP, and the Indian bourgeoisie are helping each other. The Indian
bourgeoisie help the BJP by funding them during elections and the BJP, as the ruling
party, helps them by privatising the public sector. And this act of privatising
benefits the bourgeoisie and victimise the working class. And so that the
working class cannot revolt against the bourgeoisie, the RSS is acting as the
divider. It divides the working class in the name of religion, caste,
ethnicity, language, etc. By amending the Citizenship Act, 1955 on the basis of
religion, the BJP is trying to divide the working class.
Along
with the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019, the Government also wants to
introduce the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The NRC will only act as a
filter. The Muslims, who do not have their documents, will be declared as
non-citizens of this country, and the non-Muslims, even if they do not have
their documents, will be granted citizenship, through the new amendment in the
Citizenship Act, 1955. The NRC will help just to separate the Muslims and the
non-Muslims. This will badly affect the Muslims who never bothered about their
documents. There are people living in this country who could not make documents
just because of their illiteracy and poor financial conditions. However, the
Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 will help those who are non-Muslims, and the
Muslims will become stateless, and the state will be free from its
responsibilities to provide them education, healthcare, jobs, etc.
What leads to immigration?
Emigration
not only takes place because of religious persecution, but also because of the
inability of the economy of a country to provide jobs, to satisfy the needs of
its people. Hence, immigration to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and
Pakistan has taken place also because of the failure of capitalism in these
countries. And the same is happening in India. The capitalist system in India
has also failed to provide jobs to its people. In such a situation, the people
of India are afraid to accept new people as the citizens of India. This is how
the working class, within a nation is divided in the name of nationality. This
division is what the bourgeoisie want. The Bharatiya Janata Party, controlled
by the Indian bourgeoisie, is using the immigrant workers to serve their narrow
interest of transforming India into a Hindu Rashtra. It is also serving the
Indian bourgeoisie by creating communal divisions amongst the toilers in India.
The appeal for a socialist solution
The Progressive Students’ Federation of India
appeals to the people of India to overthrow the ruling party along with the
capitalist system. The current system has failed to satisfy the needs of the
people. It has failed to secure the rights of the people. We appeal to the
people to overthrow not only the BJP, but also the capitalist system from
power. We demand the immediate withdrawal of the amendment and the immediate
release of all the people, arrested by the police for opposing the bill.
The citizenship laws of
the bourgeois state are just to use the proletariat of the state to serve the
purpose of the bourgeoisie. These laws
are only to imprison the proletariat of a land within its boundaries. Let us reject
these laws. The bourgeoisie are no more national, but international. The
borders do not exist for them. They are free to trade internationally. The
borders exist only for the working class. These lines exist as dividers between
the world proletariat. Let this rebellion take the form of a revolution against
these fascist forces.
Moyoor
Chief Convenor
PSFI
