Modi urged to repeal the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA). 

By Mike Ghouse

A news briefing took place today, May 21, 2020 at 2 PM. The panel of distinguished speakers included Nadine Maenza and Dr. Harrison Akins, both from USCIRF, Francisco Bencosme from Amnesty International USA, and Aman Wadud, Civil Rights Attorney from India. All of them made appeals to the Indian Government to repeal the CAA, and urged the Department of State to carry through the recommendations made by USCIRF. Indeed, that is the right thing to do.

The online event was organized by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), International Christian Concern (ICC), and Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR).

A few powerful statements;

Sunita Vishwanath, an activist from Hindus for Human rights said, “We who are advocating against Hindutva ideology and discriminatory laws like CAA/NRC are doing so out of love for Hinduism and India, both of which are inclusive and expansive.”

Raju Rajagopal from the same organization added, “We are NOT marching toward a Hindu Rashtra; we are marching toward a Hindutva Rashtra.”

Matias Perttula of the international Christian coalition had this to say, “The persecution of Christians and religious minorities in India has been increasing since Modi and BJP came to power in 2014. It is encouraging to see that India is recommended to CPC status by USCIRF. Now is the time to appeal to India to cultivate greater religious pluralism and steer away from the Hindutva agenda.”

As a Muslim, I have a problem with the Hindutva Rashtra as Rajagopal articulated. Hindutva is a replica of racist Nazi supremacist ideology, and the Manu Smriti that goes with it dehumanizes Indian women and Dalits, as well as Christians, Muslims and other minorities.

The following is my opinion;

The bad things happening in India are not a part of Hindu teachings. We have been super careful about separating the two. How is Hinduism different from Hindutva? http://centerforpluralism.com/hindutva-is-not-hinduism/

Two issues need to be addressed by the Government of India – repeal the CAA and restore freedom the people of Kashmir to earn respect in the community of nations.
The intent of passing the CAA was mala fide. There was no need for passing the law, all they had to do was give citizenship to the persecuted minorities. The irony is they say there is no persecuted Muslim in India from the neighboring nations. Then why exclude Muslims from the act if there were none. The Indian Muslims and Christian welcome the persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, and others; it would make us proud of our motherland to provide safe space to the victims of prejudice.

Demanding birth certificates and parents’ birth certificate was to identify all those who do not have these documents. I bet Modi does not have a birth certificate, nor his mother or his abandoned wife. I don’t have one, and a lot of Indians born between 1947 and 1952 don’t have the birth certificate either, however many of them have two birthdays, including me.

Those who do not have the birth certificate, and are Muslims will go to the concentration camps, and all others get automatic citizenship. The intention of the law is evil.

If the US economy goes down the tube, Trump’s base will resent Indians who are taking their jobs and doing well. It happened when Microsoft and other companies fired the Americans and outsourced the work to Indians. We have the sparks under control now. If Trump gets reelected, he will do anything to appease his base.

Ominous murmurs are circulating that if India forces its Christians to convert to Hinduism, kicks them out, or allows them to live as second-class citizens, then we must do the same, kick the Indians out of America. If Muslims continue to bear the brunt of Hindutva hatred, the Arab countries may get rid of some 5 Million Indians who bring nearly a $100 billion to India. It will add to the massive unemployment. Indians stand to lose.

I can see the absurdity of some of the BJP members in India. Their words are dangerous, and if the good Indians do nothing about it, they will continue to create an environment of distrust leading to an unstable India. The Indian economy and the social fabric of the nation will be destroyed before that happens, I am hopeful that Indians will dump Modi like they did Indira.

What is difficult to understand is the stinky attitudes of a few Indian Americans who are sadistically rejoicing with what is happening to Muslims and Christians in India.

The CAA is bad for India, bad for Muslims and bad for the Dalits. More importantly, it is terrible for the very people supporting it. The protests will continue unless the CAA is repealed or modified. Millions of Indians who got it good in the last twenty years stand to lose. No one would want to invest in an unpredictable, chaotic discriminative and an unstable nation.

Every Indian American loves his/her motherland, to think otherwise is pure venom and gross prejudice. Those Indians need to clean their hearts and minds. America is a great country, and they need to live by its ideals of liberty and freedom.

I appeal to those few Indian Americans who care about India to get their act together and urge Modi to repeal the evil act, and allow the USCIRF commissioners to go on a fact-finding mission. What do we have to hide? Let Modi listen to their reports and correct the wrongs and not go down in history as the man who destroyed India.

We have to save India, although it is not our country anymore, it is our motherland, and we owe her a debt of gratitude. The Indian blood runs in our veins. Those who think they are more privileged than Dalits, Muslims, and Christians need to get off the high horse before they fall.

God bless India.

Mike Ghouse is the founder and president of the Center for Pluralism. He is a speaker, thinker, author, consultant, pluralist, activist, newsmaker, and an interfaith wedding officiant. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions to the media and the policymakers. www.TheGhousediary.com