How exactly is the planned National Register of Citizens like agreeing to enter into an arranged marriage?
That’s what author Chetan Bhagat explained on Twitter on Wednesday as urged the government to shelve the plan and “restore peace and order”.
Saying “NRC will definitely come” and then saying “but did I show u details yet?”
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) January 8, 2020
is like saying
“you will have to marry where I ask you to” and then saying “but did I show you any boys yet?”
Be clear. If it is not coming, shelve it. Restore peace and order.
Bhagat’s tweet was just the latest expression of his disillusionment with the exercise, which has brought lakhs of protestors to the street. Critics of the plan point out that it could become an tool to disenfranchise Indian Muslims if used in tandem with the Citizenship Amendment Act passed last month.
The law adds a religious criterion to India’s citizenship laws. It singles out non-Muslims from three countries – Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan – and says they can get on an expedited path to Indian citizenship even if they entered India illegally. Though the Act was described as a way to help persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries, it ignores entirely other communities such as Tamils in Sri Lanka and Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Scrolling through the Twitter timeline of Bhagat, who was until recently counted among the ardent supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, gives a vivid sense of how many Indians have become wary of the manner in which the government has been conducting itself.
The NRC started as an exercise that was limited to the state of Assam, where it was to be implemented as part of an agreement that had been made with Assamese nationalists in 1985 to identify undocumented migrants, mainly from neighbouring Bangladesh. When the final list was published in August, almost two million people were rendered stateless.
But in July 2018, Bhagat had tweeted his support for the NRC, although he expressed reservations about the process.
While NRC in Assam needed, the criteria used are severely outdated with a 1971 cut-off (set in 1985). Since we are in 2018 now we can’t have a 47-year residency test. Need to reset date to say 2004 (which makes it 14yrs back as set in 1985.) Else we create more problems in Assam.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) July 31, 2018
But after the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed, Bhagat’s scepticism about the NRC became apparent.
CAA by itself not the issue.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) December 19, 2019
But CAA+NRC is discriminatory. This could happen.
NRC:
All prove again u r Indian
Non-Muslim: sir I don’t have documents
Govt: it’s ok. CAA will save you. U are indian.
Muslim: sir I don’t have documents
Govt: too bad.U are not indian.Get out.
CAA is a life jacket.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) December 19, 2019
NRC is everyone being pushed out of the plane as they have to prove themselves all over again.
But Muslims don’t get the life jacket.
Distributing life jackets is not the problem. Giving them only to a few and pushing everyone off the plane is.
Why is an law like CAA, technically meant for foreigners affecting Indians so much?
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) December 19, 2019
Cause another law called NRC is coming, which essentially assumes all Indians are foreigners unless they can prove otherwise.
This needs to be fixed.
Time to see obvious.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) January 6, 2020
Put CAA aside, officially. Major communication gaps.
Announce NRC won’t come, as execution issues, anxiety created and the chances of abuse means we are not ready for it.
Focus on upcoming budget.
It’s not worth it. Can’t let a country burn to save ego.
The NRC is unimplementable due to massive execution issues.
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) January 8, 2020
Time to put it to rest. Not the right time at all.
With growing US-Iran tensions, higher oil prices and our already weak economy, we need to do everything we can to restore stability.
The author’s latest tweet has been hailed widely by Twitter users.
Sorry for mocking you, your redemption arc is 🌟 https://t.co/5yH3t0EXFl
— Crunchy Cornbread 🇮🇳 (@walnut_crumble) January 8, 2020
What are these days? Chetan Bhagat has started to write sense now. https://t.co/06vNgT7xzo
— Ashwin (@AshwinR94) January 8, 2020
Also read
The Final Count: A Scroll.in special on Assam’s National Register of Citizens