EURUSIA DIARY
India has passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian immigrants, except for Muslims arriving in the country until December 31, 2014. Under a government proposal headed by the right-wing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 11, 2019, immigrants from six religions from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan will obtain citizenship if they prove they have been in India for more than 6 years. However, in India, which is the second-largest country in the world in terms of the Muslim population, this law does not apply to Muslims.
India’s anti-Muslim law CAB, protesting hundreds of thousands of people from different belief groups, as well as Muslims, has led to the Muslim massacre. Those who abuse protests, especially from Hinduism brutally kill and torture Muslims, torn pages of the Koran, burn their property and Mosques. The Indian police, ignoring the tragedy, are deadly beating protesters, using pepper gas and real bullets against them.
American international relations expert Peter Tase gave a special interview to EDNews about India’s anti-Muslim Citizenship Amendment Bill and protests that turned into the mass killing of Muslims.
– What is the reason for the passage of this law, which will replace 200 million Muslims living in India as second-class citizens and deprive many of them from their rights of citizenship?
Narendra Modi is conducting a massive political and ethnic atrocity against the Muslim Population in Central Asia. It is evident that India’s Prime Minister is conducting medieval campaigns that will have direct implications within the socio-economic fabric of INDIA and further deteriorate the democratic standards of the Institutions of New Delhi. Modi’s Islamophobic policies, in the twenty-first century, remind me of the terrorist attacks committed by Armenia’s ASALA terrorist organization in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The Armenian attack against the Passenger Bus travelling from Tartar to Kelbajar, blowing up this vehicle, on July 11, 1991; and killing 14 people and seriously wounding 35 passengers is an act of terrorism that very well illustrates the attitude of Narendra Modi against the Muslim Community in India and across Central Asia. Right-Wing Ethnonationalism promoted by Narendra Modi will be disastrous for the world’s largest democracy and certainly deteriorate the political and economic relations with most countries in Central Asia.
It is an act of genocide to observe that Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister, is committed to implement and disguise the decades-long campaign against Muslims in the State of ASSAM and turn these actions into national – central government policy. Modi’s political actions and anti-Muslim discrimination strategy has emerged as a populist project nationwide, it requires over 200 million Indian Muslims to prove their Indianness or they have to face the status of being declared stateless.
– Why International Organizations, Human Rights Organizations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Muslim countries are watching another human tragedy and not preventing the mass killing of Muslims?
These are actions that should be rejected by the international community, should be openly denounced as sources of conflict and animosities that further endanger the inter-religious dialogue and tolerance, that is currently propagated by United Nations and other regional organizations. Western Democratic countries should be vigilant in preserving peace and stability in Southern Asia.
– In spite of the killing of more than 100 people, will the protests, which have continued since December 9, 2019, result in giving Muslims equal rights with Buddhist, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Hindu and Christians?
Prime Minister Modi is committed to establishing a great divide between Buddhists and Muslims; has no vision to mend ties between Islamic preachers and Hindu spiritual guides; is incompetent to foster a dialogue among Christians and Sunni Muslims in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan (despite the fact that years ago, Indian Government, a few years ago, enjoyed a great reputation in Kabul).
Azerbaijani sociologist Zamina Safarova has told EDNews about what is happening in India.
Indian films we have watched over the last century have been very popular in Azerbaijan and our respect for India has increased. However, a group of young Indian tourists travelling to Azerbaijan recently made fun of Azerbaijan’s Alley of Martyrs, disrespecting our ancestors who died heroically for freedom.
Unfortunately, the Indian government has taken such tough decisions against Muslims. Those who are protesting the law discriminating against 200 million Muslims living in India, as well as those who have not participated in the protest, are also subject to violence. Among the Muslims who have been killed and exposed to violence are protesters, including the elderly, women and children.
In India, not only Muslim women but also women of other religions are subjected to violence and even rape. In 2017, more than 120,000 cases of rape were tried in Indian courts. More than 32,500 cases of rape were registered with the police in 2017, indicating about 90 a day, according to the most recent government data. However, violence faced by women should also worry about human rights organizations. If this continues, India will become a totalitarian, fascist state. Of course, the end of discrimination can lead to religious wars. Therefore, the Indian state must seriously think about ending it.