Why not Pakistan’s citizenship for persecuted Indian Muslims?

On the eve of Indian elections, the Modi regime notified rules of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In December 2020, the Indian government had introduced CAA and also came up with National Register of Citizens so as to track down those who were illegally residing in India, particularly from Bangladesh. Prior to that, in 2019, CAA was passed by the Indian parliament which led to an uproar from the Muslim community and opposition parties.

The BJP government introduced an act in December 2020 according to which Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians facing persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan and who arrived in India before 2015 can claim Indian citizenship. One can have a legitimate argument that if India can open doors for persecuted Hindus in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, then Indian Muslims who are facing state-sponsored persecution should be granted the right to citizenship of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Alleged persecution of non-Muslim minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan may have some truth, but the manner in which Indian Muslims are being persecuted is documented adequately.

National Register of Citizens (NRC) and CAA are the two recent initiatives taken by the Modi regime reflecting its nationalistic policy for protecting the interests of non-Muslim population particularly Hindus and to document the data so that required information is available about the number of illegal Muslim immigrants in India and non-Muslims from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan living in the country since 2014. Critics argue that both CAA and NRC are being pushed for implementation at a time when general elections in India are due in April-May this year and that BJP strategists want to augment their vote bank by fanning religious sentiments.

Viewing the temptation of India’s policy to provide space to Hindus particularly those living in Pakistan to seek nationality in India, some Hindu families, particularly from Sindh, migrated to India, but after some time they realised that life in Pakistan was better, and so, they returned to their country of origin. By pursuing a policy to deport illegal immigrants who happen to be Muslims from Bangladesh and elsewhere, BJP hopes to widen its political support and vote bank in the forthcoming general elections.

The counter argument dispelling fear among Indian Muslims that they will be targeted through CAA and NRC has gained ground in India. It is argued that neither CAA nor NRC is detrimental to the interests of Indian Muslims and the policy is to document demographic landscape of India particularly religious minorities. Under the title of an article, ‘Why is India’s Citizenship Amendment Act so Controversial’, Al-Jazeera reported, “Home Minister Amit Shah, a close confidant of Modi, posted on X that the law will enable minorities persecuted on religious grounds in neighboring countries to acquire Indian citizenship. Before the CAA, India’s citizenship law did not make religion a determinant of a person’s eligibility for an Indian passport. All those seeking naturalization had to show that they were in India legally, and needed to wait for the same period — 11 years — to become eligible for citizenship. That’s what the CAA changes — introducing for the first time in independent India’s history — a religious test for citizenship. Muslim victims of religious persecution in Pakistan (like the Ahmadiyya), Afghanistan (the Hazara) or other neighboring nations (such as the Rohingya in Myanmar), will still need to wait for 11 years before they become eligible for Indian citizenship. And unlike Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians, they need valid documentation to justify their presence in India.”

Alarmists argue that if Modi gets a third term with two-thirds majority in the upcoming elections, clauses in the Indian Constitution guaranteeing secularism as a basis of India state will be removed. In that case, India will be declared a Hindu state while using CAA and NRC as tools to further persecute religious minorities particularly Muslims. Should Pakistan and Bangladesh then also follow New Delhi and propose the granting of nationality to Indian Muslims facing persecution at the hands of Hindu fanatic groups? In that case, one needs to see if Bangladesh and Pakistan possess the capacity to consider the applications of Indian Muslims if approached.

The option of offering nationality to persecuted segment of Indian population needs to be analysed from two angles.

First, over the period of decades, India has emerged as an economic power house to the extent that it aspires to overtake Germany as the world’s fourth largest economy by 2028. Despite persecution of Indian Muslims and Christians, the Modi regime has got enormous space in economy and foreign policy that it can afford to accept Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians facing alleged persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Whereas, even if Bangladesh and Pakistan follow the Modi regime, the two countries lack capacity and resources in this regard. Bangladesh, in view of its close ties with India and pursuing a secular mode of governance, may not adhere to the notion of offering citizenship to persecuted Indian Muslims on religious grounds. The Modi regime, through NRC, has targeted illegal Bangladeshis who live in India particularly in the state of Assam. Popular sentiments in Bangladesh against NRC are gaining momentum but it doesn’t mean that Dhaka will be amenable to the idea of welcoming persecuted Indian Muslims.

Second, principally, the very creation of Pakistan was for the Muslims of the Indian Sub-continent. It is another story that after 1951, the influx of Indian Muslims was stopped in Pakistan. If Pakistan can accommodate over 3 million Afghan refugees in the name of Jihad, why can it not provide space to the Indian Muslims whose lives in India are at stake? Neither Pakistanis nor Bangladeshis have the will and commitment to support the Indian Muslims experiencing widespread state-sponsored persecution. It means, unlike India where the Modi regime is determined to settle the so-called persecuted religious minorities particularly Hindus from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, there is no such hope in the two Muslim neighbours of India.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2024.

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