A.Q. SIDDIQUI
CHICAGO: There is nothing against Indian Muslims in Citizenship Amendment ACT (CAA), recently passed in Indian Parliament, said Dr Bharat Barai, a front ranking community leader and former head of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) Chicago.
He was addressing a luncheon press meeting at Tiffin restaurant at Devon Ave on December 21. It was the first of its kind press meet, hosted by NRI Press club of Chicago since the start of anti-CAA protests in India.
Dr Barai, a trustee and chairman of FIA Chicago, was invited as the key note speaker along with Vandana Jhingan, a TV Asia journalist and a community activist who ran for US Congressional seat a couple of years ago. Dr Barai is also known for hosting the historic reception for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 28, 2014, in Madison Square, New York as president of the Indian American Community Foundation.
The press meet was welcomed by Madhu Patel, president of NRI Press Club. He requested Dr Bharat Barai to explain the real spirit and salient features of the recently passed CAA and allay the misconceptions raging among Muslims and non-Indians in the US.
Dr Barai read from the actual text of CAA as published by the Ministry of Law and Justice, government of India. The Act, he said, is meant to grant citizenship to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered into India before December 31, 2014. All such illegal migrants will get Indian citizenship under this Act. Their children will go to schools and colleges. He compared CAA with former US President Barack Obama’s DACA that provided path to education and legal status to children of undocumented immigrants in US.
Dr Barai also showed media reports from India quoting Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid as saying that CAA is not against Indian Muslims and it is not related in anyway to the citizenship status of Indian Muslims. He also showed media reports quoting the head of Ajmer Shrine as saying that CAA is not related to citizenship status and will bring no harm to Indian Muslims.
When asked why there were so many protests against CAA all over India, Dr Barai observed that it was all political. The Congress party, along with other opposition parties, were instigating the protests for advancing their narrow political and self -interest. He allayed minorities’ fears that CAA is a prelude to the National Register of Citizens (NRC). He asserted that the Act has been enacted on humanitarian grounds to help refugees who faced hardships in getting higher education, college admissions a and better way of life in India.
Dr Barai also pointed out that CAA has something for NRIs too. If anyone faces problems in his or her OCI status for any violation, the Act has a relief, according to which “no order be passed unless the Overseas Citizen of India has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard”.
Jhingan also touched upon the finer aspects of the Act and said that essentially it augured well for all Indians irrespective of their religious beliefs or faiths
Others in the meeting shared a concern that CAA was not properly defined and explained both in India and abroad. There should have been public meetings or seminars. The Consul General’s office should have community meetings and educate the Indian diaspora about the true spirit of the Act.
Also, a major concern was expressed that the amendment was against the very basis of Indian secularism. While DACA in United States was enacted for all undocumented immigrants irrespective of race, color, religion or immigrant’s origin, the CAA is enacted on the very basis of religious discrimination.
Madhu Patel thanked Dr Barai, Jhingan and other media persons for joining the discussion.
The consensus among media attendees was that the protest and ugly demonstrations in India are largely the making of disgruntled political parties that would like to gain the upper hand in the elections, and all round efforts need to be made to place facts before the Indian and American public.
Madhu Patel observed that it is high time the public wakes up and exposes this game in time as many outside forces are keen to destabilize India.
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