Fear reigns

The dust over the National Register of Citizens fiasco in Assam is yet to settle. In fact it might take months before it does, if ever, but the home minister is already spearheading the case for a similar exercise in West Bengal (“Backlash grows over contentious India citizenship list,” Sept.1, Gulf Today).

It was horrific what Assam witnessed and is still going through since the NRC exercise got underway. And now a similar fate awaits Bengal. There has been a spate in people ending their lives in West Bengal due to fear of NRC, but like in Assam it will have little bearing on the decision makers. Reports state that panic has gripped citizens across the state and residents are queuing up at government offices to procure documents for proof of citizenship.

In light of this it is ironic that the government is not listening to the voices coming from its own cadres. Ranjeet Kumar Dass, BJP party president in Assam is reported to be very unhappy with the Assam NRC final list because Bengali-speaking Hindus, a key vote bank for the party, were left off the list. “Many people with forged certificates were included, while 200,000 “genuine Indians” were left out,” is what he said.

If that be true, and he is only talking from his own vote perspective, we can only image the larger ramifications of the exercise. Your report states that critics said the NRC process reflected the BJP’s goal to serve Hindus, with a large chunk of those excluded expected to be Muslims. Dass’s anger only adds creditability to that claim.

West Bengal is going for assembly elections mid-2021. The state is India’s fourth most populous, with a population of more than 91 million. Almost one-third of its citizens are Muslims. The math is clear. Isn’t it?

Hakim Shahnawaz
By email