More than protesters, PM needs to introspect

As protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) continued across India with no sign of abatement, last week Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on a visit to Uttar Pradesh, the worst affected state, called for introspection.

Had the call been addressed to all sections, it could have been hailed as a statesmanlike gesture of peace. But he addressed it specifically to protesters in the state which was witnessing the most vicious police attacks in living memory.

Half a century ago, a judge of the Allahabad High Court had described the UP police as “an organised gang of criminals”. Those words were approvingly cited by the National Human Rights Commission quite recently.

More than one judicial commission which went into communal riots in the state had commented on the police’s partisanship. Fact-finding teams, which visited UP districts in the wake of reports of police brutality, said there was targeted violence against the minority community.  

The police conduct must be viewed in the context of the Prime Minister’s recent observation that trouble-makers can be identified by their clothes and Chief Minister Adityanath’s vow of revenge against protesters.

Although a score of people were killed in firings, the UP police initially denied it had opened fire. Video evidence produced by citizens forced it to admit it had fired.

There is material in the public domain to indicate that the police had used force far in excess of any threat it may have faced from violent protesters. The National Human Rights Commission has called for a report from the state police chief on the incidents.

As reports of bestiality surfaced, the Chief Minister justified the police conduct saying it had “shocked every protester into silence”. His office tweeted: “A shining example of how violent protests must be handled.”

Modi ignored reports of police atrocities and asked citizens to respect the work of the police.

The Prime Minister must take note of the fact that protests, mostly peaceful, are continuing all over the country, including the states where his party’s governments attempted to suppress them ruthlessly.

There is greater need for introspection by the Central government than by those protesting against the obnoxious law pushed through Parliament without consultations with the people likely to be affected adversely by it.

The main objection raised against the law is that it violates the cardinal principle of equality enshrined in the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, which has before it three scores of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the amended Citizenship Act, is currently on the customary colonial-era Christmas and New Year holidays. A three judge bench is set January 22 for the hearing to begin.

Given the record of the BJP and its affiliates, the fears aroused by the new law and the party’s apparent readiness to enforce it using brute force, the protests will not subside on the basis of mere say-so by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. There has to be meaningful efforts to reassure the apprehensive public.

The preparation of the second National Population Register, to be conducted along with enumeration for the 2021 census, due to begin in a few months, has also invited opposition as there is fear that the data collected may be used for NRC purposes.

The NPR project, introduced by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, was implemented along with the 2011 census without any hitch. It was intended to collect data to help draw up projects.

The West Bengal and Kerala governments have stayed work on the second NPR. What began as a campaign against the CAA has now snowballed into one against the NRC and the NPR as well.

The BJP and the Prime Minister must rethink on these schemes in their own interest if not in the larger interests of the nation.

In the first Assembly election held after the anti-CAA agitation began, voters in Jharkhand threw out the BJP government. The party’s footprint across the country is shrinking fast.

Also, the BJP has not been able to convince even its allies in the National Democratic Alliance about the virtues of the NRC. Ten of its 13 NDA partners have voiced opposition to the NRC. They had gone along with the BJP on the Citizenship Act amendment in Parliament. The subsequent change in their approach indicates that they share the widespread concern over the implications of the NRC.

The discriminatory CAA has caused considerable damage to the favourable image Modi had cultivated abroad in his first five years in office. Public opinion abroad will not condone gross violations of human rights.