CAA, NRC are issues! George Responds to Pamplanil!

 

Dear James,

 

Varghese Pamplanil has expressed his views rather forcefully against CAA and NRC.  He sees some kind of “nefarious intention” of the part of present dispensation in it.  I do not wish to second guess what these nefarious intentions are but want to believe that the present administration is just completing what was being talked about for a long time.  Manmohan Singh government could have disposed it off during its 10 year tenure but could not for want of necessary ‘killer instinct that a leader should be endowed with.  When Modi does things at breakneck speed, it is quite natural for most Indians to get a culture shock and they are laid back and are used to status quo.  They would rather not get anything than do the job of climbing the Mount Everest as it is difficult.  Anyway, CAA has become the law of the country and also operative from 10th January 2020.  The Supreme Court of India, is however, scheduled to hear petitions against it.  Let us leave it for the Court to decide one way or other.

 

I am amused by the 106 former bureaucrats’ letter that contains a statement “National Population Register, the new version asks not only for the names of the parents of the resident, but also seeks to also record their dates and places of birth”.  I am quite sure that these gentlemen being the cream and elite of Indian society have had occasion at least once or several times in their life time to apply for U.S. visit visa.  To my best knowledge and belief US visa application form asks exactly the same details to be filled in by the applicant.  So it boils down to this:  US can ask Indians to give these information but not India's own government.

 

Is there an NRC in preparation in India?  I understand that Parliament is yet to table a draft of it and cannot therefore understand why we should be even discussing it now. 

 

Indians must end the culture of taking to streets and destroying public property.  If anyone wants to protest, more honest thing to do would be to burn his or her own house or car.  Call the TV channels before burning one’s own car or house in protest.  That will be real honest and genuine way to protest as it involves financial cost to the protester.  There is no valour in destroying public property.  True, Gandhi may have organised satyagrahas but he did it to a foreign power and he did not endorse arson and loot.  When we copy Gandhi we are actually not hurting any foreign government and that makes a difference. Therefore and when the target is our own government,  only legitimate way to protest will be through peaceful means and if that does not satisfy the protesters’ mind-sets, they should start burning their own assets instead of  someone else’s.

 

Any takers for this kind of protest?

 

George Nedumarambil

 

 

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