seastarved

[metamatar]

Excerpted with permission from BREAKING WORLDS: Religion, Law and Citizenship in Majoritarian India; The Story of Assam, a report by the Political Conflict, Gender and People’s Rights Initiative at the Center for Race and Gender at UC Berkeley.

The publication of the draft NRC in Assam in 2018 revealed the exclusion of more than four million persons from the survey rolls. Reportedly, some people were excluded due to spelling errors in their names or inconsistent names in documents. After the draft list was made public, excluded individuals were permitted to submit further documentation proving their citizenship. While a majority were not of Hindu descent, reportedly between one and 1.5 million were Hindus. The exclusion of a large number of Hindus from the 2018 NRC list is presumed to be the foremost reason that changes were made to the citizenship law, and that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 was enacted, whereby, in effect, only Muslims would be excluded from citizenship.

The (ostensibly “final”) update to the Assam NRC was undertaken on August 31, 2019. Approximately 1.9 million persons (numbering 1,906,657) were excluded from the 2019 published list, and may potentially lose their citizenship, and face expulsion, exile, and statelessness.

[...]

The Foreigners Tribunal of Assam remains the state mechanism for appeal for persons excluded from the NRC. Individuals may petition the Foreigners Tribunals with requisite documentation validating their citizenship. An appellant is deemed to be either “foreigner” or “citizen” as per the ruling of the tribunal. The process is hard, complex, and arbitrarily and routinely discriminatory. An analysis of 787 Guwahati High Court orders and judgments published by The Wire found that cases before the tribunals took about 3.3 years on average

[...]

September 2019, a Muslim family with land documents dating back to 1927 found that all members of their family were not on the NRC due to: “an objection filed [apparently anonymously] by someone against their inclusion in the final draft.” It is unclear who may file bad-faith objections or how they may be held accountable. Reportedly, approximately 250,000 such objections have been made, mostly anonymously.

[...]

Once declared a “foreigner,” an individual may be held in detention. Immigration detention centers are often locally referred to as “concentration camps.” Detention serves to criminalize and confine those deemed “illegal foreigners.” Without established limits or protocols for ethical resolution of the matter, detentions can be prolonged or indefinite unless deportation ensues. Currently, India operates thirteen detention centers, and others are being constructed to assumedly hold “undocumented” individuals.

[lyricsolution-com]

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri Shares BTS Pictures From His Research For ‘The Delhi Files’ At The India-Bangladesh Border | Movies News

Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is deep into the research for his highly anticipated upcoming film, ‘The Delhi Files.’ Known for his thorough approach, Agnihotri is once again diving into every intricate detail to bring authentic narratives to the screen. Recently, the filmmaker visited the India-Bangladesh border as part of his research and shared some behind-the-scenes (BTS) pictures from his…

[curtwilde]

Welcome to the preparatory phase of Declared Fascist Hindu Rastra. Indian State has always been a Brahmanical Fascist State, now it is being declared to be one with implementing CAA-NRC-NPR in order to snatch the citizenship of Indian Muslims under the garb of "providing nationality to the persecuted minorities of neighbouring countries." We're in 2024 and today is 28th day of March. According to today's The Hindu this is the main headline. "Priest can give CAA eligibility certificate, says govt. helpline: It is mandatory certificate to be submitted along with other documents by the applicants on the portal; as per the rules, the certificate can be issued by a 'locally reputed community institution'. This is the final nail on the coffin of a rotten 'secular' democracy.

Link to the full artice

Caption source

Welcome to Hindu Rashtra where a fucking PRIEST can give or take your citizenship.

[shut-up-rabert]

Nah bruh this bitch really asked me why India was discriminating in taking muslim immigrants from the three countries covered in CAA (Pak, Bangla and Afg) and how it shows Islamophobia. So let me clear it up once and for all:

->It’s not Islamphobic to take only minorities under the threat for their identity but not majority because they aren’t.

-> It’s not islamophobic to not give shelter to people who are in no urgent need of it but rather fleeing poverty because as sad as it is , you yourself have millions suffering from it and will be unable to help these people, given that this criteria will have large numbers immigrating.

-> It’s not islamophobic because India isn’t required to fend for these people. The moment the two countries seperated and they chose to migrate because of their religion or whatever, they became their government’s responsibility. Their governments and ours haven’t been same for ages. The country they hold citizenship for is the one that is to fend for them.

-> It’s not Islamophobic to not want religious majority of a country based on theocracy because that country was made for them and they made the conscious choice to establish that place and live there. Minorities were offered choice to join India Back then and now again because yes while they made the choice aswell, they can be killed if they stay there while the majority will be.

->It’s not Islamophobic the same way its not Hinduphobic to not take Nepalese Hindus or Budhhistphobic to not take Lankans.

->It’s not Islamophobic because Miss girl they literally seperated from us to have exclusively muslim nations they don’t just get to uno reverse it per convinience?

-> It’s not Islamophobic to not want people enroaching you still after having taken desired land and resources from you, because they are not your problem anymore, and they made that choice.

[anarchistin]

Critics argue that the law is further evidence that Modi’s government is trying to reshape the country into a Hindu state and marginalize its 200 million Muslims.

[therewasabrowncrow]

Made this inspired by the honey gatherers of the Sundarbans who wear masks at the back of their heads to (unsuccessfully) misdirect tigers lurking in the forests.

Feels similar to the bizarre citizenship tangle faced by a Bengali resident in Assam. NRC needs them to prove that they're not Bangladeshi, CAA needs them to prove that they're persecuted in Bangladesh.

[debanish]

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: Why Shaheen Bagh Is A City Story

This post is from January 3, 2020

A 2-km stretch in south Delhi's crowded Shaheen Bagh stays barricaded on both ends. There are tents somewhere in the middle of this stretch. Hundreds of women, some with children on their laps, sit in front of a podium where posters criticising the amended citizenship law are pinned on bright cloth. Some women are in burqa.

The voice of an angry man fills the air. On the podium, waving his hand, he says, "Don't be afraid. Allah will protect you." After some time, he asks people if they wanted to go for namaz - it's Friday. "You can pray behind the tents," he says. The next speaker introduces herself as a teacher from Jamia Millia Islamia University, whose students faced the Delhi Police's full might a few weeks ago during a protest.

Except for the tents, the entire stretch at Shaheen Bagh is mostly empty. Some children are playing cricket. Others in white kurta and skull caps are pushing cycles. A large drain clogged with plastic waste cuts the road underneath. The odour stings.

The sit-in led by women at Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA has been going on for over three weeks now. The amended law seeks to fast-track the process of giving citizenship to persecuted non-Muslims from three neighbouring countries. The government says the CAA doesn't affect Indians, including Muslims. But critics say the law divides people on religious lines.

People from across the national capital have been visiting Shaheen Bagh. A large crowd pulled an overnighter to usher in the New Year, with songs and dinner amid the biting cold.

Three days later, some people who are probably directly connected with the protest at Shaheen Bagh tweeted they are folding up so that politicians and goons cannot hijack their cause.

Shaheen Bagh is a city story.

Except for the women - and the local men and children - who have a stake in the cause, Shaheen Bagh is a safe place for the people of Delhi, the visitors from gated colonies, to let off steam and give reality to their fantasy of a protest without getting hurt. Because they know the police will not shoot them here, unlike in small towns and border states, where people go out to protest at great risk to their lives.

[manmohan888-blog]

भारतीय राजनीति में विदेशी हस्तक्षेप और भारत की राष्ट्रीवादी सरकार के खिलाफ अभियान: एक विश्लेषण

लेखन संकलन मनमोहन पुरोहित (मनु महाराज) भारतीय लोकतंत्र ने हमेशा से ही आंतरिक और बाह्य चुनौतियों का सामना किया है। हाल के वर्षों में, भारत की लोकतांत्रिक सरकार को कमजोर करने के उद्देश्य से विदेशी ताकतों द्वारा कई अभियानों को चलाया गया । इन अभियानों का उद्देश्य न केवल वर्तमान भारत सरकार को अपदस्थ करना था, बल्कि भारत के राजनीतिक, सामाजिक और आर्थिक ताने-बाने को भी क्षति पहुँचाना था।विदेशी शक्तियों…

[nando161mando]

���What Hussain describes can be seen in the National Register of Citizens exercise meant to identify undocumented migrants from Bangladesh. In 2018, a National Register of Citizens was published for Assam. The process of collecting data for this list spanned four years with applicants having to prove that they or their ancestors lived in India before March 24, 1971.

“Muslims faced immense trauma and suffering because of the NRC,” Hussain said. “They were asked to visit Upper Assam from Lower Assam overnight for document verification based on the complaints by the [Assamese] nationalist groups. But, not a single Hindu applicant was asked from Upper Assam to attend the hearing.”

Hussain describes the NRC as an exercise meant to even further dehumanise the Miya community using the stick of citizenship. “The state was in cohort with Assamese nationalists to dehumanise and harass us,” he said. “Citizenship is the mother of all rights. When citizenship is taken, there will be no other rights.”

Hussain fears that the newly implemented Citizenship Amendment Act will create even more problems for Miyas. The act allows non-Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan to apply for Indian citizenship, even if they had entered India illegally.

“With CAA implementation, only Muslims have to prove their citizenship and if there is a small error or mistakes in documents, he may be sent to detention or deported,” he said. “These are dangerous times ahead for Muslims.”’

[rightnewshindi]

अरविंद केजरीवाल का केंद्र पर बड़ा हमला, कहा, देश के युवाओं के बजाय पाकिस्तानियों को नागरिकता देकर दी जाएगी नौकरी

अरविंद केजरीवाल का केंद्र पर बड़ा हमला, कहा, देश के युवाओं के बजाय पाकिस्तानियों को नागरिकता देकर दी जाएगी नौकरी

Arvind Kejriwal News: केंद्र सरकार ने नागरिकता संशोधन अधिनियम-CAA से जुड़े नियमों का नोटिफिकेशन जारी कर दिया है। इस मुद्दे पर लगातार राजनीतिक बयान सामने आ रहे हैं। दिल्ली के मुख्यमंत्री अरविंद केजरीवाल ने भी CAA पर सवाल खड़े किए हैं और इसे गैर-कानूनी कहा है। अरविंद केजरीवाल ने कहा है कि बीजेपी सरकार देश के युवाओं को नौकरी नहीं देने के बजाए पाकिस्तान के लोगों को नागरिकता देकर उन्हें नौकरी…

[curtwilde]

"CAA is not about Hindus because it doesn't mention Hindus persecuted in Sri Lanka"

And why is that? Why are Sri Lankan Hindus excluded? Is that because they are not being persecuted by Muslims specifically? Because sanghis don't really care about Hindus even half as much as they say and this bill and everything else they do is driven by their hatred of Muslims.

[shut-up-rabert]

Gotta love how people immediately change their tune when it comes to delhi riots.

At first they are like “Hindus are killing muslims reeee” but when you tell them who it was that pelted stones at a pro caa gathering first, attacked and killed people first and even mutilated and killed hindu civilians nearby they suddenly go “but that doesn’t make them innocent! Both were at fault!” Lmaoooooo

That’s not the fucking point, of course the hindus who killed people in any way other than self defense are at fault. My point here wasn’t that, it was showing that you are a piece of shit who will hold hindus fully accountable for a violence they did not start but can’t do the same for anti CAA protestors who did start it.

[dailyanarchistposts]

We have been debating tirelessly on different ways to abolish caste and other social evils which permeate the society that we have today. Raising voices against oppression, forming political parties and contesting in elections and also trying to force the government to form and implement policies which will give the Bahujans their fundamental rights. We have come a long way through decades of struggle in gaining rights, but the present political scenario of the country is not looking hopeful to the Bahujan aspirations for breaking away the shackles of caste.

With the diluting of labour laws and enabling state sanctioned exploitation of Bahujan labour, implementation of NEP which further marginalize the Bahujan children and extinguish their hopes of upward social and economic mobility, a proposed EIA which will rob the Bahujans and Adivasis of their land and livelihood, implementation of CAA and NRC to deprive the status of citizenship, privatization of key public utilities and destroying the already weakened public healthcare system, the government is openly showing its motives as a corporate stooge which dances to the whims of Adani, Ambani and other Brahmin Bania masters.

Armed with a grass roots organization like RSS and corporate funded media outlets, they have complete dominance in creating narratives they want the public to believe and they also have a well-oiled IT cell to spread fake news against any dissenters who dare to raise voice against them. Even though there are voices in the society which are raising against these government policies, there is a lack of grass root organization and common vision is sometimes lacking. This doesn’t mean that all the opposing forces against the fascist regime, which is murdering our democracy, should be centralized under one political entity. Instead it is time to think about exactly the opposite, the expansion of the idea of democracy from merely being a political tool used while casting vote once every 5 years to inculcating an idea of democracy in all aspects of life — political, social and economical and decentralization of all aspects of society.

Anarchism is a political philosophy which rejects all coercive and oppressive forms of hierarchy, be it caste, class, color, creed, clan, gender, age, orientation or country. It says that every system of power hierarchy should be scrutinized and made to justify its existence, and any system which fails to justify itself and is trampling the freedom of the individual will have to be abolished. The idea of questioning oppressive power structures is inherent to the idea of anarchism. It prohibits a system where even a party or a few leaders decide on how the society will function. Instead it focuses on decentralizing power to local bodies and communities so that decisions are made at the lowest level possible, thus eliminating the concentration of power into a few hands. It also shares the view that people who are most impacted by policies and decisions are the ones who are most capable of making them.

Historically, humans have developed to live in societies which didn’t have the kind of huge inequalities as it exists today. There is an intrinsic instinct to cooperate and help each other which is visible when a disaster strikes or the self-organization that appears out of nowhere in organic movements against oppression. Solidarity and mutual aid are the foundations of an anarchist society. The “right to well-being” of all human beings, meaning “the possibility of living like human beings, and of bringing up children to be members of a society better than ours” (Kropotkin, 1892). Two of the examples of societies which function close to anarchist principles today are Zapatistas of Mexico (Nacional, 2002) and Rojava in Syria (Democracy, 2018). Extreme corruption, colonization and environmental exploitation forced the indigenous people of Mexico to form an autonomous region where people directly form communities and decide the policies. Similarly, the people of Rojava, battered by the civil war, have formed an autonomous region with direct democratic ambitions based on an anarchist and libertarian socialist ideology promoting decentralization, gender equality, environmental sustainability and pluralistic tolerance for religious, cultural and political diversity based on democratic confederalism. One of the principles of direct democracy is that there are no elected representatives for a fixed term, any member who is elected will just be a spokesperson of the community and can be withdrawn immediately if he goes against the decision taken by discussion and deliberations. The means of production will be owned by workers and run by worker councils. Conflict resolution mechanism and alternative systems of judiciary exists within the community run by the members. There won’t be police or other systems which grant power to one person or group to take away the life and liberty of an individual, rather power will be distributed equally or rotationally which is controlled by the community. During the current times of BLM protests all over the world, it is clear that the police institution is just a tool employed by the ruling and propertied class to control the lower class and there is mass class for defunding the police and transferring the resources to community welfare projects.

We need to look at how these communities organize themselves in the face of an oppressive regime and come up with innovative ways to decentralize and create institutions which we are brainwashed to assume will work only if they are centralized. Decentralized community gardens provide food for the community which is maintained by them. Systems of education, community defense, criminal justice systems, industry and healthcare can be decentralized and we need to focus our efforts in building such grassroot level communities which function along the principles solidarity and mutual aid. We already have systems of mutual aid in our communities, all we need to do is to transfer these tendencies to all the systems we live by.

The Indian social mentality of following a leader or waiting for a savior needs to change. Any system which can consolidate power in the hands of the few can change into authoritarianism. Even if the leaders are benevolent and have the will to serve the people, there are systems of coercion which exist in our society, where economic, political and social power resides in the hands of the few, that they will bind the leaders from doing their duty to the Bahujans. The leaders and parties we look up to keep failing and disappointing us time and again. Now, action needs to be taken directly at grass root level by the Bahujans by creating communities and networks of solidarity and mutual aid and practicing decision making and direct participatory democracy. The culture of outsourcing decision making to politicians or other ruling class needs to stop. This has to start at all sectors of industry, agriculture and services too, and also within family.

We can’t turn to the state for protection anymore as it the state apparatus which is being systematically abused by the ruling castes to exploit Bahujan labour to create their wealth. Along with the efforts to educate Bahujans through social media and other means to sensitize them of their exploitation, effort needs to be focused at the bottom most level to inculcate the habit of participatory democracy at individual, family and community levels, respecting the liberty of the individual. The fight for annihilation of caste cannot be won, unless all unjust power structures in the society cease to exist and power is decentralized and distributed to the people directly, where individuals themselves can organize and make decisions about their life without being coerced or exploited to create wealth for others.

References

Democracy, N. (2018, July 6 ). The Communes of Rojava: A Model In Societal Self Direction. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDnenjIdnnE

Kropotkin, P. (1892). The Conquest of Bread. Paris.

Nacional, E. Z. ( 2002). A Zapatista Response to “The EZLN Is NOT Anarchist”. Retrieved from The Anarchist Library: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/ejercito-zapatista-de-liberacion-nacional-a-zapatista-response-to-the-ezln-is-not-anarchist