The present turmoil regarding the CAA related issues is a well anticipated copybook political response, which should not come as a surprise to any analyst. There is always a set pattern reflected in such well-orchestrated protests. It is akin to the behaviour of water in a pot, put on low flame over a period of time. Initially, only invisible quantitative changes occur as water starts getting heated. No one can observe any visible qualitative change in the water. However, only when it touches the boiling point, water starts showing qualitative changes which are visible. Like the boiling water, these protests are not spontaneous, but reflect six years long accumulation of the frustrating heat administered by the ruling party that the opposition has not been able to avoid.

To understand the genesis of the present turmoil, there is a need to factor in the dilemma of a weak and disunited opposition in the face of a proactive ruling political party at the centre, having a categorical political manifesto, which has had a thumping approval of the Indian electorate in the parliamentary elections of 2014 and 2019. Riding the crest of popular mandate in favour of its political manifesto, the ruling party accomplished certain landmarks like Article 370/JK, Triple Talaq, peaceful resolution of Ayodhya dispute and the CAA, beside others issues lingering on for ages. Left behind in terms of electoral support in the Parliament, and stung by pro-active decisiveness of the ruling party, the opposition is left with no choice but to look for any rallying point against the ruling party outside the Parliament, whether it is at Shaheen Bagh or at Jantar Mantar, or at another few dozen places.

Dr Harish Salve has clearly stated in public domain that the CAA is fairly defensible in the face of any challenge to its constitutionality. So do a large number of impartial legal luminaries. There is no point going into the merits of claims and counter claims when the matter is already before the Supreme Court of India. Any reasonable well-intentioned citizen of India would stop indulging in lawlessness, violence, rumour-mongering, speculation, and holding kangaroo courts and pronouncing his own judgments, when the matter is already before the Supreme Court of India for putting the CAA to the test of its constitutional validity. However, if the protests are still going on causing huge inconvenience to the people as well as at a serious cost of India’s global image, it is a cause of serious concern.

In international diplomacy, there is no dearth of forces working to pull down an emerging India, an India exuding rare radiance and dignity. The present turmoil has unfortunately given a handle to anti-India global forces to unleash diplomatic and media mischief against India. It is quite disgraceful for any self-respecting Indian citizen to get subjected to the utterly biased and opportunistic judgmental write-ups in foreign media; and to suffer the humiliation on account of mischief by anti-India forces in certain international bodies. The moment the protesters projected cracks in our polity, anti-Indian forces lapped the opportunity to harm India politically and economically.

The Prime Minister has stated on the floor of the House that Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Ram Manohar Lohiya and many other stalwarts across the board had assured the return of religiously persecuted non-Muslim minorities from the Muslim States after the partition of India on religious grounds. The present position taken by their party-men is diametrically opposed to that of their own leaders. The fire outside them looks brighter than the fire inside them. The ‘soulful’ politics is lost under the debris of ‘material’ politics.

However, it is not for the first time that religion has been used as a tool for non-religious purposes for engineering unrest and violence in India. Whatever may be the secularisation rhetoric, a legislation that does not discriminate between persecuted religious minorities cannot be blamed on the grounds of any religious discrimination. Muslims cannot be considered a persecuted religious minority in a Muslim state and granted citizenship under the proposed fast-track mechanism. The normal legal procedure to apply for Indian citizenship is still open to them.

Strangely invented concepts of secularism are being used to redefine the Constitution of India. Emotive protests arising out of unrelated pent-up political frustrations may not have any legal basis, but it is the futile pulmonary force of the rhetoric that seems to be the order of the day. India is indeed fundamentally a secular country. It is an ill-informed notion that India became secular since the word ‘secular’ was added to the preamble of our Constitution. Secularism is a concept securely enshrined in Articles 25 to 28 of the Constitution of India, where religious freedoms have been granted subject to public order, morality and health. Secularism is neither ‘irreligion’, nor a ‘religion’ in itself.

As a concerned citizen, it is but natural to expect peace, tranquillity and harmony in India. If certain sections of the people are allowed to debunk constitutional bodies like the Parliament of India and the Supreme Court of India, and to squat on the streets till the constitutional institutions start singing what is music to the protesters’ ears, it will be the beginning of the end of a strong and upcoming India.

Sarvesh Kaushal
The author is a former Chief Secretary to the Government of Punjab (India)