Hindus, Muslims united in protests
IT IS the rioting season. From Paris to Hong Kong, Santiago to Beirut, people are turning on the rulers who go against them.
We have seen violent clashes between police and rioters in Santiago, Beirut and Hong Kong.
Now the riots have come to India, a country known for its religious tolerance.
The Citizenship Amendment Act has just not created an uproar but caused widespread rioting across the subcontinent.
With reference to the story “Uproar over the Citizenship Bill” (the POST, December 18 – 22), it is a shame that this nation, known for its cultural and religious harmony, could descend into chaos.
Police have waged running battles with the stone-throwing mobs beating them up and using tear gas and even live ammunition.
The protests are led by the young. Thousands of students from dozens of universities across the country have joined the demonstrations.
They have even defied a ban on protests imposed by the government.
Six people have died so far, and thousands have been arrested across the country.
But the rioters will not back down. It’s like Hong Kong all over again.
The more force and brutality the police use, the more determined the protesters get.
They want the Narendra Modi government to withdraw the discriminatory Citizenship Act.
Modi has defended his government’s decision to amend the Citizenship Amendment Act.
He says it’s not discriminatory but grants citizenship to refugees from minorities in neighbouring Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, but leaving out Muslims, which has triggered the protests.
It’s a double blow for the Muslim minority in India.
They lost the Ayodhya case when the Indian High Court ruled that the ancient site rightfully belonged to the Hindus, who claim it was the birthplace of Lord Ram.
The Muslims had taken over the site and built the Babri Masjid Mosque.
But the 16th-century mosque was razed to the ground by Hindus in 1992, sparking violent clashes across the country, which claimed nearly 2 000 lives, mainly Muslims.
This time, in a remarkable show of unity and strength, Hindus and Muslims have joined forces against a government that justifies a discriminatory law.
Modi has been caught with his pants down. He did not sense the spirit of revolution spreading across the globe and how this would turn his people against him.
T MARKANDAN
Kloof