1100 academicians, intellectuals and research scholars from world over issue statement in support of CAA; Slam atmosphere of fear and paranoia being created by vested interests

The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which formalizes citizenship of the persecuted minorities from 3 countries has been used by political parties and vested interests to target the Narendra Modi government. False and misleading facts about the CAA and the NRC are used to create a atmosphere of fear among the Muslim community in India. From Bollywood stars to newbie activists are indulging in fear-mongering over CAA without knowing the facts or deliberately twisting the provisions of the amendment to the citizenship act.

Close on the campaign of calumny, 1100 academicians from universities, colleges and think tanks from world over have issued statement in support of CAA. The academicians apart from congratulating the Indian parliament and government for standing up for forgotten minorities and upholding the civilizational ethos of India, have also decried the atmosphere of fear and paranoia is being created in the country through deliberate obfuscation and fear-mongering leading to violence in several parts of the country.

The statement notes that CAA fulfils the long-standing demand of providing refuge to persecuted religious minorities, who mostly belong to the Dalit castes, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Those who have issued the statement include Prof. Shri Prakash Singh, Delhi University, Prof Kapil Kumar, IGNOU, Professor Ainul Hasan, Dean SLL & CS, JNU, Prof. Aswini Mohapatra, Dean, SIS/JNU, Prof. Mazhar Asif, Faculty, SL/JNU, Meenakshi Jain, Senior Fellow, ICSSR, Sushant Sareen, Senior Fellow, ORF, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, Senior Fellow, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, Anirban Ganguly, Columnist and Author and many others.

Those from universities and colleges abroad include Dr Vivekananda Roy, Associate Professor, Iowa State University, USA, Dr Souvik De, Postdoc Research Associate, Kent State University, Ohio, USA, Tushar Sharma, Adjunct Professor, University of Calgary, Postdoc, Princeton, Dr. Akash Sabarwal, P.hD. Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, Sagar Dhar, PhD Candidate, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, Omkar Joshi, Ph.D. Student, University of Maryland, College Park, Dr. Ashish Mishra, Visiting Professor, UFPA, Brazil, Dr. Neelima Gupta. Research scientist, NUS, Singapore, Dr. Sonam Singh Postdoc, Chungnam National University, South Korea and many other universities in many other countries and colleges.

The complete statement in Support of the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 by academicians, intellectuals and research scholars is as below:

“We, a group of academicians, intellectuals and research scholars are issuing this statement in our personal capacity in support of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019. The act fulfills the long-standing demand of providing refuge to persecuted religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Ever since the failure of the Liaquat-Nehru pact of 1950, various leaders and political parties like the Congress, CPI (M) etc, cutting across the ideological spectrum, have demanded the grant of citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan and Bangladesh who mostly belong to the Dalit castes.

We congratulate the Indian parliament and government for standing up for forgotten minorities and upholding the civilizational ethos of India; providing a haven to those fleeing religious persecution. We also note with satisfaction that the concerns of the North-Eastern states have been heard and are being addressed appropriately. We believe that CAA is in perfect sync with the secular constitution of India as it does not prevent any person of any religion from any country, seeking Indian citizenship. Nor does it change the criteria of citizenship in any way; merely providing a special expedited redress, under special circumstances, for minorities fleeing religious persecution from three specific countries i.e. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. It does not in any way prevent Ahmadis, Hazaras, Baloch or any other denominations and ethnicities, from these same three countries, seeking citizenship through regular processes.

We also note with deep anguish, that an atmosphere of fear and paranoia is being created in the country through deliberate obfuscation and fear-mongering leading to violence in several parts of the country. We appeal to every section of society to exercise restraint and refuse to fall into the trap of propaganda, communalism and anarchism.”