Irfan says students have shown the way

Hyderabad: The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has come into force and it is the roadmap to create citizenship by ethnicity rather than citizenship by territory which the Constitution of India conceives. The fight is to ensure that the Constitutional concept of citizenship by territory is retained because only that will help save secularism in India, explained Mr Irfan Engineer of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism.

Mr Engineer, who hails from Mumbai, was in Hyderabad for a meeting with the National Alliance of Dalit Organisations. The state-level consultation meet was held to urge the state government to pass a resolution in the Assembly against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens.

Mr Engineer explains why it is important to protest against this Act in an interview. Excerpts:

There have been continuous protests across the country against the CAA, yet the Central government has brought it into force. Are the anti-CAA protests affecting the government, as they do not seem to be budging from their stance?

The protests do have an effect on the government. The stand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and that of home minister Amit Shah are different, from which it is evident that they are noting them. The home minister had at various forums earlier given statements openly that they will not bring Muslims under the ambit of the Act.

They are now being very specific in their statements as to which Muslims they are against. The biggest and the best support has come from students who have come out saying that they do not support this Act.

They are the torch-bearers of secularism and they have shown the way irrespective of community, caste and creed. Every attack, be it Jamia Millia or the Jawaharlal Nehru University, has only further strengthened their resolve to fight the forces.

They are out there on various forums speaking against the draconian rules of the government. Hence, the protests are helping but the government is keen to have an atmosphere of fear in the country. They want to maintain this kind of fear and keep citizens on the edge.

With the Act now in force, what is the road map ahead?

The states of Kerala and West Bengal have clearly said that they will not implement the Act. The government has tried to bring in the NPR but that too is being rejected. The state of Telangana has voted against the Act in the Parliament and the state  Assembly too must reject it. This is the appeal of the consultation committee to the state government. The refusal by the state governments will also force the Centre to amend the Act.

What is the road map being followed by the government with the CAA?

The CAA is the first step towards making the shift from territorial to ethnicity for citizenship. This means that religion becomes a basis for citizenship. It is like the Israel model where Jews from around the world can claim citizenship due to their religion. Hence this is the first step to bring in the concept of citizenship based on religion. The remaining are not citizens in the country but merely residents.

The Constitution of India is pluralistic and the government has 6,432 communities recognised and they all must be protected. It is very important that people do not succumb to any religious fundamentalist and stay together as one. It must also be made clear that this fight is to preserve the Constitution and not against any religion. This is very important as there are misnomers being created that it is against a religion which is not the case.

Has the Indian Muslim finally evolved as one, as the protests show that people from all sects are coming together and no longer discussing their internal differences?

Indian Muslims have definitely come forward as one but their differences have only been ignored due to the larger crisis.

The surprise is that the women and the young among Indian Muslims have come forward and they are going to lead even within the community.

They need education, reforms and gender equality. The women at Shaheen Bagh and Malegaon are not going to go back and lead the same life that they have been.

They are going to press for reforms within their community and push for larger empowerment which will change their stature in society.