Tag: NRC Assam

Assam Child Marriage Prevention Act

‘Anti-Child Marriage Campaign A Ploy To Target Assam Muslims’

By LokMarg

Dr Dibyajyoti Saikia a human rights and social activist in Guwahati, says Himanta Biswa Sarma is trying to please the RSS leadership by repeatedly launching anti-Muslim drives

On the directions of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the BJP-led Assam government has created a stir across the state and in India by arresting 2,000 men within the first 48 hours of the current anti-child marriage operation. About 3,000 people have been arrested so far. The district court has released 24 people on bail within 24 hours after their arrest in Majuli — the world’s largest river island and a precious heritage site.

If you closely examine the current controversy, not only have individuals from one community been arrested, or, people who believe in a certain religion have been targeted, but people from other communities and religions have also been arrested in the name of preventing child marriage. One thing is true — among those arrested, the number of arrests of Muslim people is the highest.

From the day the campaign started, till date, two women have died of heart attack. There has been widespread fear, anxiety and suffering. But the government is oblivious of the misery and distress it has caused to the people it is meant to serve. Clearly, there is an agenda behind the whole campaign.

ALSO READ: ‘NRC – Misinformation Is Rife, Muslims Are Scared’

Currently, it seems that the policy of the BJP is to garner the votes of Hindus by opposing ordinary Muslims, and not only by the use of speech. Interestingly, the BJP leaders have a good relationship with Muslim leaders of the state. It appears to me that both sides have been happily polarizing society and playing politics with the common man.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has been playing to the gallery to appease the hardliner in the saffron family. The RSS would love the chief minister if he continued taking anti-Muslim stances. Keeping the RSS pleased is a task now being undertaken by the current chief minister. However, this doesn’t mean that the chief minister loves Hindus a lot. In the current circumstances, the BJP government in the state has no other programme than playing politics of vested interests.

The failure of the NRC (National Register of Citizens) and CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) in Assam and India is a reality. But, though I can’t say it straight away, the current move on Child Marriage Prevention campaign is an alternative plan. I think the present chief minister has a personal agenda to keep the communal pot boiling. He routinely makes provocative (read anti-Muslim) comments to corner publicity and staying in limelight at the national level.

One thing is certain: this anti-child marriage campaign has scared a large number of Muslims in Assam. They are being intimidated and harassed. It will require a social movement by civil society in the state and at national level to uncover the BJP campaign and force them to withdraw such blatantly communal campaigns.

As told to Amit Sengupta

A Spotless Record in Governance

‘Gorkha Voters Are Concerned About NRC In Bengal’

By LokMarg

Deepa Thapa, 25, a Gorkha living in West Bengal, says none of the parties in fray has a spotless record in governance, be it healthcare or economy

I belong to a family of Gorkhas from Nepal who have shifted to India. My father shifted to India more than 20 years ago but most of our extended family is still in Pokhra, Our extended family gets worried whenever there is tension in Indo-Nepalese relations.

I have assured my relatives that I have always felt loved and safe here in India and personally I have never experienced any discrimination, but sometimes policy changes are so sudden and ambiguous that one doesn’t know who might get caught in it.

Frankly, Amit Shah might have said that Gorkhas didn’t really need to worry about NRC (National Register of Citizens), but as an individual I do worry about it. Whenever such news comes up, I read every detail about it in depth so that my family is never caught off-guard. I keep an eye on the statements made by our national leaders, because on crucial matters they have more say than local leaders. However, I give more importance to local leaders than those at the top.

Thapa is an HR professional in Kolkata

As about the demand for Gorkhaland, I am neutral in that regard. I can understand people who want it and I can also understand people who don’t want it. Maybe I would be able to take sides, be able to cross the bridge when we finally come to it.

Personally I think West Bengal electorate is caught between the devil and the deep sea, with no party being better than the other. I feel one should always vote keeping in mind which local representative of a party is doing better work. Before voting one must clearly figure out what their priorities are when it comes to governance and whether there is a likelihood of those priorities being met.

ALSO READ: ‘Bengal Muslims Will Choose Didi Over Owaisi’

Talking as a common individual, I feel both the BJP and TMC are doing little for the economy. West Bengal was anyway under the Left parties rule for so many years that it will take a long time to revive the state’s entrepreneurial spirit. So we need someone in the state who can lead from the front, especially in times like these when so many people are facing an uncertain future job or business-wise due to the raging coronavirus. I feel the pandemic could have been handled better by both the state and central government.

I also wish that India and Nepal’s relationship goes back to how it was in the past. Every time there is a slightest friction in the Indo- Nepalese relation, our Gorkha community here as well as relatives in Nepal get worried.

We Gorkhas are a tight-knit and loving community and so is India generally, and I hope whichever party comes to power, they ensure that their representatives, right from the local to the national level, communicate openly with people. And I would love to see representation from different ethnic backgrounds at the local level.

As Told To Yog Maya Singh