At Shaheen Bagh the big question: Lose citizenship or get it?

medium nocaption108488200“Shaheen Bagh se itna khauf kyon? Itne saare police force ko deploy kardiya! Ab Ramzan hai… so no hungama. But kaagaz hum nahi dikhayenge [Why this fear of Shaheen Bagh? So much police force is deployed. It's Ramzan...so no upheaval. But we will not show papers],” a Shaheen Bagh resident asserts as she walks with her daughter to the local mosque for the afternoon prayers on the first day of the holy month of fasting. There is an undercurrent of resentment and numbness beneath the veneer of normalcy in Shaheen Bagh, the southeast Delhi Muslim working class neighbourhood that became synonymous with the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019-20.On March 11, the Union home ministry notified CAA, facilitating Indian citizenship for non-Muslim migrants — Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian and Parsi — from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The benefits do not, for instance, extend to the Rohingya from Myanmar, Ahmadiyyas from Pakistan or the Hazara from Afghanistan.Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia became the epicentre of the lengthy protest against CAA when it was cleared by Parliament in 2019. This time, most people in these two localities are anxious, but cautious. medium108488389Some residents fear that CAA, combined with the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), could lead to discrimination against India’s Muslim citizens. “We feel insulted at having our claim to the country of our birth weighed against a set of papers,” says one person not willing to be identified.A 68-year-old shopkeeper, who read the news about the CAA notification in the Inquilab newspaper on Tuesday (March 12) morning, says, “Why Muslims are precluded from the decisions on this law is a question that will remain unanswered. Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the implementation of CAA is a tactic to divide and rule and polarise voters. Not surprisingly, police have been patrolling here since Monday night.”Another resident says, “Either accept CAA or get beaten up — there is no other choice for us. The constitutional values of secularism are at stake here. I participated in the 2019-20 protests and haven’t forgotten those days. It’s not on us, but the future generation that will face the brunt of this religion-based citizenship law.”A few, however, did accept that the law was meant to grant citizenship, not divest anyone of it.Meanwhile, Rapid Action Force personnel and police drones kept track of students’ movement around Jamia on Tuesday as the air resonated with anti-CAA slogans. Around 200 placard-holding students protested on the university campus, led by the Muslim Students’ Federation and National Students’ Union of India. medium108488454 medium108488528Left groups also released a statement condemning the central government's implementation of CAA as “a tactic for polarisation and garnering votes for the coming general elections under the guise of Hindutva”. The leftist Students’ Federation of India said, “The Jamia Millia Islamia SFI strongly opposes CAA, which treats Muslim minorities as second-class citizens.”The protesters demanded the repeal of CAA, release of all students involved in anti-CAA protests and withdrawal of charges against students and activists. A student added, “Now through intense militarisation, Jamia has become an open jail where protesting has become a crime.”Hindu refugees see light at the end of tunnel medium nocaption108489445For nearly a decade they have been living on hope and very little else. But with implementation of CAA, Hindi migrants from Pakistan living in various Delhi localities are looking forward to being an ‘Indian’ soon.Having left their country fearing religious persecution and hoping for a better life in India, the Pakistani Hindu community did not immediately find succour in their new country. Their existence, as a walk in the different settlements on March 12 showed, centred on semi-permanent thatch-roof houses, mud roads, open drains, unhygienic surroundings, no piped water or proper toilets. The young people loitered around, unemployed, while others made do with small incomes as labourers, daily wagers and marginal shopkeepers.The first migrants came to India from Sindh in Pakistan for a pilgrimage in 2012 and settled down at Majnu Ka Tila, forgoing their properties in their country and leaving behind their kin. The years since have been tough for them, both in India and Pakistan. medium108489501 medium108489532“I am still a Pakistani citizen. I have been telling the media and rights activists of our ordeals in Pakistan for a decade. Because of this, our relatives were threatened by the authorities, forcing us to stop speaking out,” claims Reshma Bagri, a woman in her 40s who came for the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj in 2013. “But what’s more worrying is that many children born here are neither Pakistani nor Indian. They have no citizenship.”Pointing at some children playing at their northeast Delhi settlement near Majlis Park metro station, Bagri says, “We are, therefore, happy at CAA being notified. At least, they will get a chance to pursue a good life, get an education and ultimately get a dignified job.”There are hundreds like Bagri living at different parts of Delhi, in Majnu Ka Tila, Rohini, Adarsh Nagar, Shahbad Dairy, etc., every year extending their tourist visa to be able to stay on in India. medium108489553Laxman Das, a migrant who has settled down near Signature Bridge, says, “When we came to India and registered ourselves prior to settling here, the officials were surprised that none of us was educated. Most of us can’t read or write. We do menial jobs, run small shops for a living. But now after getting citizenship, we can hope the education of our children will bear some fruit.”Das, however, points out that CAA has made only those who arrived in India prior to December 31, 2014 eligible for citizenship when Hindus face religious persecution in Pakistan even today and community members continue to migrate. “Many of our relatives wish to migrate too. It’s very difficult for them in Sindh,” he said.There were impromptu celebrations in these settlements, with several BJP leaders visiting the areas and congratulating the residents. Many curious Delhiites approached them and shared their story on social media. medium108489590In some areas like Majnu Ka Tila, however, there is uncertainty because Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has issued notices of an anti-encroachment drive. The settlers felt their fight for sustenance had just got prolonged.Sukhnand, head of the settlement at Majnu Ka Tila, says, “We are obviously happy as our children can now study and get jobs. They can get opportunities that we were denied because of our religion in Pakistan. We can also travel freely in India and can even visit Ayodhya. So, we are very happy. However, this notice for demolition of our homesteads by DDA is a new roadblock. We have been forced to approach Delhi high court to protect ourselves.” medium108489694Chander Solanki completed his schooling from the government school on Magazine Road last year and aspires to study law. Only two of the children who had arrived in India, aged five years, had passed Class XII before dropping out without graduating from college. Solanki says, “Demolition will set us back by at least a decade. There are already so many problems. Can you imagine that in this settlement of 200-odd families, I am one of the few who have made it past Class XII and are preparing for college? Most children cannot continue beyond Class IX because they have to start working to contribute to the family income. They are unskilled, so do jobs like selling cigarettes, tea, phone covers, etc.”Pawan Kumar, another student who is now in Class XII, points out that while CAA would give them a level playing field, the Pakistani Hindu community would still have to work hard to avoid being economically marginalised in India, like their parents were in Pakistan.Photos: Shreya Ghosh, Rajesh Mehta, Tarun Rawat, Sanjeev Rastogi