Dear Editor,
Let’s talk about CAB/CAA. Now that the bill has been passed by both the houses, the repercussions of the bill will only burden the unfortunate. The unfortunate being the people. A news channel went around the capital city asking people about their thoughts on the CAB and a few people said “As an Indian I am for it, but as an Arunachalee I am against it”.
This made wonder if being an Arunachalee is any different to being an Indian. Well, the answer is unfortunately “N”. So, you’re either for it or against it. There is no in between.
The Ministers and MPs of our state assured us that the CAB will not be implemented in our state and Amit Shah( Union Home Minister) while presenting the bill in both the houses backed the claims made by our leaders. This made me happy and feel very special as an “Arunachalee”. But did it make me happy and feel special as an Indian? No, because the very idea of CAB is flawed. Openly excluding Muslims from the bill directly attacks the “basic structure” of constitution which in itself is unconstitutional. Also, why only Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan? There are so many red flags to the bill and if all of them are presented, the entire newspaper would not suffice it.
But, can we really blame the Govt?
If CAB were to be a secret, it would have been the worst kept secret ever. CAB was part of the BJP manifesto and we still voted for them and sent them to the parliament. This leads to the question about why did we vote for BJP knowing they would push for this bill? I don’t know about the rest of the country but politics in Arunachal works in a very different way. There is no political ideology here, almost all the ministers and leaders change parties like its a game of musical chairs. So, when it came to elections, most people just voted for the person who paid more money.
So , do we blame ourselves?
Not entirely, but we do have to take some of the blame. So, the next time you vote, at least read the candidate’s manifesto and most importantly, ask questions.
Yours sincerely,
Anonymous but
concerned Arunachalee