Govt climbdown on NRC a symbolic victory for Shaheen Bagh protesters

Peaceful resistance or Satyagraha is still an extremely powerful weapon, even against a fascist, authoritarian State as Shaheen Bagh protesters have shown. The women-led protest in the heart of the nation’s capital has inspired hundreds of Shaheen Baghs spring up across the length and breadth of the country. And the government is clearly on the backfoot. In spite of all the villification propaganda against the protesters during the Delhi Assembly election in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah exhorted people to press the button with so much force that it sends “shocks” to people gathered at Shaheen Bagh, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday said in Lok Sabha that the Centre has not taken any decision to prepare a National Register of Citizens (NRC) at a national level.

Minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said this in a written reply. Compare that to what Amit Shah told the Rajya Sabha less than three months ago, in November, 2019. He had then categorically said that the NRC exercise will be carried out across the country. The BJP’s misunderstanding of people’s reaction to the Citizenship Amendment Act )CAA)-National Population Register (NPR)-NRC trident stems not just from the massive arrogance that has marked the rule of Prime Minister Narendra Modi right from 2014. It also saw the massive mandate in 2019 as a vindication of its Hindutva agenda. That translated into over-confidence. While the numbers in Parliament are huge, the BJP failed to read another crucial part of the mandate. Only 37 per cent of those who voted, opted for the BJP. An overwhelming 63 per cent did not approve of its governance or its ideology. It is that democratic and secular India that is now pushing back.

The same reasoning went behind the police action in Jamia Millia Islamia and Aligarh Muslim University, both institutions with a minority tag. The government’s premise was that only Muslims will come out to protest. What happened was exactly the opposite. The Hindutva brigade got isolated and secular Indians, from every religion, caste, language and creed got united against the RSS-BJP’s divisive politics.

Whereas the original plan was to polarise and divide Indian people, the result has been the exact opposite. The RSS-BJP finds itself a minority today and that explains this climbdown in the nation’s Parliament. But however, the RSS-BJP will not abandon its communal rhetoric as it only understands the politics of polarisation. That is why following MoS, Finance, Anurag Thakur chanting “Shoot the enemies” slogan from the dias, three gun-wielding terrorists have already made their presence felt in the Jamia-Shaheen Bagh area. The progressive and secular Indians must not celebrate this climbdown as a victory. This climbdown is temporary. That is why the role of Opposition political parties become crucial now. When common citizens have hit the roads forcing the government to backtrack, it is high time that all Opposition parties also hit the streets to mount further pressure on the government so that the Narendra Modi and Amit Shah-led government has no other option but to completely withdraw CAA and NRC.