NRC, CAB and it always being US vs Them

It has been a crazy few days in India. Travelling keeps you away from daily news. You tend to follow the news dispassionately. It does not effect your day to day life and inteferes with enjoying the vacation.

But deep down it bothers. The fact that a once all inclusive country which has been variously described as an amalgamation of cultures, a 'thali' with all its separate ingredients which will not mix but will form a perfect plate together is now being beaten and bull dozed into a porridge bowl where we will be a congealed mass of hatred and suspicion of the other. Us and Them. US vs Them. 

The CAB, a bill passed by a majoritarian parliament where politicians are more interested in gerry mandering to their vote bank rather than looking at building an inclusive India. Along with the NRC, it is an attempt to keep one particular community (Muslims) out of the country. SO here are some details. The CAB says that all people who are either Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians, Jains will be given shelter (and citizenship) in India if they come from outside India. By itself, it seems a fairly innocous piece of legislation but here is the fun part, the delirious, scheming politicians have a hidden card up their sleeve. The NRC by which every citizen has now go to prove their identity and prove not through id cards but through never documented lineage documents that they were born in India. So if you don't have dated documentation as a lot of people might not, no worries if you belong to any of the categories mentioned above since you will become a citizen through the CAB but if you do not belong to those categories, you will be put in detention camps and eventually asked to leave the country. See how that works out for the Muslim community.

I am not part of the Muslim community, I was born a Hindu, a part of the majoritarian community but now as an atheist who does not belive in God or organized religion, this very act of dividing people in this country on the basis of religion is distasteful, horrible and the sign of a vengeful and hateful mind.

So what do I do to make my voice heard against this. I forward/like messages on Twitter and Instagram, I speak to like minded people and nod in agreement at the horrible politicians we have. But I stop there. Why don't I physically join protests, why don't I put my point of view across in a group where there are folks with a contradicting point of view. In my head, I rationalize it. Why push my thoughts down someone else's throat? Why get into trouble by going to physical protests? After all, my bubble is safe. 

This, inspite of knowing, that the bubble will burst. Definitely. Look at Hong Kong, look at France. You can push and push but there will be a breaking point and the results for the country as a whole will be disastrous. How long can we live in our fake bubbles? Be it similar thinking groups, gated communities, always keeping the other out. The us vs them!

As I travel around Peru, I came across a fascinating piece of news. It was about Lima, the capital. There was a posh locality bordering which a slum had come up. Most of the workers in the slums worked in the posh houses next door. Earlier this year, folks in the posh area decided to build a wall cutting the slums away. This was to seemingly reduce crime. The one side effect they did not think of - the folks who worked in their homes now had to walk around an extra 2 km to reach the homes where they work and this was causing a lot of unhappiness and as a result unrest. They were not consulted when there was a wall built and they are the ones most adversely effected. 

Maybe these are two disparate examples in two different countries separated by almost the entire globe. But at its base the need seems to be the base is the need to congregate around similarities. 

So I promise one thing. I may not be present at a protest site, but I will try my best to accept differences. Not to be wary of the other but accept the other for who they are rather than try and make them who I am. After all, I hate porridge! And, more importantly, it is no longer acceptable, no longer correct and no longer affordable to be apolitical. Democracy is in danger, there are rights that we take for granted being taken away from a few. We enjoy it today but it is our right to make sure everyone enjoys it. Stand with them who are being targeted, love them, accept them and make sure we can overcome hate. That alone will take us all forward, together.