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Chennai, Tamil Nadu's ruling <keyword id="19897149" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dmk" source="keywords">DMK</keyword>, a key constituent of the INDIA bloc, in its manifesto released on Wednesday promised to repeal the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 if the opposition alliance wins the <keyword id="19895394" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lok-sabha" source="keywords">Lok Sabha</keyword> polls. Restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and holding polls there, scrapping the New Education Policy 2020, slashing fuel prices, annulling Article 361 of the Constitution that provides protection to governors from legal action and appointment of Governors following consultation with Chief Ministers, were among the key promises made by the DMK. The recommendations of the M S Swaminathan committee will be adopted to ensure that MSP for agricultural products "is set at total production cost plus 50 per cent," the DMK said. Also, it announced that if voted to power, the INDIA bloc will withdraw the Agnipath scheme and reintroduce "permanent recruitment service" in the Indian Armed forces. "From now on, population census, including caste-wise census and census concerning people below the poverty line, will be conducted by the Union government once every five years simultaneously." The DMK will firmly insist on the removal of Article 356, which allows the dismissal of duly elected state governments and imposition of President's rule. The Congress party's ally in Tamil Nadu said that "new constraints" on States' borrowing capacity, imposed by the union government beyond the limits in each state's FRBM-equivalent Act will be eliminated. "A recommendation to share cess revenues with states will be made. It will be proposed that the Finance Commission increase the horizontal devolution of tax revenue (to all States together) from 42 per cent to 50 per cent." The Union government's financial contributions to states will be based on the income tax and GST collected in those states. Thus, financial contributions will be assured based on the taxes collected within each state. The finance provided to states will be permanently determined based on the 1971 population. A 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and legislative assemblies will be implemented immediately. "DMK will insist that the Union government enact a law providing menstrual leave to women, emphasizing the journey towards gender equality." Petrol and diesel prices "will be set at Rs 75, Rs 65 (per litre)" and cooking gas cylinders shall be made available at Rs 500 (per cylinder). "The introduction of the Uniform Civil Code will be strictly prevented" to preserve India's secular nature as stated in the Constitution's preamble. "The 2019 CAA law will be repealed, and all minorities will be treated equally without any discrimination. The recommendations of the Sachar Committee for the improvement of the lives of Muslims and other minority communities will be implemented." Facilitation will be provided for <keyword id="21027983" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sri-lankan-tamil" source="keywords">Sri Lankan Tamil</keyword> refugees to get Indian citizenship. Assistance will be provided to those who wish to return to Sri Lanka. Also, the manifesto said efforts will be made to implement reservation for minorities at the all-India level, similar to Tamil Nadu. "The financial assistance previously provided to minority educational institutions has now been stopped. Action will be taken to resume this assistance." For "political" reasons, funding from foreign countries to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has currently been stopped. "The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act will be properly amended, and measures will be taken to ensure these financial aids continue to reach NGOs without any problems." The proposal of 'One Nation, One Election' will be abandoned, and for the allocation of Lok Sabha seats to states, the current practice, based on the 1971 census will continue. All "people-unfriendly" laws introduced by the BJP government over the last 10 years will be reviewed immediately by the INDIA alliance government. The "labour-hostile laws" introduced by the BJP government will be "reformed." Through the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), the Union government will ensure a minimum pension of Rs 5,000 per month. The number of working days under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act will be increased from 100 to 150 days. "A wage of Rs 400 will be provided across states/ union territories nationwide." Disbanding the current NITI Aayog, set up by the BJP regime and establishing again the Planning Commission to draft plans based on the requests of state governments is another assurance the DMK has made. "Measures will be taken to reclaim Kachchatheevu to ensure India's security and to protect the welfare of the fishermen." A mandatory "cooling-off period" of 2 years will be introduced for retired judges and secretaries before they could join private companies or political parties, the manifesto said. Waiving loans and interests for farmers in nationalised and scheduled banks, waiver of educational loans for students, monthly entitlement of Rs 1,000 for all women in every state and formation of <keyword id="21027984" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="state-development-council" source="keywords">State Development Council</keyword> by including Chief Ministers were among the promises made by the DMK. Exemption for Tamil Nadu from the NEET exam and complete removal of toll booths on national highways, forms part of poll promises of the Dravidian party. Further, the DMK said amendments will be made to relevant laws to ensure that state governments, elected by the people, appoint Vice-Chancellors to state-run universities, rather than Governors. Stopping government's divestment from public sector enterprises, implementing the Sethusamudram project, law to ban online gambling, setting up a <keyword id="19895345" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="supreme-court" source="keywords">Supreme Court</keyword> branch in Chennai, providing statehood for <keyword id="19901639" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="puducherry" source="keywords">Puducherry</keyword>, equal funding for all state languages including Tamil, were among the host of other promises made by the DMK. Establishment of Tamil departments in varsities and stopping construction of <keyword id="19950851" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mekedatu" source="keywords">Mekedatu</keyword> dam were also promised by the DMK. "The <keyword id="19996334" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vishwakarma-scheme" source="keywords">Vishwakarma Scheme</keyword>, introduced by the BJP government to encourage caste-based occupations, will be restructured on the basis of social justice."

DMK vows to repeal CAA if INDIA bloc is voted to power

With <keyword id="6355572" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sri-lanka" source="Orion">Sri Lanka</keyword> staring at an unprecedented economic crisis, the refugee flow to <keyword id="20154" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="tamil-nadu" source="Orion">Tamil Nadu</keyword> has commenced after 16 Sri Lankan nationals reached the shores of the state. On Tuesday, the refugees arrived in Tamil Nadu in two batches. While six people, including a family of a man, wife and their 4 month-old son and a woman and her six and twelve year old children arrived on Tuesday afternoon, the rest arrived late at night. In Sri Lanka there is a high financial crisis with prices of essential commodities, including milk and rice skyrocketing, petrol and diesel not available and power stations shut. Schools are not holding examinations due to lack of paper for printing question papers. It may be noted that the Civil war in the early 1980's triggered an inflow of people from Sri Lanka and now around 60,000 refugees are living in 107 camps spread across Tamil Nadu and about 30,000 more live outside these camps or in general society. The first batch of six refugees who arrived in the state have been identified as <keyword id="13446717" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="R-Gajendran" source="Orion">R. Gajendran</keyword> (24), his wife Mary (23) and their four-month-old son Nijath. Dony Ariston (31) and her two sons, Esther (12) and Moses (6) also accompanied Gajendran's family. Dony has left behind her husband in Sri Lanka while traversing to India as a refugee. Interacting with reporters at Madurai, Gajendran and the two women said that they don't have any jobs in Sri Lanka and essential commodities were not available while blackmarket prices were unaffordable. They also said that long ques can be seen in fuel stations. They also said that they had paid an amount of Rs 50,000 to a boatman who had dropped them early morning of Tuesday at a sand dune near Rameswaram and were later rescued by the Indian coast guard. Ten other people also reached Tamil Nadu late evening of Tuesday but their details were not available. Police sources told IANS that the refugees would be produced before a court in Ramanathapuram on Wednesday.

16 refugees land in Tamil Nadu as economic crisis hits Sri Lanka

Since 1995, not much has been done to replace the thousands of internally displaced Tamils in <keyword id="6355572" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sri-Lanka">Sri Lanka</keyword>. It is time India fast tracked the rehabilitation process. India is committed to build 50,000 houses for internally displaced people in Sri Lanka, <keyword id="6355187" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> was informed today. 

	Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said the project envisages construction of new houses and repair of damaged houses and it is being implemented through two models, agency driven and owner-beneficiary driven. 
 

	"The beneficiaries of the housing project are identified through a consultative process," he said in reply to a written question. 
 Rijiju said as per the information received from the state governments of <keyword id="20154" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="tamil-nadu">Tamil Nadu</keyword> and Odisha, a total of 1,01,368 Sri Lankan <keyword id="71319" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Tamil-refugees">Tamil refugees</keyword> are presently staying in the country. 

	The Minister said the Sri Lankan government has released nearly 2,000 acres of land to internally displaced persons in the Northern and Eastern provinces. 
 

	In January 2015, the External Affairs Minister, during her meeting with visiting Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, has urged the Sri Lankan government to create conducive environment for Sri Lankan refugees to return to Sri Lanka. 
 

	The Sri Lankan government has been extending facilities, including education, civil documentation and medical services to any returning Sri Lankan citizen after staying as refugee, including in India, he said.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

India committed to build 50,000 houses for displaced refugees in Sri Lanka: Kiren Rijiju

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">M.I.A</div></div></div>M.I.A. takes on the global refugee crisis with a self-directed video for her recently released single, "Borders."The new video features M.I.A. joining refugees as they climb barbed-wire fences, wade in the water, and cram together on small boats. At one point, bodies on the fence spell out "life." Lyrics in the chorus ask some pointed questions, though she never repeats the same one twice. Some include: "Borders, what's up with that? Identities, what's up with that? Your privilege, what's up with that? Freedom, what's up with that?"The song will appear on M.I.A.'s fifth album, "Matahdatah." No release date has been announced yet.M.I.A tweeted a link to the video this morning, along with a dedication to her Uncle Bala, who she said was "one of the first Tamil migrant [sic] to come to the UK in the 60s." Watch the full music video on Apple Music below: <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/kesha-accused-a-man-of-sexual-assault-and-her-career-might-be-over-because-of-it-2015-11">Kesha accused a man of sexual assault, and her career might be over because of it</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="NuZWRveDqRyimRuSdrj0dYt-lOsK9IaI" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

M.I.A. takes on the refugee crisis in provocative new music video for 'Borders'

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="11895805" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="new-zealand" source="Orion">New Zealand</keyword> has been trying for years to deport a man who injured seven people in a mass stabbing, said Prime Minister <keyword id="11962486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jacinda-ardern" source="Orion">Jacinda Ardern</keyword>.</li><li>He was previously arrested twice, and police found <keyword id="11900894" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="isis" source="Orion">ISIS</keyword> propaganda in his apartment both times.</li><li>The man was appealing his deportation and authorities were legally unable to keep in him jail.</li></ul>New Zealand had been trying for years to deport an ISIS supporter who injured seven people in a supermarket stabbing spree last week, said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9OJk56d_OI">Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a press conference on Saturday.</a>The <keyword id="12035132" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="attack" source="Orion">attack</keyword>er had been served a deportation notice in 2019 after his refugee status was revoked, said Ardern, but a drawn-out legal process allowed him to remain in New Zealand even while authorities knew he intended on carrying out a terror attack.Ahamed Aathil Mohamed Samsudeen, a 32-year-old ethnic minority Tamil from Sri Lanka, <a href="https://www.insider.com/new-zealand-police-kill-isis-supporter-supermarket-stabbing-2021-9">grabbed a knife</a> from a supermarket shelf on Friday and attacked seven victims, placing three in critical condition, before being shot dead by police who were monitoring him.Samsudeen arrived in New Zealand in 2011 on a student visa seeking refugee status, which he was granted in 2013, <a href="https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/cases/2021/R-v-S-summary.pdf">per court documents made public on Sunday.</a>He became a person of national security interest in 2016 after uthorities noticed him sympathizing on Facebook with terrorist attacks and violent extremism, <a href="https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/R-v-S/20180629-2018-NZHC-1597.pdf">according to court documents.</a>During their investigation, authorities also discovered that Samsudeen's refugee claim was based on a fraudulent document, prompting them to revoke his refugee status, according to Ardern. <a href="https://www.courtsofnz.govt.nz/assets/R-v-S/20200716-2020-NZHC-1710.pdf">Court documents also show that </a>Samsudeen was arrested in May 2017 at the <keyword id="12035133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="auckland" source="Orion">Auckland</keyword> International airport when police believed he was about to fly to Syria. Police searched his apartment and found a hunting knife and ISIS propaganda. According to the <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-mall-terrorist-attack-lone-wolf-isis-supporter-identified-as-sri-lankan-refugee-ahamed-aathil-mohamed-samsudeen-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-responds/ZKP4IST56NJWH3SPNM5GNF7XI4/">NZ Herald</a>, Samsudeen had told a fellow worshipper at a mosque he would commit a "lone wolf" terrorist attack if he was unable to go to Syria. He was later released on bail, but was arrested again in August 2018 after purchasing another knife. Police also found more material relating to ISIS propaganda in his apartment.Samsudeen was served a deportation notice while in jail. He appealed against it under New Zealand's Immigration Act, saying he would face "arrest, detention, mistreatment, and torture" if he were to be sent back to Sri Lanka.In July 2021, he finished his sentence related to the 2018 arrest and was released while awaiting his deportation appeal. New Zealand's immigration agency wanted to keep him in jail, concerned that he would be a risk to the community, according to Ardern."It was incredibly disappointing and frustrating when legal advice came back to say this wasn't an option," she said. Because of his appeal and circumstances, Samsudeen was likely to be considered a "protected person" under the country's <a href="https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/policy-and-law/legal-framework-for-immigration">Immigraton Act.</a>Authorities also knew that Samsudeen wanted to carry out a terrorist attack and looked into charging him under the country's 2002 <keyword id="11895207" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="terrorism" source="Orion">Terrorism</keyword> Suppression Act, but <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-mall-terrorist-attack-lone-wolf-isis-supporter-identified-as-sri-lankan-refugee-ahamed-aathil-mohamed-samsudeen-prime-minister-jacinda-ardern-responds/ZKP4IST56NJWH3SPNM5GNF7XI4/">the charges were rejected</a> because <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/04/auckland-stabbings-calls-for-tighter-terror-laws-after-extremist-allowed-to-roam-free">planning an attack isn't a crime in New Zealand.</a>"Agencies used every tool available to protect innocent people from this individual," said Ardern. "Every legal avenue was tried."After his release, authorities ordered police to monitor him constantly, deploying 30 officers to watch him for 50 days until the attack happened, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/05/new-zealand-stabbings-officials-tried-for-years-to-deport-terrorist-prior-to-auckland-attack-jacinda-adern-says">reported The Guardian.</a>Police commissioner Andrew Coster said at the Saturday press conference that the officers monitoring Samsudeen kept their distance from him because he had a "high level of paranoia" toward their surveillance, and therefore took two minutes to get to him after he started his stabbing attack.Ardern said her government is pushing for a <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/124820505/government-to-close-gap-in-counterterrorism-laws-criminalising-terror-attack-planning-and-preparation">new anti-terrorism law</a> that will broaden the definition of terrorist activity and criminalize the planning of terror attacks. She also said that the attack on Friday should not be pinned on any one community."It was carried out by an individual, not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity, but an individual person who was gripped by ideology that is not supported here by anyone or any community," she said."He alone carries the responsibility for these acts. Let that be where the judgment falls."

Jacinda Ardern said New Zealand tried for years to deport the ISIS supporter who injured 7 shoppers in a stabbing attack last week

Several academicians, former bureaucrats and judges, writers, artistes and scientists have expressed outrage over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill calling it "divisive" and violative of the Constitution and asked the government to withdraw it. In separate letters and petitions, they asserted that the proposed legislation threatens the federal framework provided by the Constitution and will fundamentally alter the character of the Indian republic if it comes into force. In an open letter, about 600 writers, artists, activists, former bureaucrats, ex-judges asked the government not to betray the Constitution. The signatories include historian Romila Thapar, author Amitav Ghosh, actor Nandita Das, filmmakers Aparna Sen and Anand Patwardhan, activists Yogendra Yadav Teesta Setalvad, Harsh Mander, Aruna Roy and Bezwada Wilson, former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah and the country's first CIC Wajahat Habibullah among others. "All of us from the cultural and academic communities condemn this bill as divisive, discriminatory and unconstitutional. It will, along with a nationwide NRC, bring untold suffering to people across the country. It will damage, fundamentally and irreparably, the nature of the Indian republic. This is why we demand that the government withdraw the bill. "This is why we demand that the government not betray the Constitution. We call on all people of conscience to insist that the Constitutional commitment to an equal and secular citizenry be honoured," the letter states. The Lok Sabha passed the bill a little past midnight on Monday after a heated debate that lasted over seven hours. The contentious Bill will be discussed in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The bill seeks to provide Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees coming from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan after facing religious persecution there. According to the proposed legislation, members of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities, who have come from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, till December 31 2014 facing religious persecution there, will not be treated as illegal immigrants but given Indian citizenship. If religious persecution was the logic presented in the bill, then why were refugees such as Rohingyas from Myanmar or Hindu or Muslim Tamils from Sri Lanka or Ahmadis from Pakistan left out, the signatories asked. "Why focus on only three countries as if these constitute the only possible sources of asylum-seekers?" they asked, stressing on the need to have a refugee policy in line with international law, not a legislation dictated by an ideology that makes use of religion for political gains. "The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019 tears to shreds the inclusive, composite vision of India that guided our freedom struggle. In the amendments it introduces to the Citizenship Act of 1955, the new Bill violates every single one of these fundamentals of the Constitution," the letter states. After the legislation got the nod of the Lower House, civil rights activist Mander said if the bill is passed, he will practice civil disobedience. "I will officially register as a Muslim. I will then refuse to submit any documents to NRC. I will finally demand the same punishment as any undocumented Muslim -- detention centre &amp; withdrawn citizenship. Join this civil disobedience," Mander tweeted. In a separate petition, a group of scientists and academicians said the use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution. Academician Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a signatory to the petition, said the citizenship bill will convert a constitutional democracy into a unconstitutional ethnocracy. "We can debate the past forever. But with <keyword id="6363576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="cab">CAB</keyword> India takes a giant step to officially convert a constitutional democracy into a unconstitutional ethnocracy," he tweeted. Academician Ramchandra Guha hit out at Home Minister <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-shah">Amit Shah</keyword> and said he was a professed Savarakrite and had no issue with Muhammad Ali Jinnah's two-nation theory. "Savarkar, 1943: I have no quarrel with Mr Jinnah's two-nation theory. We Hindus are a nation by ourselves and it is a historical fact that Hindus and Muslims are two nations'. The home minister, a professed Savarkarite, has no quarrel with Mr Jinnah's two-nation theory either," Guha tweeted. The petition said the idea of India emerged from the independence movement, and as enshrined in the Constitution, is that of a country that aspires to treat people of all faiths equally. "The use of religion as a criterion for citizenship in the proposed bill would mark a radical break with this history and would be inconsistent with the basic structure of the Constitution. We fear, in particular, that the careful exclusion of Muslims from the ambit of the bill will greatly strain the pluralistic fabric of the country," the petition noted. The petitioners include those affiliated to Harvard University, Masachussets University, Indian Institutes of Technology, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Indian Institute of Science, Delhi University, Chennai Mathematical Institute, International Centre for Theoretical Science, Tata Institute for Fundamental Research, the University of Bonn, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Oslo. Over 230 activists and academicians from Gujarat also wrote an open letter expressing concern over the bill. Some social organisations in Pune appealed to the Maharashtra government to move Supreme Court against the bill.

Romila Thapar, Amitav Ghosh, Nandita Das join 600 writers and artists to seek withdrawal of Citizenship Bill

<ul class="summary-list"><li>India's parliament passed a new amendment to its citizenship law earlier this month, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities while singling out its minority Muslim population. </li><li>The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> and has sparked deadly protests around the country.</li><li>The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>A controversial amendment to a law was recently passed in India, sparking deadly protests around the country and leading some to question the country's democratic values.On December 11, India's parliament passed an amendment to its Citizenship Act of 1955, which sets out guidelines for becoming a citizen in the country. The 2019 revision added a religious element to the bill, providing a pathway to citizenship for Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities who fled neighboring Muslim-majority countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The amended act has been <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights/status/1205451656495861761">slammed by critics</a> as anti-Islam, and they say it further marginalizes India's sizeable Muslim minority. Violent protests have erupted across the country in response, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-burning-protests-new-citizenship-act-2019-12">resulting in the deaths of six people</a>. Dozens more have been arrested or injured in clashes with police.The fight that has erupted over the citizenship bill is reflective of the country's <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/society/article/2124474/india-no-country-muslims">rising tide of bigotry</a> directed towards minorities, in particular, its Muslim population, which makes up about 14% of the country's massive 1.3 billion people.The bill has also handed more power to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government in crafting a country which affords more rights to its Hindu majority and leaves room for further discrimination in the areas of governance and public space. <h2>What exactly does the bill say?</h2>India's Citizenship Act was first established in 1955 and created comprehensive guidelines related to citizenship in the country.It has been amended several times, including at 2003 amendment that authorized the government to keep a national register of all of its citizens (referred to as the NRC). Today, the register has not yet been implemented except in the northeastern state of Assam, which is home to a Muslim-majority population. The most recent changes to the Citizenship Act (often referred to locally as CAB or CAA) were passed by India's lower house of parliament - the Lok Sabha - on December 10, before being cleared by the upper house of parliament - the Rajya Sabha - a day later. The bill was signed into law by President Ram Nath Kovind.The bill was introduced by Indian home affairs minister Amit Shah, a leading member of ‎Modi's right-wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, and it promised to provide refuge for persecuted religious minorities from three neighboring Muslim-majority countries who entered India before 2015.Notably, the act excludes Muslim migrants "as they do not face religious persecution in these Islamic countries," India's parliament <a href="https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=195783">said in a statement</a> after the bill's passage. The bill also leaves out two neighboring Buddhist countries, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, which have experienced major refugee crises in recent years. There are about 59,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees residing in over 100 camps in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, according to <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/article30328790.ece">Indian magazine Frontline</a>, and about 30,000 that live outside these camps.The bill also ignores what the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22491&amp;LangID=E">UN has deemed the world's most persecuted minority</a>, the Rohingya Muslims, who suffered ethnic and religious cleansing at the hands of the Burmese military in Myanmar. Authorities <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya-india-idUSKCN1AU0UC">have reportedly pledged</a> to deport the estimated 40,000 Rohingya refugees currently residing in India, despite facing danger in their home state. "The only religion that the Modi government follows is the Constitution of India," the statement added.In the statement, Shah "reiterated that the Bill is not against any Minority in India and the rights of each Indian Citizen will be equally protected."The bill does not apply to Assam and other indigenous areas.A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25425&amp;LangID=E">called</a> the act "discriminatory in nature" and said it undermines India's democratic framework:"The law isn't truly about protecting the region's religious minorities," <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/12/17/india-citizenship-law-protests-narendra-modi-amit-shah-founding-fathers/">wrote Ravi Agrawal and Kathryn Salam of Foreign Policy</a>. "Instead, it challenges India's secularism by making religion part of the basis for citizenship."The Citizenship Act has spurred thousands of people from human rights groups, universities and religious groups to come out in protest this month. On December 15, clashes between police and students escalated on two Muslim university campuses - Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh and of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi - resulting in police <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/17/india-protests-students-condemn-barbaric-police">using batons and tear gas on students</a>.The unrest has even led authorities to deploy army personnel and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/curfew-relaxed-few-hours-guwahati-assam-boils-caa-1628386-2019-12-15">impose a curfew in Assam</a>, as protests boil over. <h2>This is not the first time the government has targeted its Muslim population</h2>India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party has taken steps to further marginalize the country's Muslim population since coming into power in 2014.The NRC's exclusive use in Assam has been derided by critics as a way to of stoking religious tensions. According to a <a href="http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW18C-01%20MDDS.XLS">2011 census</a>, Muslims makeup nearly 35% of Assam's population, and are a majority in eight of the state's districts. <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/assam-final-nrc-list-out-over-19-lakh-people-excluded-1593769-2019-08-31">In August</a>, 1.9 million people from the region were excluded from the register, effectively stripping them of citizenship. <a href="https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/uncertain-destiny-for-millions-in-assam-post-nrc/">Amnesty International</a> has criticized the NRC and says it leaves the futures of millions of people in the region uncertain.In September, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-building-mass-detention-center-illegal-immigrants-assam-citizenship-2019-9/commerce-on-business-insider">India began construction</a> on a large-scale detention center in the Goalpara district of Assam meant to hold at least 3,000 detainees, according to Reuters. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kashmir-india-revoke-article-370-quasi-independence-internet-tourists-2019-8">And in August</a>, India also revoked part of its constitution which gave the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir a special status and quasi-independence. Over the past four months, Kashmir, which is home to a significant Muslim population, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/kashmiri-artists-resisting-india-months-long-lockdown-191207062705088.html">has been off from communication, held on lockdown</a>, and is now directly under the control of India's federal government in New Delhi. As part of shutting down communication, residents in Kashmir have lost access to phone lines and the internet. According to advocacy groups, the internet shutdown in the region is the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-internet-shutdown-in-kashmir-is-now-the-longest-ever-in-a-democracy/2019/12/15/bb0693ea-1dfc-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html">longest-ever crackdown imposed on a democracy</a>. Only authoritarian countries, like China and Myanmar, have experienced longer internet shutdowns.The four-month internet blackout has been so severe that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whatsapp-kashmir-accounts-removed-internet-blackout-2019-12">WhatsApp is deleting the accounts</a> of residents in the region because they've been inactive for so long. <h2>State-sanctioned discrimination against Muslims has had dire consequences</h2>The Modi government's attitudes and policies towards minority groups has sparked racially motivated clashes, and observers say that the ruling Hindu party has fostered a culture of impunity through its inaction in addressing violence.Shah, who crafted the citizenship bill, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/india-election-speech/amit-shah-vows-to-throw-illegal-immigrants-into-bay-of-bengal-idUSKCN1RO1YD">vowed in April</a> to throw illegal Muslim immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh into the Bay of Bengal. He has also <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/elections/lok-sabha-2019/story/bjp-amit-shah-hindu-refugees-mamata-bannerjee-1499691-2019-04-11">previously referred</a> to illegal immigrants as "termites." India has also seen an increase in attacks against its Muslim minority in recent months. A February 2019 report from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/02/18/violent-cow-protection-india/vigilante-groups-attack-minorities">Human Rights Watch</a> found that between May 2015 and December 2018, at least 36 Muslims were killed across 12 Indian states. Roughly 280 people were injured across 20 states during the same period, the rights group added.In a particularly gruesome case last year, an eight-year-old Muslim girl was kidnapped, raped, and killed in Jammu and Kashmir by a group of Hindu men with the intention of committing the crime <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/six-men-convicted-in-rape-of-8-year-old-girl-that-shocked-india/2019/06/10/cde7b17c-8b5f-11e9-b162-8f6f41ec3c04_story.html">in order to drive away Muslim nomads in the area</a>. The country has also seen a <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/asia/in-southern-kashmir-there-s-little-enthusiasm-for-india-s-elections-26253">crackdown on protests</a>, attacks on the <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/narendra-modi-amit-shah-bjp-india-media">free press</a>, and history books <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/india-modi-culture/">have been rewritten</a> in favor of Hindu achievements.<h2>India is inching towards fascism</h2>Experts have noted that India is straying away from its democratic values under the Bharatiya Janata Party. "There is absolute political consensus within the Bharatiya Janata Party that India is culturally a Hindu country," Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told the <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-12-17/citizenship-law-moves-india-closer-to-being-hindu-country">Los Angeles Times</a>. Harish Pullanoor, an editor at Quartz India, <a href="https://qz.com/india/844672/along-with-narendra-modis-rise-india-has-displayed-classic-signs-that-foreshadow-fascism/">wrote</a> in 2016 that India was "displaying classic signs that foreshadow fascism," including the disenfranchisement of religious minorities. "The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders," wrote Umberto Eco, an Italian philosopher, who wrote of a <a href="http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/">list of features</a> that define a fascist state.In April, several Muslim merchants in Old Delhi described fears of religiously-motivated violence against them. "I could be lynched right now and nobody would do anything about it," Abdul Adnan, a Muslim businessman, told <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/asia/modi-india-elections.html">The New York Times</a>. "My government doesn't even consider me Indian. How can that be when my ancestors have lived here hundreds of years?"According to The Times, the consensus among Indian activists and liberal political analysts is that the country, under Modi, has become "more toxically divided between Hindus and Muslims.""In plain language, they are what we now call communal fascists," Aditya Mukherjee, a retired historian told The Times. Historian Ramachandra Guha wrote in an op-ed in <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/08/14/india-was-miracle-democracy-its-time-downgrade-its-credentials/">The Washington Post</a> in August that it was time to downgrade India's status as a world-class democracy. "Given the lack of any sort of credible opposition to the Bharatiya Janata Party, the atmosphere of fear among religious minorities and the attacks on a free press, we are now a 40-60 democracy," he wrote of India.

The world's largest democracy is heading toward modern-day fascism

<ul class="generic-article__summary--ul content--ul"><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">The BJP’s Narendra Modi swept to power on a wave of optimism and a catchy slogan.</li><li class="generic-article__summary--li content--li">Five years on, an economic slowdown, agrarian distress and rising intolerance have soured the mood</li></ul> India has been holding its general elections in stages since April 11. The seventh and final phase will take place on Sunday. The primary contest is for the 543 seats in India’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha. This is one of the largest democratic exercises in the world, with 900 million voters deciding on a new central government for the 1.3 billion-strong South Asian giant. The results are expected on Thursday. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows his ink-marked finger after casting his vote. Photo: AFP WHAT IS AT STAKE? Prime Minister <a href="https://www.scmp.com/topics/narendra-modi" class="link-text">Narendra Modi</a> of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is running for a second term.A former chief minister of Gujarat, he came to power in 2014 with the simple but powerful slogan “ache din aayega” (good days will come). This resonated with voters – especially in the impoverished northern regions – who were angry at the previous administration of the Congress party that had been dogged by scandal. <h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.35714rem; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.42857rem; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: inherit;"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3010707/india-elections-bjp-may-need-allies-narendra-modi-drove-away" class="link-text">BJP may need the allies Modi drove away </a></h3>As a result, Modi swept to power: the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance coalition won 336 of the Lok Sabha’s 543 seats. The BJP itself won 282 seats – the first time since 1989 that one of India’s political parties had won an outright majority. The other main national political party is Congress, led by Rahul Gandhi, grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. This grand old party of India has been progressively weakening across the country and now stands as only one of the many opposition parties, jockeying for power against resurgent regional players. In 2014, Congress did not even win enough seats to be chosen as the official opposition and was almost eclipsed by the AIADMK, a regional party from Tamil Nadu. SO MODI’S A SHOO-IN? Not exactly. Modi’s re-election prospects have arguably been dimmed by the triple threat of an economic slowdown, agrarian distress and concerns about rising intolerance and violence against minorities. His promise in 2014 to create 10 million new jobs a year for India’s burgeoning youth population has not been fulfilled. Moreover, a recent study by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy argued that 11 million jobs were lost last year alone. Indian farmers protest in New Delhi in November – their plight has become a major electoral issue. Photo: AP A leaked government survey allegedly showed the unemployment rate to be higher than at any time in the past 45 years. These economic doldrums have largely been blamed on the new Goods and Services Tax imposed by the government and 2016’s botched demonetisation exercise, which took 86.5 per cent of India’s currency out of circulation. The plight of India’s farmers has also become a major electoral issue. Stagnant grain prices, erratic weather and unresolved systemic problems have led to an alarming number of farmer suicides in a country where more than 50 per cent of the population is employed in agriculture. In 2017, the central government told the Supreme Court that 12,000 farmers had committed suicide every year since 2013. The BJP’s use of Hindu nationalist rhetoric, meanwhile, has always been controversial. Its leaders, like the monk-turned-Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, have been accused of using anti-Muslim rhetoric. BATTLEGROUND STATES The outcome of India’s elections often depends on political calculations and issues at the state level. India’s 29 states are highly diverse, both linguistically and ethnically. Five of these states – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu – each send more than 40 MPs to the Lok Sabha, meaning that winning them is essential for either side. The biggest prize among them is Uttar Pradesh, which is one of India’s largest states and has 80 MPs. In 2014, the BJP was largely able to win nationally because it made huge gains in the massive northern state, taking 71 of the seats that were up for grabs. <h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.35714rem; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.42857rem; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: inherit;"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3010546/communism-india-dead-or-just-waiting-young-saviours" class="link-text">Communism in India: dead or just waiting for young saviours? </a></h3>This time, however, two major local players – the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – are challenging the BJP. Both the SP and BSP – which have formed an alliance – are strong with the crucial Yadav and Dalit (formerly known as untouchable) castes in the state. While both the SP and BSP won more than 40 per cent of the popular vote in Uttar Pradesh in the last elections, the SP won only five seats because of India’s first-past-the-post electoral system and its lack of an alliance. This time, some pundits expect the SP-BSP alliance to win at least half of the 80 seats on offer, if not more. The BJP’s prospects are also being put to the test in the country’s economically dynamic south, where powerful regional parties are challenging its grip on power. In the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the regional YSR Congress Party and the Telangana Rashtriya Samithi are expected to sweep the polls. Both have openly said that they prefer a third option for government that does not involve either the BJP or Congress. In India’s southernmost state and its automotive hub, Tamil Nadu, the socialist, Tamil-nationalist Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam seems to be on the cusp of major gains because of anger at both the BJP central government and its local allies, the AIADMK. The BJP is also at risk of shedding seats in the central and western states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where Congress made gains during recent state elections. However, Modi’s party is expected to make nominal gains in eastern India, in states such as Orissa, West Bengal and the seven states that make up the country’s northeast. A major concern in those areas has been allegations of illegal migration from Bangladesh, and the BJP is running a racially charged campaign – playing up local fears of Muslim refugees – to capitalise on this. WHAT WILL ALL THIS MEAN? Assuming the BJP loses ground to regional parties, and the Congress retains its meagre base, India might find itself with a virtually hung parliament. For instance, the BJP and its National Democratic Alliance coalition might be the largest bloc in the Lok Sabha, but still fall short of a majority. <h3 style="margin-bottom: 2.35714rem; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: 300; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.42857rem; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; display: inherit;"><a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3009682/exploiting-islamophobia-election-winning-tool-india" class="link-text">Exploiting Islamophobia: an election-winning tool in India </a></h3>Regional parties have also been displaying unprecedented acts of solidarity, such as joint rallies featuring all the leaders of large local opposition parties, encouraging the possibility of a non-Congress, non-BJP “third-front” government. So, while the results are far from certain, 2019 might well herald a return to form and the politics India knows best: the proliferation of regional power brokers and complex coalition governments.

The Indian election, explained: how Narendra Modi’s ‘good days’ turned bad

The Prime Minister on Sunday reprimanded his party members for making inappropriate and inaccurate statements every time they see a camera. In an address telecast on his personal NaMo application, <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/pm-modi-warns-bjp-legislators-against-making-out-of-turn-statements/articleshow/63869881.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">told</a> his party motormouths, “We make mistakes and give 'masala' to the media... as if we are great social scientists and experts to analyse issues... the moment you see a camera you start speaking. So this half-baked stuff is picked up." He also mandated that only designated spokespersons of the party will comment on issues as and when necessary. This slap on the wrist came a day after Union minister <keyword id="6344967" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="santosh-ganwar">Santosh Ganwar</keyword>’s controversial statement that “In a nation as big as India, one or two incidents of rape should not be hyped.” This comment was quick to draw criticism and he, in turn, blamed the media for ‘twist(ing)’ his statement. Here’s a refresher course on some of the other comments made in the recent past by BJP party members that might have nudged the Prime Minister to make the above statement. <ol><li>Tripura Chief Minister <keyword id="3595308" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="biplab-deb">Biplab Deb</keyword> insists Internet existed in the days of Mahabharata. Here’s the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/internet-existed-in-the-days-of-mahabharata-tripura-cm-biplab-deb/articleshow/63803490.cms?utm_source=AMPusers&amp;utm_medium=fbshare&amp;utm_campaign=socialsharebutton&amp;from=mdr">statement</a>: "India has been using internet since ages. In Mahabharata, Sanjay was blind but he narrated what was happening in the battlefield to Dhritarashtra anyway. This was due to internet and technology. Satellite also existed during that period." A day after this comment was made, the state’s Governor <keyword id="866788" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tathagata-Roy">Tathagata Roy</keyword> backed Biplab Deb’s theory by <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/governor-tathagata-roy-backs-biplabs-mahabharata-remark/articleshow/63823137.cms">saying</a>, “Tripura Chief Minister’s observations about the happenings of the Puranic period are topical. It is virtually impossible to conceive of devices like ‘Divya drishti’, Pushpaka Ratha’, etc without some kind of prototype and study thereon”. </li><li>Junior Education Minister Satyapal Singh rubbishes Darwin’s theory of evolution. Here’s what he had to <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/junior-education-minister-satyapal-singh-says-charles-darwin-wrong-nobody-saw-ape-turn-into-human-1802617">say</a>: "Darwin's theory (of evolution of humans) is scientifically wrong. It needs to change in school and college curriculum. Ever since humans came to Earth, they have always been humans." He went on to say, "Nobody, including our ancestors, have said or written that they ever saw an ape turning into a human being. No book we have read or the tales told to us by our grandparents had any such mention."</li><li>BJP leader S Ve Shekher shared a Facebook post titled “Madurai University, Governor and the Virgin Cheeks of a Girl.” This was in <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/s-ve-shekher-booked-fb-post-case-against-journos-who-pelted-stones-his-house-79991">response</a> to when the Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit inappropriately patted a woman journalist on the cheek. The rest of the post read: “I feel pity while looking at that woman journalist. She claims she was disturbed because the governor touched her. But when you read her tweets, it is understood that her intention was to target the Governor and Modi. It is actually the governor who has to wash his hands with Phenoyl after touching her. These (TN media persons) are cheap and disgusting creatures. Most people who work in the media in TN are usually Illiterate, cheap and don’t have any general knowledge. This woman is not any different.” </li><li>BJP MP <keyword id="6462806" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vinay-Katiyar">Vinay Katiyar</keyword> believes Muslims have "no business" to be in India. Here’s what he had to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/muslims-have-no-business-to-be-in-india-bjp-mp-katiyar/articleshow/62823901.cms">say</a>: "Muslims should not be staying in India. They divided the country on the basis of their population. There is no need for them to stay in this country. They got a separate land. They should go to Bangladesh or Pakistan. They have no business to be India." </li><li>BJP youth wing leader tweeted (and then deleted) that he is responsible for the burning down of the Rohingya refugee camp in New Delhi. The fire gutted at least 50 shanties in southeast Delhi’s Sarita Vihar and rendered over 200 refugees homeless. On 15 April 15, <keyword id="6452657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manish-Chandela">Manish Chandela</keyword> <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/bjp-youth-wing-leader-accepts-to-burning-rohingya-camp-in-delhi-prashant-bhushan-files-complaint-5144747/">tweeted</a> from his account: “Yes, we did it and we do again #ROHINGYA QUIT INDIA.” “Well done by our heroes.” “Yes we burnt the houses of Rohingya terrorists.” Screenshots of the tweets were shared with Delhi Police by advocate <keyword id="6368850" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="prashant-bhushan">Prashant Bhushan</keyword>. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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</li></ol>Note: All these statements were made in 2018.

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