Col. (Retd.) Jaibans Singh expressed great concern about the violent agitations in the aftermath of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed through a constitutional procedure by the Parliament of the country. Col. Jaibans Singh was speaking at a seminar on the Citizens Amendment Act, 2019 that was organised by the Vishwa Samwad Smiti at Jalandhar on Monday.
Col. (Retd.) Jaibans Singh said that while protest was the legitimate right of the people of the country the high level of violence that accompanied the protest has the signature of the same being engineered by professional elements at the behest of anti-national forces. He said that the unrest was being contained by police and security forces with great restraint and maturity which was a very positive development.
He expressed confidence that the government would seriously consider the sentiments expressed by the moderate protesters and ensure that the same are implemented on merit. He added that the concept of giving citizenship to minorities persecuted in Islamic countries was accepted by all political parties, leaders and people of the country right from the time of partition of the country. Many from Mahatma Gandhi to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and on to Dr. Manmohan Singh had spoken clearly in favour of the initiative.
The courageous action by the present government to apply this sentiment on ground needs the highest praise and admiration. Certain forces were creating “disinformation through misinformation.” The same needs to be identified and exposed.
He further elaborated that the amendment was time bound and restricted to benefit a certain segment of unfortunate persecuted people who had sought refuge in the country up to 31st. December 2014. Singh emphatically stated that the CAA was, in no way, associated with the process of preparing a National Register of Citizens (NRC) and disinformation in this regard needs to be seriously contested. It is unnecessarily causing a state of insecurity and distrust where none should exist.
CAA will, in no way, affect the liberal policy already legislated to giving refuge to those in need refuge already legislated, so, those looking for citizenship under existing laws have nothing to worry about
While speaking about the atrocities being heaped on minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and especially Pakistan, the speaker said that not only India but the entire world should take cognisance of the same since it entails the worst form of human rights violation. It is for the reason that the number of people in minority community in these nations has reduced to an almost negligible level. There is every reason for the world to join India in the tryst to ameliorate the suffering of the unfortunate people.
Col. Jaibans Singh culminated his talk with the assertion that CAA is here to stay being a righteous and justified legislation, in tune with the highest tenet of humanity that is the benchmark of Bharat. He applauded the support given to the legislation by Punjab despite certain statements to the contrary by the Chief Minister. He exhorted all nationalist forces to stand together and remove all apprehensions that are being spread by false rumours.
He called for special facility in seamless application of the Amendment especially so since those affected continue to be abysmally poor and illiterate in many cases, they would not know how to proceed with the documentation etc and would, as such, require assistance.
Col. (Retd.) Jaibans Singh is a writer, columnist author and commentator. He maintains a keen interest in issues of national importance in the social geo-political and geo-strategic domain. He runs an active blog Defenceinfo.com and is the Director at the Centre for Socio-Cultural Studies, Punjab.