Residents of Edmonton in Western Canada came out on the streets on Sunday, to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act recently passed by the Indian Parliament.
Organised by the Forum for Equity, Empowerment and Democracy (FREED), an Edmonton-based human rights organisation, a large number of Indian immigrants turned up to protest, concerned about the “rising intolerance back home”.
FREED convener Sanu Nair explained, “The Indian diaspora in Canada is extremely concerned about the rising intolerance and discrimination in India.
This attack on secularism and dissent does not just directly impact the lives of our family and friends back home, but also severely damages India’s global image.”
His voice found an echo among the scores of protesters who braved the -15 degree temperatures to voice their concerns over the increasing religious rift in India over the last few years.
“Most of us who left India many years ago were silent at first, hoping that the government in power would understand its mistake and make a course correction.
But we were wrong. The situation in India is alarming and has all the makings of a full-blown international humanitarian crisis. Staying silent isn’t an option anymore,” said Samson Jacob, a logistics professional who moved to Canada five years ago.
To raise awareness about the situation in India, the protesters have decided to raise the matter at international forums. We believe if the violent crackdown against students and the public and discrimination against religious minorities by using the CAA and NRC isn’t immediately stopped and repealed, then seeking intervention from the international community remains our only hope,” said Umar Abdullah, an engineer and alumnus of the Jamia Millia Islamia Universityin Delhi, who said he was numbed by “the sheer scale of the barbarity being unleashed by the Delhi police on the Union home ministry's watch.”
Nair told The Free Press Journal that FREED would soon organise an all-faith biryani dinner to discuss and promote unity and plurality among the NRI population.
“We feel this should be the template the world over, as expats come out on the streets to call out how the current dispensation is trying to unravel the pluralistic idea of India as envisaged by our founding fathers. This is not the time to keep quiet.
The draconian silencing of fellow-Indians is alarming. We need to raise this in a big way, creating enough momentum for the world to notice. Pressure from the international community is our only hope now,” he said and explained how the enactment of the NRC, the CAA and the proposed NPR underlines the ruling BJP’s strong majoritarian stance.
“If India wants its ties with the international community - which has until now seen hope in India's thriving democracy - to remain intact, examining the ramifications of such draconian legislation beyond the domestic outrage is pertinent.”
Jacob told The Free Press Journal: “There have been huge protests against the CAA across the world, the largest in Boston, Chicago and the Hague. These do indelible damage to India’s global image as the world’s largest liberal democracy.
Mere strongly-worded MEA responses or statements from partisan all-expenses paid-for international delegations supporting the current Indian dispensation's stand will not work to improve that image. We need to act fast and decisively, to prevent further maligning of a global image that has taken decades of an uphill struggle to solidify.”
