THE CONCEPT OF TWO NATION THEORY IN THE CONTEXT OF RECENT

INDIAN CITIZENSHIP LAW AMENDMENT SCIENARIO

Nation states can be formed based on common territory, common sovereign government,
common moral, social economic institutions or ideas, possession of some cultural
characteristics (language, customs, traditions, manners, music) common religion, common
history/origin, common national character (Aziz). Pakistan is only one of the two nation
states which was formed based on the basis of a common religion. The creation of Pakistan
was based on two nation theory, a concept that Hindus and Muslims are two separate
nations with separate ideology, culture and norms which are not compatible with each
other. This concept was given by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who earlier was a patron of Hindu
Muslim unity, now believed that Muslims have no future in a Hindu ruled and Hindu
dominated India. After Indian National Congress (INC) started to show its anti-Muslim
nature after 1928 Nehru Report, Allama Iqbal demanded a separate Muslims state in North
West India (present day Pakistan) in his famous Allahbad address. Quaid-e-Azam, who once
was given the title “Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity”, too realized that Muslims have no
future in a country ruled and dominated by Hindu elite. Against all odds Pakistan came into
being on 14th August 1947 under the able leadership of Quaid-e-Azam. Since the creation of
Pakistan, two nation theory has been a subject of debate. Some argue that it was a British
game of divide and rule with no ground reality, while others think that Indian Muslims have
been "Hinduized" (i.e., lost much of their Muslim identity due to assimilation into Hindu
culture), or that they are treated as an excluded or alien group by a Hindu-dominated India
(Haddad & Esposito, 2000). However, even in India, since the formation of BJP government
in 2014, Muslims have realized that the vision of Pakistan’s founding fathers was correct and
the recent Indian citizenship law amendment has cemented it.

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT AND NATIONAL REGISTRATION OF CITIZENS

Initial Background with respect to Assam and anti-Muslim actions of BJP after
coming to power:
On 11th December 2019, Indian parliament passed Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)
2019, amending Indian Citizenship Act 1955. According to this law non-Muslim illegal
immigrants of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Indian citizenship. National Register of
Citizens (NRC) whose creation is mandated by 2003 Amendment of Indian Citizenship Act
1955, is used as a tool for enforcing Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) 2019 and rendering
Muslims stateless. The creation of National Register of Citizens was initially created for
identifying illegal immigrants in the state of Assam. Assam, being a state, which borders
Bangladesh, has long faced the problems of smuggling and illegal immigration from
Bangladesh. On paper, NRC in Assam was to identify illegal immigrants in the state without
any discrimination, however BJP government, both in center and state, has used and
exploited state machinery to exclude as many Muslims possible from the National register,
propagating that illegal Bengali Muslim immigrants will take over Assam. This can be judged
from the fact that Mohammad Sanaullah, an army officer and a Kargil War veteran, was
declared as a foreigner (I am an Indian, will remain one, says former Army officer Sanaullah,

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2019).The final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published on July 30,2018,
declared 4 million people stateless, with majority of them being Muslims (About NRC, 2018).
Minority Hindus among 4 million stateless people will be unaffected due to Citizenship
Amendment Act (CAA) 2019, however, many Muslims, who have been living there for years,
will become stateless and thrown out being labelled “Bangladeshi illegal immigrants”.

Implementation of Assam Model Throughout India by BJP Government:

Under the guise of crackdown against illegal immigrants, the BJP government has
implemented the idea of wiping out minorities, mainly Muslims in Assam. BJP leader
Rajeshwar Singh, openly said that his party aims to wipe out Muslims from India by 31 st
December 2021 (Muslims and Christians will be wiped out of India by December 31, 2021:
BJP leader Rajeshwar Singh, 2014) .Now, the Assam Model will now be replicated
throughout India, as National Register of Citizens will be prepared for all Indian states, which
like Assam, is designed to implement the plan mentioned by Rajeshwar Singh. Many Indian
Muslim citizens will be declared “illegal immigrants” and non-Muslim illegal immigrants,
who will not make it to National Register of Citizens (NRC), will be granted Indian citizenship.
This will effectively make India a country “only for Hindus”. India, which long presented
itself a secular state with world’s largest democracy, has now proved that it has no
tolerance for minorities, particularly Muslims. The actions of the Indian government, aided
by pro-government hostile Islamophobe media have made it clear that the stage is set for
genocide of Muslims in India, which maybe even bigger than the Holocaust and the Indian
state will not be held accountable for it.

CONCLUSION:
The worries of Pakistan’s founding fathers regarding the future of Muslims in India is
now turning out to be true. India, despite presenting itself as a democratic state upholding
secular values has never accepted Muslims as a part of Indian population. Since its
inception, India, through numerous events and incidents has shown signs of being a Hindu
dominated state with little tolerance for minorities, particularly Muslims. In 1937, when
Indian National Congress led by a seemingly moderate Gandhi made Vande Matram, a poem
against basic teachings of Islam selected from an anti-Muslim Bengali novel Anandamath
(written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhay) the national song of India. On 24 th January 1950,
Indian constituent Assembly gave it the same status as that of Indian national anthem.
According to Indian census of 2011, Muslims had the lowest share of employed people
despite being India’s second largest community (Bhowmick, India's Muslims are no better
today than a few decades earlier, 2017). 28.8% Muslim were out of schools, even more than
Dalits, the lowest Hindu caste and Muslims having the lowest monthly per capita
expenditure (Bhowmick S. , 2017), showing the poor social and economic conditions of
Indian Muslims under “secular” Indian governments (headed by Indian National Congress).
These indicators are more than enough to prove India’s anti-Muslim policies, but the take-
over of Nazi inspired BJP by India and their passage of Citizenship Amendment Act 2019
proves that the nation theory is alive and now proven true beyond doubt.

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References

(2018). About NRC. Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/about/nrc/

Aziz, K. (1967). The Making of Pakistan: A Study in Nationalism .

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2570665-the-making-of-pakistan

Bhowmick, S. (14/02/2017). India's Muslims are no better today than a few decades earlier.
catchnews. http://www.catchnews.com/india-news/census-2011-india-s-largest-minority-
muslims-are-no-better-today-than-a-few-decades-earlier-1452283107.html

Bhowmick, S. (14/02/2017). India's Muslims are no better today than a few decades earlier.
catchnews. http://www.catchnews.com/india-news/census-2011-india-s-largest-minority-
muslims-are-no-better-today-than-a-few-decades-earlier-1452283107.html

Haddad, Y. Y., & Esposito, J. L. (2000). Muslims on the Americanization path? Oxford University Press.
ISBN 978-0-19-513526-8

(2019). I am an Indian, will remain one, says former Army officer Sanaullah. Guhuwati: India Today.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/i-am-an-indian-will-remain-one-army-officer-
sanaullah-1545234-2019-06-09

(2014). Muslims and Christians will be wiped out of India by December 31, 2021: BJP leader
Rajeshwar Singh. www.subrang.in. https://sabrangindia.in/article/muslims-and-christians-
will-be-wiped-out-india-december-31-2021-bjp-leader-rajeshwar-singh

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