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 24th 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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