The ongoing protests across India have more to do with ‘All-India NRC’, proposed by the BJP in its manifesto, than the CAA. Because the CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) itself is not very dangerous. But once the all-India NRC (National Register of Citizens) is implemented, NRC+CAA together can become one of the most destructive and fascistic weapons in the hands of the government.

As we all know, the NRC was implemented in Assam to find out the illegal immigrants who entered India after March 24, 1971, from Bangladesh. The NRC exercise in Assam became highly controversial as the list excluded even legal Indian citizens who lived in India before the cut-off date. Officially, many Assamese people became illegal immigrants as they couldn’t submit proper documents to prove their existence in India before the cutoff date. As Mahua Moitra said, in a country where ministers can’t produce their degree certificates, how can you expect poor and dispossessed people to possess documents of their ancestors?

The NRC exercise in Assam has turned many legal citizens of India stateless. However, the CAA comes in as a rescue mechanism for non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. Even if their names don’t feature in the NRC list, they will get citizenship under the CAA.

However, an India-born Hindu or Muslim whose ancestors lived in India since centuries, but couldn’t produce documents to prove his/her existence in India before cutoff date, will become an illegal immigrant and doesn’t get any benefit under CAA. This is because CAA grants citizenship only to non-Muslim immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. An Indian Hindu born before cutoff date, but excluded from NRC, can never prove that s/he immigrated from these neighboring countries because s/he was never a resident of those countries. An Indian-born Muslim will be more dispossessed as CAA doesn’t grant citizenship to Muslims.

If an all-India NRC is implemented as proposed by BJP in its manifesto, the entire 130 crore Indians should submit documents to prove their or their ancestors’ existence before cutoff date. It is insanity to conduct such a humungous exercise after 72 years of Independence. It makes any sane person to suspect the intentions of the government.

Also, an all-India NRC+CAA together can become an effective tool to disenfranchise Muslims, Hindus or any community (based on their religion, ethinicity or political ideology). However, it is not very easy to target any individual if they possess proper documents to prove their existence before cutoff date. The main victims of all-India NRC would be poor and dispossessed who wouldn’t possess documents to prove their existence. In a simple way, it can be compared to a historic blunder such as demonetization, but more inhumane than DeMo. Such a blunder can effectively make lakhs and crores of people stateless.

It is very unfortunate that the government is indifferent to the protests happening across India. Instead of making provocative statements against protesters, the Prime Minister and his party should address the people of this country and assure them that an all-India NRC will not be conducted. Also, they should address the discrepancies in CAA. It is the only way to build trust among the people who are anxious and suspicious about the intentions of this government.