CAA is anti-poor: Ex-IAS officer

Amarjot Kaur

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 5

Kannan Gopinathan, the former IAS officer whose resignation did all the talking on Article 370 imposed on J&K and who voiced his dissent against the violation of fundamental rights of the people of the Valley thereafter, visited the city to discuss the CAA and the NRC.

At Laughter Club, Sector 26, a panel comprising five persons, including lawyers and a political activist, explored the context of the CAA in the light of India’s democratic social fabric and its Constitution.

A day ago, Gopinathan was detained by the UP police and taken to Agra. He was not allowed to enter UP. “The police was very cordial with me. I can now empathise with the ministers of J&K who have been detained and how their freedom has been stifled. They want to silence anyone who speaks against them, but we shout and continue to voice the other side. That’s how we will be able to assert our side,” said Gopinathan.

The event was organised by Megha Garg and Samridhi Roy who brought together a more than 100 persons to share their confusions on the Act that has been termed “anti-Muslim” and “unconstitutional” by several intellectuals. “We wanted to bring people on one platform to discuss the Act, understand it and question it. We brought in experts on sociological issues to view the Act in terms of the country’s democratic values, it’s secular setup and its diverse population.”

On the outset of the discussion, the panelists, comprising lawyers Sarthak Gupta, Arjun Sheoran and Shreenath Khemka, along with political activist Kanwaljeet Singh and Kannan, spoke about India’s democracy, its Constitution and explored the meaning of the word secular. The moderator read out the Citizen Amendment Act and the copy of it was distributed among the audiance. The panelists were given some six minutes to talk about the NRC and CAA, and Kannan spoke for about an hour. From painting a grim picture of Kashmir and “how its people were ripped of their fundamental rights after Article 370 was imposed”, he talked about the NRC started in Assam in 2013. “The CAA, apart from being anti-Muslim, is anti-poor also. There are several indigenous tribes in India and they don’t have documentary evidence. This Act leaves out such communities and favours the privileged. It discriminates on the basis of religion and privilege, which is absolutely unconstitutional,” he added.

The audiance raised concerns over India’s secular status. The participants asked several questions from how the Act was anti-Muslim to whether it was a scare tactic or a propaganda or would it actually be implemented in the country.

Kannan, while answering the question on whether the Act will be implemented, said: “They do want us to be scared and they will definitely implement it. It’s reflected in the way some CMs have spoken against the CAA, but are in favour of the NRC.”