Hindus of Pakistan reject CAA, do not want Indian Prime Minister Modi’s offer of citizenship
Dubai: Pakistani minorities have strongly condemned the new Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which discriminates against Muslims.
They have also rejected India’s offer to grant them citizenship under the new law. They said they are not interested in taking refuge in India and rejected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘humanitarian’ gesture.
Speaking to Gulf News, Dileep Kumar, a Dubai-based Pakistani Hindu, said: “The law from India is totally against [the] spiritual norms of humanity and Sanatana dharma.” Sanatana dharma is a term used in Hinduism to denote the set of duties or religiously ordained practices incumbent upon all Hindus, regardless of class, caste or sect.
“As humans, we cannot discriminate, irrespective of any religious followings. We do not want [the] Muslims of India to face terror. We condemn the law as religious persecution is unacceptable to [the] Hindus of Pakistan,” Kumar added.
Reverend Johan Qadir, a Sharjah-based Pakistani Christian community leader, said that the Pakistani Christian community also rejected the new Citizenship Amendment Bill. “We, the Christians of Pakistan, are not at all interested [in taking] refuge in India. I must say that the Modi’s citizenship bill does not favour the minorities at all as it is discriminatory and against basic human rights.”
What is the issue?
Citing the harassment of minorities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Indian parliament recently amended its citizenship law, offering citizenship rights to Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Parsi and Jain communities migrating from these countries.
Citizenship Amendment Act is a newly-passed law that applies to Hindus, Christians and other religious minorities who are in India illegally from Muslim-majority Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They can apply for citizenship under a religious persecution clause.
The law, however, does not include Muslim refugees or migrants — it's a move that critics are calling a clear indication of the changing politics in secular India. India has a Hindu population but is also home to 200 million Muslims and other minorities.
This amendment of the Citizenship Act 1955, which requires the applicant (regardless of religion or country of origin) to have resided in India for 11 of the past 14 years, relaxes this requirement from 11 years to six years, but only for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from the three nations.
“Pakistan’s Hindu community unanimously rejects this bill, which is tantamount to dividing India on communal lines,” Raja Asar Manglani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, earlier told Anadolu Agency.
“This is a unanimous message from Pakistan’s entire Hindu community to Indian Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi. A true Hindu will never support this legislation,” he said. He added that the law has violated India’s own constitution.
Senator Anwar Lal Dean, a Christian member of the Pakistani parliament’s upper house, also said the law is meant to pitch religious communities against each other, reported the Express Tribune.
“This is a clear violation of fundamental human rights. We categorically reject it,” said Dean, a leader of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party.
“Through such unjust and uncalled steps, the Modi government wants to pitch religious communities against each other,” he said.
Pakistan’s tiny Sikh community has also denounced the controversial law. “Not only Pakistani Sikhs but the entire Sikh community in the world, including those in India, also condemn this move,” said Gopal Singh, leader of the Baba Guru Nanak in Pakistan.
“The Sikh community is a minority both in India and Pakistan. Being a member of a minority, I can feel the pain and the fears of the Muslim minority [in India]. This is simply persecution,” he said. Singh urged Modi not to push minorities' “backs to the wall.”
Hindu population in Pakistan
Though there are no exact official numbers available, the Pakistan Hindu Council says that there are more than 8 million Hindus currently living Pakistan.
They constitute about 4 per cent of the population of 220 million. They live primarily in the urban areas of the province of Sindh in the lower Indus valley and more than half are concentrated in the south-east district of Tharparkar which borders India.
For the most part, Hindus in Pakistan are well educated and active in commerce, trade and the civil service.
According to the Council, approximately 94 per cent of Hindus are living in Sindh Province, and more than 4 per cent are living in Punjab Province of Pakistan, whereas a small portion of this population is settled in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Provinces.
Courtesy: gulfnews.com
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Heated debate in Karnataka Legislative Council over continued ACC mining in Kalaburagi
Bengaluru (PTI): A heated exchange took place in the Karnataka Legislative Council on Tuesday over alleged non-payment of mining dues and the "unauthorised" continuation of quarry operations by the Adani Group’s ACC Limited, with ruling Congress and the opposition BJP members questioning the government’s handling of royalty recovery and permissions.
Raising the issue during Question Hour, Congress MLC K Shivakumar, speaking on behalf of his party MLC Arathi Krishna, alleged that substantial royalty dues remained unpaid even as operations continued.
Krishna wanted to know whether the Karnataka government was aware that the lease period granted to Adani Group’s ACC Ltd for mining in the Kannur Limestone Block at Wadi in Kalaburagi has expired.
“If it is true, what action has the government taken against the said company for allegedly carrying out unauthorised mining at the site without paying the total dues of Rs 850.21 crore towards royalty, rent or penalty payable to the state government?” she asked in the written question.
She claimed that despite the Law department having given a written opinion to the Mines department that the said company should not be permitted to undertake mining activities until it clears all pending dues payable to the government, no legal action has been initiated against ACC, and instead a letter has been written to the central government regarding renewal of the lease in favour of the company.
Krishna questioned the apparent disparity in enforcement between small quarry operators and large corporate entities.
“After the Adani Group took over quarrying, they had to pay Rs 837 crore as royalty. Till today, they have not paid the royalty. What prompted you to exempt them from this royalty?” asked Shivakumar, on behalf of Krishna.
“If there is any small quarry operator, if he does not pay royalty, you do not allow him... You just bring him and seize it.”
BJP MLC C T Ravi echoed similar concerns, questioning the legal and procedural basis for allowing participation in bidding and continuation of operations despite pending dues.
“Do your rules allow those with pending dues to participate? If such a provision exists, under which rule does it exist?” he asked, also seeking clarity on recommendations of the High-Level Committee, Law Department and concurrence of the Finance Department.
Responding to the allegations, Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy, replying on behalf of the Mines and Geology Minister S S Mallikarjun, maintained that no fresh licence had been granted and that the matter involved both an existing mining lease and a separate new application still under process.
He said the company had applied through the bidding route and was given time to complete formalities, which had since been done.
The minister explained that the issue of dues was pending before the court, which has allowed operations to continue subject to certain conditions.
“The old licence is continuing under court direction. It has not been stopped. We are following court direction,” he said, adding that part payment had been made and the balance would be decided through legal proceedings.
Ravi, however, pressed further, arguing that court orders did not prevent recovery of dues.
“The court has not said do not recover dues. What does your legal opinion say? Why have you not recovered?” he asked.
Shivakumar also raised concerns over declining non-tax revenue from mining, citing the state’s own budget observations.
“If Rs 800 crore to Rs 900 crore is allowed to let go like this, where will non-tax revenue come from?” he asked and sought to know why the government had not fully tapped the sector’s revenue potential.
The Minister reiterated that the due itself was under dispute, making immediate recovery difficult.
“How can we recover when the amount itself is not decided? Until recovery is possible, no further permission will be given,” he said, adding that consultations with the Law Department and Advocate General would be held to explore further action.
He also cited tender conditions, stating, “As per the tender notification dated October 5, 2020, a company must have paid all past dues to be considered a successful bidder.”
Unconvinced, Ravi demanded that the recovery of dues should follow.
