India recently enacted the Citizenship Amendment Bill (commonly known as “CAB”) allowing illegal migrants, under certain circumstances, from bordering countries to seek citizenship. Illegal Muslim migrants from these countries, however, are not permitted to obtain citizenship through this law. The CAB comes on the heels of the National Register of Citizens, a law that requires residents of the state of Assam to provide proof that they or their ancestors lived in India prior to 1971. Failure to do so has resulted in many residents being held in detention facilities.
We are all Indians. I am not writing this article to advocate for or against CAB. The passing of the law, however, has led to rioting, violence, and protests in India. Similarly, the debate over CAB has made its way to our community here in America – a debate that has led to passionate and sometimes vitriolic disagreement. This is what I wanted to write about today.
We are all Indians. I write today because I fear that the debate over CAB is feeding on some underlying emotions that many of us have regarding our differences with others in the Indian-American community. Emotions we have in our community, which, in some cases, have been building for generations. Emotions that we have learned to put aside while we enjoy the diversity of our community. But, it’s no secret, we are in a different time right now – one of dangerous hyper-partisanship that too often leads to hurtful and even hateful rhetoric. We must not allow our community in this country to be victimized by those that engage in divisive commentary with the goal of inflaming our emotions. We must stand together, stay together, and not fall prey to the type of extremism (on both sides) that can tear a community apart.
We are all Indians. My wife and I have two daughters and we live in downtown Chicago. We have worked hard to expose our kids to our culture, to learn about it, to participate in cultural events and activities, and to practice our religion and culture. We have also exposed them to Indians of all backgrounds – Gujaratis, Punjabis, south Indians, north Indians, and of course, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, and others. We celebrate our own specific culture but we also thoroughly enjoy taking part in the events and practices of other Indian cultures. I would hate for my kids to see the awful, hurtful comments that there have been on social media regarding CAB.
I fear that the debate over CAB is feeding on some underlying emotions that many of us have regarding our differences with others in the Indian-American community. Emotions we have in our community, which, in some cases, have been building for generations. Emotions that we have learned to put aside while we enjoy the diversity of our community. But, it’s no secret, we are in a different time right now – one of dangerous hyper-partisanship that too often leads to hurtful and even hateful rhetoric. We must not allow our community in this country to be victimized by those that engage in divisive commentary with the goal of inflaming our emotions. We must stand together, stay together, and not fall prey to the type of extremism (on both sides) that can tear a community apart.
We are all Indians. Yes, we have our differences. Yes, we have our disagreements. But, let’s not forget the vibrant community that we have built. Let’s not forget about the countless things that we have in common. Let’s not forget that we are stronger together. Let’s work harder, do better, and continue to strive to build an even more prosperous community for our children in this country.
So, yes, keep talking about CAB, but listen to each other, hear each other out, be open-minded, understand the other person’s point of view, be respectful, be inclusive of people of all backgrounds and viewpoints, remember that when we are talking that our kids are listening, and most of all, remember that WE ARE ALL INDIANS.