Today, over a billion Indians are divided over two narratives: in the first to believe that the Union Government is doing the right thing by implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the National Register of Citizens, and the National Population Register. The second is to believe that these exercises are unconstitutional and have many a malicious agenda behind them. This is painful. We Indians have suffered a lot throughout colonial rule and it was only after Independence that we believed in harmony, equality and brotherhood prevailing, making India prosperous in being together. ‘Unity in Diversity’ reflected the beauty of India but what I observe today is very disturbing. Most people are completely divided and are unable to listen to the other’s point of view. Often the furious counter-attack is made more dangerous by using the term ‘anti-national’. Where is the compassion and empathy that India gave to the world? Expressing dissent in a peaceful way is a basic part of democracy. India’s freedom struggle was successful because of this.
Ratnaraj Jain,
Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh
