Commentary: Opposition Playing With Fire

People have the right to protest. There is no wrong in having an opinion what is considered as right by ruling class.

Protest is the weapon of poor. Even the political freedom India now enjoys is the end result of a great protest.

As a democratic country, India is obliged to listen to each and every people in the country. She has the obligation to address the concerns of each and every one in the society, when a new policy is introduced. She cannot forcibly impose any policy on her subjects.

It is true that the centre government could have taken more caution while introducing an act as serious as that of the Citizenship Amendment Act; it could have consulted all stakeholders before the introduction.

It does not mean that the act, which aims to give the right of citizenship to migrants who fled their respective countries due to religious persecution, is wrong.

The act gives relief to those who fled Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh due to religious persecution.

Naturally, the act only offers support to those from the minority communities from the aforesaid countries.

The protest against the act first emerged in Assam. Later, it spread to Delhi and West Bengal. Recently, it even reached the southern state of Kerala.

The opposition of the country should make a rational introspection. They should make sure that the support they have given to the movement against the CAA is not misused for creating a sharp divide in the society.

What happened recently in the national capital is horrific. Creating an atmosphere of anarchy will only help anti-socials.

In a democracy, there is no place for violence.

At first, it is important to understand why a section of people in Assam dislikes the bill. And, also, it is necessary to find why a section of students in Delhi is against the bill. And, also, it is pertinent to know why a section of people in West Bengal is against the bill.

Surprisingly, all three have three different reasons to tell.

What opposition now tries to do is clubbing them together improperly for their own petty political gains.

The nation does not want the opposition to act merely as a political group. It expects more responsible behaviour from the opposition. It does not want to see chaos in its streets.

A responsible opposition can do many things towards that. It can confront the government with the feedbacks it gets about the act from the people of the country through democratic means.

No political party should encourage students to become the pawns of politicians.

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