‘Will feel disgraced to prove nationality’

RAIKOT AND MALERKOTLA: Having defended the country, ex-servicemen in Ludhiana and Malerkotla who are from the Muslim community say they would feel disgraced and insulted if they would have to produce documents to prove their patriotism under the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
They have also expressed reservations over the government’s move to bring in the Citizen (Amendment) Act before going nationwide with NRC.“This is a very bad move on part of the Centre. Being a part of the armed forces and having fought the 1965 and 1971 wars, I feel disgraced that now I will have to prove my citizenship,” says Abdullah Fauji (79) of Malerkotla, who is the vice-president of a 16-member union of ex-servicemen from Malerkotla and adjoining villages.
Fauji says their families had the option of going to an Islamic Pakistan during the Partition, but they chose a secular India. “Now we will have to produce a piece of paper to prove we are Indian,” he added.
He said many ex-servicemen from Takhar Kalan, Gandiala, Radma and villages in Amargarh are not happy with the move of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.
Ex-servicemen who have sent their sons in service of the nation too are unhappy.
Hawaldar Ali Sher (retd) of Nathowal village, popularly known as Faujiyan Da Pind, said he served the Army for 24 years, including in the militancy-hit Jammu and Kashmir. Now, his only son, Sahil Muhammad, is in the Army. He is posted in Sikkim. “The proposal (for nationwide NRC after enacting CAA) is aimed at harassing a particular community. We didn’t go to Pakistan as we didn’t want to leave our beloved motherland and I want to assert that we will die here only. Not just my son, if my motherland needs my services even now, I will defend it,” added Sher. “We reject any such move by the Union government.”
There are some ex-servicemen who doubt if they would be able to produce documents necessary to qualify as Indian citizens under NRC. “The proposal is definitely an insult to our services and is wrong. I never thought a time will come when we will have to prove we are Indians. I served in the Army and transported ration for our soldiers during the Kargil War. Now I will have to search for documents to prove my nationality, even though this where I was born. I am not even sure whether I will be able to prove my citizenship,” adds Rashpal Khan (50) of the same village. “In villages, land is not registered and the revenue department official may or may not have my house on record,” he adds.
An ex-serviceman from Malerkotla, who did not want to be named, said Muslims too had made sacrifices for the nation. “Who can forget the services of Hawaldar Abdul Hamid (who got Param Vir Chakra posthumously for his actions in Indo-Pak war of 1965) and Brigadier Muhammad Usman Masoodi, the Maha Vir Chakra recipient who was martyred in July 1948?” he added. “We are not refugees, but Indians,” he said.
Brigadier Surinder Singh Gill (retired) of Ludhiana said there were a lot of Muslim colleagues in his unit. “You cannot ask them to prove their credentials. We all considered each other equals. I think the proposed NRC is not right,” he said.