I spoke to three prominent Bangladeshi Hindus — Rana Dasgupta, Pankaj Bhattacharya and Debapriya Bhattacharya — who are an argument, in life and blood, against Muhammad Ali Jinnah's two-nation theory. They are networked into India, which they could have made their home, as did most of their family members. Instead, they joined the secular, democratic forces in their battle to remove the grip of communal-authoritarian elements over the Bangladeshi state. The Indian model of secular democracy was undeniably their beacon.

This is why they were stunned at India's decision to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act, which is the Bharatiya Janata Party's response to Jinnah after seven decades. They think the Act tacitly encourages Bangladeshi minorities to migrate to India, which now offers citizenship to all non-Muslims who entered India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan until December 31, 2014. The cut-off date will have little sanctity as India has been portrayed as the land of refuge for Hindus, who cannot be morally turned away simply because their claims to persecution date after 2014.