On Friday, after much hullabaloo in the Delhi Assembly, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led state government finally passed as resolution against the National Population Register (NPR). In its resolution the Delhi government raised several concerns about not just the NPR, but also the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that many fear will follow the NPR.
It raised the following questions:
1. Will NPR data feed into NRC?
2. When will NRC be started?
3. What documents will be accepted as conclusive proof of citizenship?
4. If a bona fide citizen is not in possession of any of these documents, how does he/she obtain them now?
The Delhi Legislative Assembly’s resolution noted that “there is fear and panic writ-large in the society about NRC which will determine who is not a citizen and all such people will be sent to detention centres,” and that “since independence no other issue has agitated the minds of the people of India as much as the issue of NRC and the fear of being thrown into detention centres arbitrarily.”
The resolution said, “more than 90% of the people of India won’t have expected documents and the whole exercise of seeking documents to prove their citizenship will put the citizens of India to untold miseries, cause widespread panic and create a peculiar situation when such large number of people will be unable to prove their citizenship.”
It appealed to the Government of India “that in the interest of the Nation, particularly when the economy is witnessing worst ever down slide and the unemployment is witnessing terrifying growth and with the threat of Corona pandemic looming large, it invests all its energies and resources on real needs of the people of India rather than unnecessary issues like NPR/NRC.”
Finally, it urged the central government “to withdraw and not carry out the whole exercise of NPR and NRC, (should the Government of India insist on going ahead, to restrict the exercise to NPR only with 2010 format with no new fields added to it).”
The entire resolution may be read here:
Resolution on NPR/NRC The Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi, having its sitting in Delhi on 13 March, 2020, Taking note of the fact that the Parliament of India has recently made certain amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1955 through CAA which was assented to by Hon’ble President of India on 12 December, 2019, Taking further note of the fact that the exercise for updating National Population Register (NPR) is going to start very soon vide which data on 9 new points are proposed to be obtained, Taking note of the fact that there is widespread belief among public that the Government of India (GoI) will seek documents from the public to prove their citizenship and prepare a National Register of Citizens (NRC) thereafter based on the documents obtained and the new NPR, Taking further note of the fact that there is fear and panic writ-large in the society about NRC which will determine who is not a citizen and all such people will be sent to detention centres, With the considered view that since independence no other issue has agitated the minds of the people of India as much as the issue of NRC and the fear of being thrown into detention centres arbitrarily, Viewing grimly the resultant prolonged agitations across India against NPR/NRC, With the hope that the genuine questions that are agitating the minds of citizenry such as: 1. Will NPR data feed into NRC? 2. When will NRC be started? 3. What documents will be accepted as conclusive proof of citizenship? 4. If a bona fide citizen is not in possession of any of these documents, how does he/she obtain them now? will be answered by the Government of India, in true democratic spirit, to the satisfaction of those living in fear of being thrown into detention centres, That more than 90% of the people of India won’t have expected documents and the whole exercise of seeking documents to prove their citizenship will put the citizens of India to untold miseries, cause widespread panic and create a peculiar situation when such large number of people will be unable to prove their citizenship, Earnestly appeals to the Government of India that in the interest of the Nation, particularly when the economy is witnessing worst ever down slide and the unemployment is witnessing terrifying growth and with the threat of Corona pandemic looming large, it invests all its energies and resources on real needs of the people of India rather than unnecessary issues like NPR/NRC, Therefore, urges upon Government of India to withdraw and not carry out the whole exercise of NPR and NRC, (should the Government of India insist on going ahead, to restrict the exercise to NPR only with 2010 format with no new fields added to it). |