Mr Dolphy D’Souza, President, Bombay Catholic Sabha, Teesta Setalvad, Secretary, Citizens for Justice and Peace, Javed Anand, Convenor, Indian Muslims for Secular Democracy (IMSD), Debashis Sengupta, Jitendranath Nandi, Abijit Mitra (citizens all associated with the Bengali magazine, Manthan Samayiki, Kolkata) addressed a press conference at the Press Club in Mumbai highlighting the issue of policing and profiling of citizens by the Maharashtra government and Union government respectively. Senior counsel, Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court also addressed the press conference.

The issue of non-transparent seeding of Aadhaar data and creating a National Population Register (NPR) which is the basis for the All-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) between 2015 and now raises questions of the violations of the Constitution (Article 14,15,19 and 21 of the Constitution and Section 14A of the Citizenship Action, 1955, Setalvad revealed. A staggering NPR database of 19.34 crores appears to have been created through this seeding which appears on the face of it to be violative of the law.

Under the existing law (under challenge in the Supreme Court presently), while there is a detailed procedure laid out of house to house renumeration, by officials under the Registrar General of India (RGI), seeking such information with informed consent of individuals, this legal requirement appears to have been circumvented. Aadhar data, collected for a different purpose entirely cannot be the basis for a more robust and accountable data collection –if and when—for the NPR and NRC. Besides, no public announcements on these have been made by the Union government, facing strong opposition from at least seven state governments and widespread opposition to the idea.

(Please see the entire Investigation here https://cjp.org.in/cjp-exclusive-how-the-union-of-india-took-a-giant-step-towards-both-npr-nrc-in-2015-without-informed-consent/ CJP EXCLUSIVE: How the Union of India took a giant step towards both NPR & NRC in 2015 without informed consent. This step was taken when information contained in the Aadhaar database was linked with the NPR database without informed consent, a CJP investigation with collaboration indicates)

Profiling of Christians?

The second issue that were elaborated upon were, one, the selective profiling of Christians in the MMRDA region (Mumbai, Thane, Mira Road-Bhayander) under the guise of the Maratha survey without any disclosure by the state government. Several instances were put forth and this brought back haunting memories for the city of 1992-1993 when Mumbai’s Muslims were selectively profiled and then physically targeted.

The Bombay Catholic Sabha and Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai, have received reports from citizens across the city, spanning areas like Vikhroli, Gokuldham, Goregaon East, and even Thane. According to these reports, individuals using an App-based software under the guise of the Maratha Reservation Survey (attached form) are inquiring about the Maratha community as well as asking Christians (based on received reports) about their religion and conversion history, while refusing to disclose their own identities. Issues of which organisations this survey has been outsourced to , no full disclosure  were raised.

Giant Leap towards NPR without informed consent?

Debashis Sengupta, Jitendranath Nandi, Abijit Mitra (citizens all associated with the Bengali magazine, Manthan Samayiki, Kolkata) highlighted how, citizen’s activism through the Right to Information Act (RTI) has revealed how, a giant step towards NPR and NRC was taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) when information contained in the Aadhaar database was linked with the NPR database in 2015. While the only legal way of linking the two databases is by acquiring informed consent from every resident through a public exercise similar to the Census conducted by the Registrar General of India (RGI), investigations reveal that the exercise did not have any provision to collect any informed consent for this linkage. The involved citizens in and around Metiabruz Kolkata are close collaborators with Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in)

After the passing of the pandemic, a group in Metiabruz, found through a campaign under the Right to Information Act (RTI) that, in 2023, they were surprised to discover that the Annual Report 2021-22 of MHA declared (in section 15.41 of NPR) that

“In 2015, a few fields such as Name, Gender, Date and Place of Birth, Place of Residence and Father’s and Mother’s name were updated and Aadhaar, Mobile and Ration Card Numbers were collected”.

On the ground there was no exercise being carried out in their locality from the Registrar General of India (RGI), nor did any enumerator come to them for updating NPR and for collecting Aadhaar Number in 2015-16. So this event led them to file a series of RTIs, First Appeals and Second Appeals to the concerned government authorities to verify the legitimacy of the NPR process starting from 2010. Jitendranath Nandi addressing the press conference explained how they went about the investigation based on RTIs.

Abhijit Mitra, a member of Lokvidya Jan Andolan in Calcutta, addressing the conference online said the government’s motive of collecting citizens’ demographic and biometric data was suspicious. “The whole exercise is not transparent and is aimed at targetting minority communities.” He said the 21 questions under the NPR, which the home ministry declared to be voluntary, were seen as threatening privacy, leading to surveillance and further disenfranchisement of citizens through the NRC.

It appears therefore that a giant step towards NPR and NRC was taken quietly when information belonging to the Aadhaar database was linked with the NPR database. The only legal way of linking the two databases is by acquiring informed consent from every resident through an exercise similar to the Census. These developments pose a clear and present danger of no less magnitude than what triggered the CAA- NPR-NRC movement, though there is no conspicuous symbol of that danger visible to the public.

Citizens have to come together and prevent governmental overreach and harassment of the people.

Mumbai-based activist Javed Anand said the CAA-NPR-NRC had been part of the BJP-RSS agenda to polarise voters along religious lines to win elections by diverting attention from the real issues — price rise, the sad state of healthcare, education and employment.

“They have been claiming to make India a Hindu Rashtra. What we have been witnessing now is an alarming state of affiars in the country. Every other day we read about mosques being demolished and goons hurling saffron flags on churches,” he said.

Both organisations, CJP and BCS have appealed and that citizens be alert and vigilant, create wider awareness on the issues highlighted above. Nothing short of vibrant citizens’ movement can ensure that the governments are made accountable and transparent and act as a deterrent against such transgressions.

Details of Profiling of Christians may be read here:

Details of How the Union of India took a giant step towards both NPR & NRC in 2015 without obtaining informed consent may be read here

Related:

Will recently amended Birth Registration law be (mis)used to curb voting rights, even launch the dreaded NPR?

NPR database declared as ‘Critical Information Infrastructure’; needs to be updated soon: MHA

The post Policing & Profiling Citizens: Using Aadhar data to create an NPR, profiling Christians? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

After weeks of planning, over 40 Christian organisations from the state assembled at Azad Maidan about 1 p.m. today, Wednesday, April 12 and protested attacks on the community in Maharashtra.

According to a community (UCF) toll – free helpline number – a human rights group based in New Delhi which monitors atrocities against Christians in India there were 597 incidents of violence against Christians from 21 states in last year alone till the end of December 2022.

A memorandum was also presented to chief minister, Eknath Shinde. The representation and protests expressed deep concern that at the escalation in violence against Christian personnel, places of worship, churches and their institutions across India and in Maharashtra using the bogey of conversion. “There are continued waves of vile hate speech and targeted violence which includes physical and verbal assaults on religious leaders and members, damage to and desecration of places of worship, disruption of prayer services and restrictions on religious gatherings, false accusation of forced and fraudulent religious conversions”, says the memorandum.

The Samast Christi Samaj is an umbrella organisation of different Christian organisations, has alleged that “atrocities” on Christians are on the rise in Maharashtra. The slogan for today’s protest was “Enough is Enough,” atrocities against the Christian community must be stopped and everyone’s rights should be safeguarded. Earlier the protest was planned as a protest march from Rani Bagh to Azad Maidan but had to be altered to simply an assembly at Azad Maidan. Representatives from the community from various districts and denominations addressed the gathering.

The memorandum expresses anguish at the targeted violence by self – declared vigilante groups seem to enjoy a sense of immunity from the rule of law, as police and local media often accompany them. The memorandum states that it is a matter of concern that “the police watch in silence and then take the Christian victims into custody on charges of alleged illegal religious conversions which are not true

“Hate Speech, Hate Crimes and coercive measures against religious minorities and members of civil society continues relentlessly.  The Anti – Conversion laws and the Dalit issues have become a Damocles Sword , used even against the Christian Minorities, the Muslims and in the name of Love Jihad and now Land Jihad, economic boycott calls and now more happenings in Maharashtra and in Mumbai

The specific demands are:

• Strengthen human rights monitoring mechanisms by setting up a state level redressal commission

• Government of Maharashtra must nominate at least four representatives from amongst the Christian community in the Legislative Council and Local Self – Government bodies for adequate representation.

• Scholarships for Christian community students to prepare for competitive exams like UPSC, MPSC on the lines of Chatrapati Sahu Maharaj Research and Training Institute [ SARTHI ] as provided for the Maratha Community and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute [ BARTI ] for the SC community

• Government of Maharashtra passed a resolution CSW – 2260 dated 6^th JULY 1960 ( Social welfare Department ) which provided equivalent status of schedule caste to the Neo Buddhist community. On the same lines/grounds of Parity the Christian community should be given equivalent status with immediate effect to cease social discrimination.

• Census of the Christian community on the basis of religion and their respective caste in the upcoming census.

• Speedy closure of cases where false allegations have been levied against Christians for instance in the case of Late Father Stan Swamy who worked tirelessly for the Adivasis and the down- trodden who died in prison and many others who continue to face alleged wrongful detentions and prosecutions.

• Reconstruction of churches/Places of worship demolished illegally

• Appropriate and adequate compensation to Christian individuals and institutions that are targeted for their religious identity.

• Strict action, arrest and prosecution against vigilante mobs who round up individuals, trespass religious properties and spew hate speeches.

• Basic preliminary investigation may necessarily be conducted by the police in cases alleging religious conversions before the registration of FIRs.

• Restoration of the St. Francis Xavier Chapel and installation of the Statue of St. Francis at Golibar, Santacruz East, Mumbai. We demand lodging of an FIR immediately against the Builder and those responsible for the demolition which was done on 09 March 2023.

• St. Peter’s Seaside Cemetery at Bandra- Cancellation and withdrawal of the amendment to the DP Plan made in September 22 and ensure not an inch of land is taken of the more than 100 years old cemetery.

• Restoration of the Pre – Matric Scholarships for Minorities cancelled by the Centre.

• All the districts/Talukas of Maharashtra including Mumbai and Thane should be allocated land for Christian Cemeteries.

• Proportionate Christian Representations in the more than 40 Maharashtra State Corporations and Commissions.

• Representative of Anglo – Indian community should be immediately appointed in the Maharashtra State Assembly.

• False cases against Pastors/members in Alandi, Pune and Other Cases in Aurangabad, Buldhana where pre – planned attacks of framing Pastors and Christians in false charges and preventing them from conducting prayer services and attacking them physically. For more details: Contact Adv. Wilson Nathan: 9822276794

• Jeri Meri Christian Cemetery, Saki Naka, Andheri East. This Cemetery has been in use since 1980. However, the Cemetery has been encroached and an FIR has been lodged on 18/03/2023 and we demand the said encroachment should be cleared as we have lack of space for the graves for burial of Christians. For more details you could contact: Mr. Sunil Metkari: 8999234567/Mr. Nicholas Almedia: 9619108082.

• Restoration of the crumbling ancient 500 years old Church of St. John the Baptist Marol in SEEPZ, MIDC by the Maharashtra State and be opened throughout the year for devotees and pilgrims for visitation and prayers.

• Maharashtra must not pass an Anti – Conversion Law is also a demand in the memorandum since “it results in discrimination and vigilante violence. We are One. Please do not divide us in the name of religion. “

Bombay Cathlolic Sabha and others took a lead in the protest.

Related:

Under Guise of Religious Conversions, Attacks by Hindutva Groups Worsen Situation for Christians in India

Five states report incidents of violence and intimidation against Christians between March 20 and 22

Radha Semwal Dhoni physically assaults three Christians and accuses them of forcing children to convert to Christianity

Christians & Muslims excluded from voters list in Karnataka, HC approached

Now Kadi, north Gujarat sees hate speech by Vishwa Hindu Parishad, this time against Christians

The post Christians of varied denominations demand rights, dignity, protest at Azad Maidan: Maharashtra appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The Bombay Catholic Sabha has called an urgent meeting tomorrow, Friday, January 6 to discuss what has been termed as unnecessary harassment of the Mumbai Christian community. A statement issued by Dolphy D’Souza, president outlines that the BMC has issued a demolition and takeover notice of the St. Peter’s seaside cemetery. This cemetery, 115 years old with over 400 graves is precious to the community and also a place of worship and prayers for those buried. The Sabha has demanded immediate withdrawal if the notice. 

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