The unprecedented four-year delay presents a first time change in the 150 year old census cycle. Today, in 2024 calibrated demands regarding the census has also emerged. The opposition is pressing for a caste-based census, a demand that has gained traction since the Bihar government under the previous Nitish Kumar-RJD combine had successfully conducted the exercise. a Additionally, the implementation of the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2023 (Women Reservation), which seeks to reserve 33 percent seats for women in Parliament and State legislatures, is directly tied to the availability of updated census data, creating a sense of urgency. Telengana state has also begun conducting a caste based census in November 2024.

Besides, the outcome of the census is critical for the delimitation exercise, which will redraw electoral boundaries based on population data. This overlapping of several issues has compounded the challenges, leaving the government with significant political, social, and administrative hurdles in ensuring that a truly representative and inclusive 2025 Census is conducted/held.

Understanding what the Census is

The Census is usually a complete count of a population (as of a state) that must include social and economic information (occupation, ages and incomes). Census data is a vital base for the conception and formulation of policies of any responsible government. Census data includes data on their age, gender, job, education, and living conditions. The census usually happens every ten years, providing a snapshot of the country’s population at a specific time

In India, the first synchronous census during the pre-independence period was conducted on February 17, 1881, under the leadership of W.C. Plowden, who was the Census Commissioner of India at that time. Following India’s independence, the first post-independence census was conducted in 1951, which was also the seventh in the cumulative series of censuses. Census process for India governed through the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990. The Central Government has power under section 3 to take Census and under Rule 6A can declare the date and duration of Census in which the houselisting operations and population census take place.

Section 4A of the Census Act makes it binding on any local authority to make available staff employed under it as may be directed by written order of the Central government for the purpose of performance of any duties in connection with taking of census.

Following the decadal census cycle of 10 years after Census 2011, the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, announced the houselisting operations for the Census of India 2021 on January 7, 2020. The scheduled dates for the houselisting were from April 1, 2020, to September 30, 2020. The 2021 Census was to include 31 questions, with the first five focused on building particulars, questions 6 and 7 on household details (for census houses used wholly or partly as residences), and questions 8 to 10 related to the head of the household. Questions 9 to 31 pertained to the normal household, with specific items (23, 24, 26, 27, 28, and 29) addressing household assets.

The number of questions canvassed during Population Enumeration in Censuses from 1951 to 2011 is listed below:

However, the scheduled exercise could not be conducted, and the central government postponed the census timeline.

Census data is collected in two phases. The first is the House Listing phase, which gathers information on housing amenities like toilets, electricity, and water supply. The second phase focuses on the household members, capturing details such as the number of individuals, their mother tongue, religion, caste (reserved category), literacy, and disability status. This data helps shape policies for minority groups, disabled individuals, and other socio-economic categories. Given its policy significance, the census questionnaire has undergone minimal changes over the years.

The last Census in India was conducted in two phases in 2011. The first phase, which involved houselisting and housing census, took place from April to September 2010, while the second phase, focused on population enumeration, occurred from February 9 to 28, 2011. The census recorded a total population of 1.21 billion (1210.2 million), a number roughly equivalent to the combined populations of the USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Japan. Moreover, the household schedule of Census 2011 contained 29 questions.

Census questionnaire from 1872 to 2011 can be accessed here

National Population Register (NPR)

In 2010, the National Population Register (NPR), a comprehensive biometric database of all “usual residents” in India, was compiled alongside the Census and the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC). The NPR was updated in 2015-16, and is currently being revised once more.

The updated NPR questionnaire includes new data, such as information about an individual’s parents’ places of birth and their mother tongue. However, the inclusion of these invasive questions has sparked debate among politicians and activists, who have expressed concerns about their invasive nature and highlighted that such questions are unreasonable and arbitrary, potentially sowing division and mistrust.

In January 2022, Lok Janshakti Party leader and late Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan stated that the government would consider the demand to remove the questions about the date and place of birth of one’s parents in the proposed National Population Register, according to The Hindu. “Even I don’t know the date of birth of my parents, forget about producing documents proving the dates,” he said.

The NPR is widely seen as the first step toward the creation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). This connection is not only outlined in the Citizenship Rules of 2003, but has also been explicitly acknowledged by the government in Parliament and in the Ministry of Home Affairs’ Annual Report for 2018-19.

The NPR is being created under the provisions of The Citizenship Act, 1955, and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003. The NPR includes details of all ‘usual residents’ of India, regardless of their citizenship status. This means both citizens and non-citizens will be included in the register.

According to Rule 3(4), the Central Government can decide a date by which the Population Register will be prepared. It will collect information such as the name, relationship to the head of the family, parents’ names, marital status, place of birth, nationality, address, occupation, and education of every individual. Rule 5 outlines the responsibility of government officials to assist in the registration process. Additionally, Rule 7 states that the head of each family is responsible for providing accurate details about all family members. In the case of dependents, such as minors or disabled individuals, the head of the family is also responsible for reporting their information. Finally, Rule 16(4) places the supervision of the entire process under the Registrar General of Citizen Registration, with oversight by local and district registrars.

NPR does not have complete legal sanction. NPR is being carried out under Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003, which is a subordinate legislation. Rules are made by the Executive/Govt and not scrutinised by Parliament

Why is the decadal census important?

The decadal census is a critical tool for assessing progress of citizens, tracking the effectiveness of government schemes, and planning for future development. Conducted by the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India under the Ministry of Home Affairs, the census provides essential data on population size, demographic changes, social indicators, and economic conditions. This data is foundational for policy-making, resource allocation, and designing welfare programs.

Additionally, the census plays a critical role in resource allocation that infrastructure and social services are distributed equitably across regions. It also aids in urban and rural planning, allowing authorities to anticipate future population growth and demographic shifts, which is essential for sustainable development. Ultimately, the decadal census is a cornerstone of long-term planning, guiding everything from public health to infrastructure, ensuring a more informed and responsive government.

First digital census this time and self-enumeration portal

In September 2020, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the proposed 2021 census would be conducted digitally, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman allocating a budget of ₹3,786 crore for the initiative. This census would mark the first-ever digital census in India, allowing citizens to self-enumerate by filling out the census form online.

Additionally, on March 11, 2022, the Central Government inserted rule 6D under the Census Rules, 1990, which felicitate the fling of census schedule through self-enumeration for citizens who want to exercise the right to fill the Census form on their own rather than through government enumerators.

The self-enumeration (SE) process enables individuals to check, update, and validate the National Population Register (NPR) records for their households through the SE Portal

However, the government made it clear that the data collected under NPR may be used for various individual and household-oriented welfare schemes of State/Central Government

In 2022, while inaugurating the new office building of the Directorate of Census Operations in Assam at Amingaon in Kamrup, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that “the process of a digital census would begin as soon as the COVID-19 outbreak subsided, with the goal of completing it before 2024.” However, as the year draws to a close, it seems unlikely that the digital census will be completed within the promised timeframe

जनगणना आकड़ो का ऐसा स्त्रोत है जिसके आधार पर केंद्र व राज्य सरकारें अपनी नीतियां बनाती हैं।

जनगणना एक साथ हमें कई सर्वेक्षणों से बचाने का काम करती है।

मोदी सरकार ने तय किया है कि अब जो जनगणना होगी वह ई-जनगणना होगी जिसके आधार पर देश के अगले 25 साल के विकास का खाका तैयार होगा। pic.twitter.com/TyClkoPWow

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) May 9, 2022

Census cycle, delimitation and concern of Southern states

The 2021 census, a crucial synchronous decadal exercise, was delayed due to the pandemic, disrupting the regular census cycle. Population data derived from the census helps the government assess social and economic trends, allocate resources, and plan for development. Without updated figures, it becomes challenging to effectively design and implement public schemes.

So far, no formal announcement has been made regarding the revised schedule for the census. However, according to reports in Hindustan Times, the work for the 2021 census and the National Population Register (NPR) is likely to begin in early 2025, with the population data expected to be released by 2026. This delay may also impact the census cycle itself, potentially shifting it to a new pattern. Going forward, the decadal cycle could change to 2025-2035, followed by 2035-2045, and so on. Furthermore, the last delimitation exercise, which was due after the 2001 census, has been frozen since 2002 for 25 years.

However, delimitation has been perceived as unfair to Southern states due to their demographic and developmental progress. Historically, Northern states lagged behind Southern states in terms of income and poverty, but since the early 2000s, the Southern states—such as Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu—have made remarkable strides in economic development, education, and healthcare. Their combined GDP surpasses that of 13 Eastern states, and their educational outcomes, including higher graduation rates, demonstrate a more skilled workforce.

Southern states, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, also showed better public health infrastructure. However, under the current population-based system of delimitation, these states face a potential reduction in parliamentary seats, while more populous Northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar gain. This raise concerns that the quality of governance and civic activism in the South is not adequately represented, highlighting the need for a more equitable approach to electoral representation.

How has NPR been made compulsory for citizens?

While the NPR questions are primarily voluntary, the Central Government has made the updation of the NPR compulsory for all residents of India. This is outlined in an instruction manual released by the Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner. Initially scheduled for 2020, the NPR updation will now take place alongside the upcoming Census. Enumerators, who have been appointed for the Houselisting and Housing Census, will also conduct the NPR updation, which involves a house-to-house enumeration to update the demographic details of all residents.

In effect, while participation in the NPR itself is voluntary, the process of updating the register has been made compulsory as clubbing with Census. This indirect compulsion means that residents are required to provide updated personal information, even though they are not explicitly mandated to answer every question.

The NPR database was first compiled in 2010 and updated in 2015-16. The current updation will collect additional data, including Aadhaar numbers (on a voluntary basis also pre-filled), mobile numbers, Voter ID, Passport, and Driving License details. New households and residents will also be recorded. While the updation process is mandatory, some states, like West Bengal, Kerala, and Punjab, have chosen not to participate in NPR-related activities, limiting the scope of the exercise in those regions.

Ref. Article: What to do when government officials come to your home? can be accessed here

Answering questions in NPR is not legally binding on an individual. However, 9 & 7 of the rules do require that everyone has to register and that head of family must give answer to NPR questions or else face a fine of Rs. 1000/-.

Providing information for NPR is voluntary, but refusal may lead to being marked a “Doubtful Citizen,” risking disenfranchisement as under Rule 4(4) of the Citizenship Rules, 2003, a lower-level government official can declare an individual a “Doubtful Citizen” if they decline to provide data for the NPR. If the refusal is not widespread, there’s a risk of being marked as “Doubtful Citizen,” potentially affecting one’s citizenship status.

The NPR Instruction Manual 2020 can be accessed here

Question in NPR and privacy aspects

As per Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) report, 21 questions that government was to ask under the new NPR 2020 threaten our privacy and may lead to surveillance and most dangerous of all can help target and mark out sections of the population for disenfranchisement from citizenship. The government, by clubbing the two, NPR process with the Census process, the government is being both devious and dishonest. It is likely that state governments will assign the same set of officers to conduct both surveys at the same time.

By merging these two separate processes, the government risks creating confusion and a sense of distrust among the public.

The invasive questions—such as those asking about an individual’s parents’ places of birth and mother tongue—are viewed as potentially discriminatory, especially in the context of the government’s broader plans for a National Register of Citizens (NRC). The NPR data could be used to target specific communities for exclusion from citizenship, leading to disenfranchisement, fear, and confusion among vulnerable groups.

A central issue is the government’s decision to combine the NPR process with the Census, a move that has raised suspicions of hidden motives. By conducting both surveys simultaneously and using the same set of officers, the government is seen by many as attempting to normalize the invasive nature of the NPR questions under the guise of routine data collection. This combination of processes is viewed as not only misleading but also as a strategy to sidestep scrutiny, obscuring the true intent behind the NPR.

Moreover, the relationship between NPR and NRC remains deeply contentious. While the NPR is primarily focused on collecting demographic data, it serves as the first step toward the NRC, which aims to identify illegal immigrants. In such a scenario, the NPR questionnaire, which includes sensitive details about an individual’s family background, could be used to weed out certain populations from citizenship, especially in a political climate where identity and nationality are often weaponized.

The lack of transparency around how this data will be stored, shared, and used further heightens privacy concerns. As citizens’ personal information is collected on a national scale, the potential for misuse looms large. With no clear safeguards in place, the NPR process risks turning into a tool for surveillance, fostering a climate of mistrust and fear. What is presented as an administrative exercise could, in the worst-case scenario, become a means for marginalizing entire communities.

No clarity on caste census

However, the government has yet to provide clarity on the issue of a caste-based census. Reports suggest that the government may include a “caste” field in the houselisting schedule of the upcoming census. Meanwhile, opposition parties are demanding that the central government conduct a nationwide caste census.

It is important to note that the caste census plays a crucial role in determining reservation quotas for various categories on ground of backwardness, as majority view in Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India (1992) opined that “Caste was a dominant factor of primary criterion in determining the backwardness of a class of citizens” and it did not offend Article 16(4). It was held that a caste could become a ‘backward class’ provided that the caste satisfied the test of backwardness and the test of inadequate representation.

This has been a key argument of the opposition in advocating for a nationwide caste census. On August 24, 2024, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressing the “Samvidhan Samman Sammelan” in Prayagraj, stated that 90 percent of the population is excluded from the system, emphasizing that the caste census is not only foundational but also a critical tool for effective policy-making.

Importantly, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Indra Sawhney vs. Union of India (1992) set a ceiling of 50% on total reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Accurate caste data from the census is essential for ensuring that the allocation of reservations remains within this limit while also addressing the socio-economic needs of underrepresented groups and distribution of wealth among the marginalized.

However, on June 20, 2024, a Division Bench of the Patna High Court, in the case of Gaurav Kumar v. State of Bihar [C.W. 16760 of 2023], struck down two amendment laws passed by the Bihar government. These were the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes) (Amendment) Act, 2023, and the Bihar (In Admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023. The amendments had sought to increase the percentage of reserved seats for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and educational institutions from 50% to 65%.

Revanth Reddy-led Congress government in Telangana launched the state’s first caste census on November 6, 2024, the first such exercise since 1951. This exercise involves door-to-door data collection till November 30, 2024. Telangana’s caste census includes 56 questions covering a range of topics, such as health hazards related to caste-based occupations, annual income, access to welfare schemes, and details of movable and immovable property.

The caste census was a key poll promise made by the Congress party ahead of the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections. The promise aimed to extend reservations to marginalized communities in proportion to their population across education, employment, and welfare schemes. Additionally, the party pledged to increase the reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies from 23% to 42%, and to implement a 42% BC reservation in government civil construction and maintenance contracts.

Notably, the Census 2021 houselisting schedule, which was notified in January 2020, included 31 questions, excluding the caste-related field.

The Women Reservation Act 2023: how is this tied up with the Census?

In a historic move, the NDA government introduced the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act in 2023 which received assent of President Droupadi Murmu on September 28, 2023, marking a significant step toward increasing women’s representation in Indian politics. This amendment introduced Article 330A and Article 332A, which reserve one-third of the total seats in both the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Parliament) and the Legislative Assemblies of all states for women.

However, the amendment also introduced Article 334A (3). This provision establishes a rotation system for reserved seats, meaning that constituencies reserved for women will change after each subsequent delimitation exercise. Additionally, Article 334A (1), inserted through the 106th Constitutional Amendment Act, delays the implementation of the reservation until after the first census following the amendment, which will provide the necessary data for delimitation. As a result, the reservation will not take effect immediately and will expire after 15 years unless renewed.

On September 20, 2023, Congress leader and MP Rahul Gandhi while addressing Lok Sabha, said that he stands in support of the Women Reservation Bill and this bill can be implemented today by giving 33 percent of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies to India’s women.. Rahul Gandhi alleged that BJP government is tries to distract the Adani issue and caste census while postponing the Act’s implementation. Congress criticized this move and said that caste census and delimitation were ‘poor excuses’ for the postponement of the women’s quota. Congress said that the Women’s reservation bill is a good thing, but two ‘footnotes’ of census and delimitation have been attached with it.

On September 20, 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed Parliament, said that the government has ensured the reservation of one-third of seats for women across all categories in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. He also responding to opposition concerns about the delay in implementing the women’s quota, said that the Census and Delimitation processes are necessary to determine the constituencies to be reserved for women. The Delimitation Commission, which relies on census data, is the only authority that can make these decisions. Amit Shah also confirmed that the census and delimitation process will begin after the 2024 general elections, pushing the quota’s implementation to 2029, which has been criticized by the opposition parties.

Conclusion

India’s decadal census, a vital tool for social and economic planning, has experienced significant delays, with the 2021 census now rescheduled for 2025. This delay, coupled with political debates surrounding caste-based data and implementation of women’s reservation, has compounded challenges. The postponement impacts the delimitation process, which relies on updated population data to redraw electoral boundaries. Southern states, which have made notable strides in economic and social development, could be disadvantaged if their progress isn’t reflected in the delayed census. Additionally, the controversial update of the National Population Register (NPR) adds further complexity. The government now faces growing pressure to address these uncertainties and ensure fair representation for all regions.

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Census v/s NPR

CJP in Action: Forest workers unite with anti-CAA protesters

CAA-NPR-NRC: The Law Is Being Weaponised Against the Constitution

The post To count or not to count, delays and India’s decadal Census appeared first on SabrangIndia.

While the only legal way of linking the two databases is by acquiring informed consent from every resident through an exercise similar to the Census, which means through a public exercise conducted by the Registrar General of India (RGI), the process appears to have happened without any informed consent.

There is yet another angle or twist. In 2020, at the height of the nationwide agitation against the CAA-NPR-NRC, the union government had announced that the Census (now not conducted since 2011 and which was statutorily due in 2021) will also conduct the NPR simultaneously. There was an outcry of protest against this with several state governments calling for a boycott against answering those questions in the Census form that had to do with the NPR.

Four specific questions included in the NPR-NRC especially the one concerning parents’ places and dates of birth had been added. Pushed into a corner by several unaffiliated state governments, the Home Ministry was compelled to admit, that answering questions in the NPR is purely voluntary while under the Census Ac, 1948, there is a legal obligation to answer all questions put every ten years. The Census process is oral and conducted by designated officers of the RGI without any document that takes or asks for signatures. Census data collection, house-listing and household data collection is crucial for understanding demographics and formulation of policies.

In contrast, the enumeration for the NPR can only be conducted under the provisions of The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 which in fact go beyond the Section amended Section 14A of the Citizenship Act, 1955 (amended in 2004) and are therefore arguably ultra vires of the Act itself. Section 14A of the amended Citizenship Act, 1955 (amendment in 2004) states simply that the government “may compulsorily register every citizen as a citizen of India and issue a national identity card to him”. It is the Rules that ascribe the process of NPR enumeration not the Act. Both Section 14A and the Rules are currently under multiple challenges in the Supreme Court.

Given this background to the manner in which the union government has been reluctant to share information publicly, also given its doubtful credentials over data collection and maintenance of data integrity, 2023 brought another surprise.

The Annual Report 2021-22 of MHA declared that crucial personal data –that can only be collected through a rigorous door to door enumeration process by officials under the Registrar General of India (RGI) and which includes Name, Gender, Date and Place of Birth, Place of Residence, Father’s and Mother’s Name was (already) collected, albeit in secretive manner, by seeding Aadhar. Mobile and Ration Card. A series of RTIs has led us to conclude that the exercise was conducted without the informed consent of Indians. A further scrutiny of MHA Reports of 2010, 2015-2016 and 2020 raise more questions.

The scale of NPR-Aadhaar linkage

How many of the NPR updated records contain the details from the Aadhaar card and have the Aadhaar number?

While the 2020 NPR Manual mentions that Aadhaar numbers in the NPR booklet came from the 2015-2016 exercise of “updating the NPR”, the RGI is silent on this and repeated efforts under Right to Information Act (RTI) to the RGI have not helped clarify the exact scale of the linkage. The 2014-15 Annual Report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) says that the “data digitization process has been completed” and a database of “119.19 crore persons created.” The 2017-18 Annual Report of MHA contradicts this and says that, ” demographic data of 119.95 crore persons was collected in 2010 and has been updated during 2015- 16 in all States / UTs except Assam and Meghalaya”.

While there are several annual reports of MHA that give a count of the NPR records linked with Aadhaar numbers, those reports correspond to the period before the updating exercise of 2015-16. The Annual Report of 2014-15 states that NPR data of more than 23.51 crores persons has been set to UIDAI for duplication and generation of Aadhaar number, of which UIDAI generated 19.67 crores Aadhaar numbers, which is in turn a quarter of the 80.46 crore Aadhaar database generated by UIDAI.=

This number could only have grown after the 2015-16 exercise, which was intended to be a giant leap for the scale of linkage. The official records are clear that the leap did take place, but unclear on the scale or implications.

Is the NPR-Aadhaar linkage illegal?

The NPR database is distinct from the Aadhaar database. While the former draws strength from the amended section 14A of the Citizenship Act, that provides for the possibility of a National Identity Card for Citizens (Rules outline the NPR as the procedure to achieve this). The Aadhar card is simply a proof of residence, with biometric data collection to enable access to government schemes etc. The legal provision for Aadhaar came through the Aadhaar Act of 2016, which made informed consent of the holder of the Aadhaar number mandatory for its use for any specific purpose. After the 2018 judgement in the Aadhaar case limiting its proliferation (that struck down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act that enabled private entities to use Aadhaar data for services), serious issues of policy incursions into privacy have also been flagged.

The issue is complex. In 2010, an exercise thereafter amended, demographic information for the NPR were collected through a door-to-door enumeration process conducted by RGI, on the basis of a signed form; thereafter this exercise was abandoned. The Aadhaar number was assigned by the UIDAI authorities after the collection of biometric data including photographs, ten fingerprints and IRIS prints. The Aadhaar number is supposed to be the link between the records of one person in the two databases.

However, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2003 did not provide for linking of two databases controlled by two different agencies. Data for Aadhaar had actually been collected by various private agencies through camps, and not through any door-to-door visit by enumerators engaged by RGI. The wholesale linkage that happened till 2015, without specific consent of any of the Aadhaar number holders, was not backed by that law or any other law. Thus, the legitimacy of NPR – as of 2015 – is highly questionable.

Besides, the very purpose of NPR has been to establish residency (and then citizenship) on the basis of documentation, shifting the burden of proof on an individual that will then expose himself to the tyranny of a local bureaucracy controlled by governments. Absence or anomalies in these documents will lead to arbitrary exclusions from the “ordinary residents” (citizenship list) causing untold hardships and social upheavals. As the lived current experience of the state of Assam reveals. The process if not just fundamentally unfair, the ultra vires process exposes the defenceless individual to the judgment of local authorities.

Come 2019 December and the passage of the religion biased Citizenship Amendment Act (2019) caused outrage. Assertions by senior functionaries of the present union government that the implementation of the CAA-NPR-NRC would “follow a chronology” led to legitimate fears that this was the aggressive first step to use the tyranny of a bureaucratic document test to exclude hundreds of thousands of disempowered and marginalized Indians from their citizenship. Any day now fears of this “chronology” being set in motion may be realized as the CAA Rules (pending since 2019 when the Act was passed) are underway.

Assam has to date spent Rs 1,700 crores on an excruciating exercise that has caused burdens on the not just the state but a third plus of the 3.3 crore population. Arbitrary exclusions have been marked by baseless “notices” being sent by the Assam Border Police and Foreigner Tribunals (adjudicating bodies controlled by the state executive) and while a significant 2, 22, 000 citizens and their families reel under the burden of either being excluded from the NRC or being declared “suspected foreigners” or “D” Voters, our experience on the ground shows that 99 per cent or more are “genuine’ Indians!

The linkage of NPR with the Aadhaar database –without informed consent—and in a hasty and secretive manner– creates further possibility of anomalies and mismatch in documents Added to this, the the proviso, contained in the 2003 Rules that shift the burden of proof on individuals to “prove” citizenship is a recipe made for largescale social disaster and a humanitarian crisis.

It was this belated realization that had most likely led the MHA to abandon the pilot project begun earlier (obliquely referred to MHA Annual Report 2008-09).The complication referred to here is the lack of documentation of genuine citizens in this country, and also the imbalance of the power equation between the common man and the local face of the government. The same complications apply equally to genuine residents.

A union government that is truly representative of all Indians will, from the Assam experience, understanbd this. An unaccountable regime may not.

(The author is a senior journalist and Secretary, Citizens for Justice and Peace)

Reference: https://cjp.org.in/cjp-exclusive-how-the-union-of-india-took-a-giant-step-towards-both-npr-nrc-in-2015-without-informed-consent/

(A collective citizens’ investigation by Metiabruz Kolkatta in close collaborators with Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in))

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The post Creating an NPR for an all India NRC without informed consent? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

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.

Thakur is, however, not the only Bengal BJP MP who has brought up the CAA – first introduced in 2019 to countrywide protests but since kept dormant by the Narendra Modi government – recently. Nisith Pramanik also mentioned that the law would be implemented soon.

The CAA offers an accelerated-track path to citizenship for non-Muslim religious minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists, and Christians) from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh, who entered India before December 31, 2014. This amendment to the Citizenship Act, 1955 was passed in the midst pf nationwide protests and controversy in December 2019.

Now, Thakur has clarified that he meant that the rules for the Act would be “framed within seven days.”

The All India Matua Mahasangha chief was reportedly pulled up by the BJP high command for claiming on January 28 that the CAA would be implemented in seven days, “not only in Bengal but across the country.” Thakur was speaking in Kulpi in south Bengal then.

Clearly the BJP is caught between two rival support bases when it comes to the CAA – one which is the Rajbanshi community which is strongly opposed to it and the other which is the Matua community which wants it. Rajbanshis also present in next door Assam have been victims of being rendered citizenship-less over the past five years.

The Telegraph report quoted Thakur as having said last Saturday, February 3, that he “actually wanted to say that the process of framing the citizenship rules would be completed within a week.”

“But by a slip of the tongue, I said the CAA would be implemented within a week, I didn’t mean it,” Thakur added.

Related:

CAA rules to be framed by March 2024, says Union Minister

The post ‘Slip of Tongue,’ now says BJP MP who had promised CAA in 7 Days appeared first on SabrangIndia.

This appears to be a design to whip up social tensions around the controversial 2019 amendment to the citizenship law that has little to do with Indian citizens and more to do with discriminatory citizenship (allowing non-Muslims from neighbouring countries to get fast-tracked citizenship).

“You will get the full rights of citizenship. In the absence of proper documents, no action can be initiated against you. This we have included in the Act,” the Minister told the gathering.  As per his latest information, the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation in the Lok Sabha had fixed time till January 9, 2024 while the committee in the Rajya Sabha had fixed a time of March 30, 2024 for framing the CAA rules.

The union minister’s remarks assume significance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The delay of framing CAA rules had irked a section of Matuas, including even the MLAs from the community representing the BJP. After the 2019 polls, a number of BJP leaders have been trying to allay the fears of Matuas regarding delay in the implementation of the CAA. Earlier this year, the Home Ministry was granted an extension for the seventh time to frame the rules for the CAA.

“We are hopeful that the rules of the CAA will be framed by then. In case there are issues, some more time may be required. The CAA has been implemented in the country. It is the promise and commitment of the Government of India to provide [you] citizenship,” Mr. Mishra said. He was joined by Minister of State for Shipping and Bongaon BJP MP Santanu Thakur at the event.

Thakur, a descendent of the founders of Matua sect, had won the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from Bongaon on the promise of providing citizenship to the members of the community. Matuas, a community comprising Hindu Namasudras, many of whom have migrated from Bangladesh (East Pakistan earlier), will be the deciding factor in large parts of south Bengal during the coming Lok Sabha polls and the issue of rules of the CAA remains crucial to their support.

The Trinamool Congress leadership, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been claiming that the CAA was a farce as everyone residing in the State was a citizen.

Related:

Union Home Ministry seeks further six months to frame CAA rules, has implementation however begun?

3 Years Later, ‘Historic’ Anti-CAA Protest Still Resonates With Shaheen Bagh’s Women

CAA discriminatory against Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka: DMK

The post CAA rules to be framed by March 2024, says Union Minister appeared first on SabrangIndia.

It is pertinent to note that linking the registry of birth and death to Aadhar card has also been proposed by the government in the past. IN November 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs floated proposed amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 which entailed a national database of records of births and deaths and linking Aadhar information to the same. The MHA had also expressed its intent to use this data to update the much opposed National Population Register (NPR). The Ministry had stated that the data will be used for updating NPR, Electoral Registers, Aadhar Database, Ration card database, Passport Database as well as the driving license database.

The Ministry has started again from where it left things in November 2021. At the inaugural event, Shah said that registration of births and deaths is important for updating citizens’ register, electoral rolls and list of people who avail beneficiary schemes, reported The Hindu.

What about the Census?

The description sounds quite similar to what a Census is supposed to be. 2021 was the year when our Census was due. However, the same could not be held on time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with the pandemic long behind us, there is absolute silence from the government on when the Census will be conducted. The general elections are due for 2024 and the Union government has shown no political intent to conduct Census anytime before that.

Under the Census Act, there is no mandate or obligation upon the Union government to conduct Census every 10 years. The section 3 of the Act states:

3. Central Government to take census.—The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare its intention of taking a census in the whole or any part of the territories to which this Act extends, whenever it may consider it necessary or desirable to do so, and there upon the census shall be taken.

Shah did say during the event that previous censuses were not accurate and the government will now conduct the Census electronically so that the data can be audited and verified, reported The Hindu.

What the government plans to do

Shah has said that the Registrar General of India will be the authority for birth and death registration. The RGI is the nodal agency for Census and also implements Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Shah said that the RGI “will ensure that the Election Commission is informed by the related software, immediately after the death of a voter, and the due process to strike off his or her name can be adopted. The opposite can be done to include a new voter in the voter list as soon as he or she becomes 18 years old.”

A source from the government speaking to Hindustan Times disclosed, “The proposed amendments say that the birth and death registration data will be necessary for admission into educational institutions, issuance of driving license, preparation of voter list, registration of marriage, appointment in government jobs and for passports etc.”

Why is centralization of this data a problem?

The Centre has clearly stated that this data will be used for updating NPR, Electoral Registers, Aadhar Database, Ration card database, Passport Database as well as the driving license database. This means, the Centre will be able to track births, deaths,

The Centre will have a record of all the registered deaths and will use the same to update NPR which will in turn be used to make the nation wide NRC. However, the question arises, what about those births that are not registered?

Citizen for Justice and Peace’s experience working on the citizenship issue in Assam has led to the realization that out of people excluded from NRC, vast numbers were children because the parents could not provide their birth certificates. Children below 18 do not have voter’s ID cards and if they have not given class 10 or 12 board examination their only proof of birth in the country is the birth certificate and if the infrastructure for registering births is not robust in rural or remote areas, it is likely that a large chunk of population does not exist on paper for the government and there is no way for them to prove that they were indeed born in this country. Hence, if this data is centralized and used to update NPR and eventually the NRC, this population has no strong proof of citizenship and stands at the risk of becoming non-citizens or aliens in the country they were born in. This, in itself, is a potential grave humanitarian crisis.

Based on information received from 32 States/UTs, the share of institutional births to total registered births is 81.2 percent. This means that despite institutional births, there are loopholes whereby registration of births has been missed out.

Related:

Centralising record of deaths and births: Centre’s play at a future NRC?

Census is not a priority for the Union government

Identifying fake Aadhaar, a plot to bring in CAA-NRC?

The post New Bill to link birth and death registry with Electoral rolls in next Session: Amit Shah appeared first on SabrangIndia.

As many as 16 activists and Civil Society Organisations based out of West Bengal have written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging them to delink Census 2021 from the process to update the National Population Register (NPR) and initiate a full caste enumeration in the forthcoming census. The activists, academics and representatives of mass organisations are all working to generate greater understanding of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the NPR, so that people can understand how they are being misused by a divisive regime.

The letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee argued that the NPR-NRC process under the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2003 and the Citizenship Rules, 2003 are still under legal challenge.

“We urge you to delink the controversial NPR exercise from the Census, which have very divergent objectives. Rather, the Census should include the caste census, for the reasons we have cited below for your kind consideration,” said the letter signed by Swaraj Abhiyan leader Avik Saha.

Further, the letter demanded that a Bahujan Commission be set-up in West Bengal to conduct a comprehensive socio-economic survey among all socially deprived sections of society and recommend measures for their advancement. Signatories pointed out that Maharashtra and Odisha governments specifically requested a caste census. However, the Centre asserted its intention to not enumerate caste-wise populations other than Scheduled Castes and Tribes “as a matter of policy” during Lok Sabha sessions.

While a full caste enumeration has not been undertaken since the 1931 Census, numerous government policies, including major benefit schemes, are implemented on the basis of claimed population share of caste groups. No one knows the actual population size of any caste except for SCs and STs.

“The 1931 Census figures are often used as an indicator of the current population distribution among castes. This is surely a huge mistake, because with partition as well as massive internal migration, the demographic history of India has undergone tremendous changes in the last ninety years,” said the letter.

Regarding caste data, the Union Home Ministry said on August 8 that the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has raw caste data but has no plan to release the same. This withholding of data disallows scientific analysis of the socio-economic impact of OBC reservations and other affirmative action, said the signatories. Additionally, they argued that a designed caste census will allow the National Commission for Backward Classes – involved in the evaluation and planning process of socio-economic development of socially and educationally backward classes – to fulfil its mandate.

A case for caste census

Following Indian independence, the Government of India felt caste census would strengthen caste divisions and the caste system. However, discriminatory and exclusionary practices continued even without such surveys.

In 1980, the Backward Classes Commission headed by Shri B.P. Mandal had to rely on the 1931 Census for the latest caste break-up of the national population. Their report noted, “Caste is also a class of citizens and if the caste as a whole is socially and educationally backward, reservation can be made in favour of such a caste on the ground that it is a socially and educationally backward class of citizens within the meaning of Article 15(4).”

Under Article 15(4), “socially and educationally backward classes of citizens” are explicitly recognised as a category distinct from SCs and STs. It also allows states to make special provisions for their advancement.

“Four decades after the Mandal Commission report, with a constitutionally recognised NCBC in place, it is about time that this anomaly is done away with,” said the signatories.

Members said that accurately counting caste numbers of the entire population and measuring their socio-economic status will go a long way in helping policymakers better understand social realities, and provide relief to the worst affected.

Related:

Chorus grows for Caste-based Census
No decision on nationwide NRC yet: MHA tells Parliament
Tribals urge Odisha CM to pass resolution against CAA-NPR-NRC
Census, NPR likely to be deferred in wake of the Coronavirus outbreak

The post WB activists and CSOs demand delinking of Census from NPR-NRC process appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On one hand Bilkis, better known as the Shaheen Bagh daadi, or grandmother, was listed as an icon in its list of the 100 most influential people of 2020, more details from the Delhi Police chargesheet reveal that according to the investigators, the women protesting against the CAA-NPR-NRC at various locations including  Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) were “paid daily wages”, those  who have already been alleged to be conspirators behind the Northeast Delhi riots. According to the latest reports in the Indian Express, the Delhi Police chargesheet filed at Karkardooma court last week states that the women protestors were used by the accused for a “secular cover, gender cover and media cover”.

The IE report quotes the charsheet as stating: “Shifa-Ur-Rehman (Jamia coordination committee member and president of Alumni Association of JMI) and others collected funds predominantly in cash and also in bank accounts and funded this sustenance of various sit-in protest sites by providing logistics and daily wages to lady protesters. AAJMI also provided mic, poster, banners, ropes, etc at gate number 7 of Jamia Millia protest site. AAJMI also paid for buses hired for protests. The daily expenditure of AAJMI ranged between Rs 5,000- 10,000 at protest site of Jamia gate number 7 alone,” it states. According to the Police all this has been established based on statements of witnesses and WhatsApp chats. The police have once again stated that the violence near Jamia Millia Islamia in December 2019, was a “precursor riot” to the Northeast Delhi violence of February 2020.

According to the IE report, the police have claimed Jamia and Shaheen Bagh were “deliberately avoided by rioters” during the February riots, and “women at the forefront (both local and transplanted) were the universal underlying theme of the protest in February 2020, as against the incidents of December 2019”.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police have also added the names of senior advocate, Prashant Bhushan, lawyer-politician Salman Khurshid, on its growing list of eminent citizens it says were connected with the Delhi Riots. The Huffpost reported that the names of Prashant Bhushan and Salman Khurshid appear in the chargesheet for First Information Report (FIR) 59/2020 Crime Branch. This FIR accuses students, social and political activists, and the suspended Aam Aadmi Party councillor of “planning the Delhi riots.” 

It is reported that Bhushan and Khurshid’s names appear in the “disclosure statements” attributed to two accused in the case, Ishrat Jahan and Mohammed Khalid aka Khalid Saifi. 

While this doesn’t make anyone named an “accused” in the case, as Huffpost reiterated, it does bring them under the scanner and vulnerable to being investigated, and maybe even implicated in the alleged “conspiracy”. Disclosure statements do not have evidentiary value in a trial unless they lead to the discovery of new evidence, stated the news report.

The report states that Bhushan, said that speeches he made during the anti-CAA and NRC protests in Delhi were “neither provocative nor provoking violence. I was generally praising these protests and saying that this law is unconstitutional. My speech must have been recorded in multiple video cameras. I would say that this government is trying to destroy the secular and make India into a Hindu rashtra and it is great that women have come out to protest against it.”

“Provocative statements are not illegal statements,” senior advocate and former Union Minister Khurshid was quoted by Huffpost, and he added that the agigations were “very genuine leaderless protests. Those protests are absolutely permissible under Indian law. If any of the protests are equated with sedition, then we will fight it out in court.”

According to Khurshid, “These are supporting documents. If I find my name in a supporting document, what is the purpose? Putting something by way of supporting documents on a chargesheet is a meaningless thing. The evidence will be what an individual gives in court. Not pieces of paper they have put in the chargesheet.”

The Delhi Police’s supplementary chargesheet in connection with the communal violence that broke out in North East Delhi in February 2020, has already named activists, academics, political leaders, including Delhi University professor Apoorvanand, documentary filmmaker Rahul Roy, economist Prof. Jayati Ghosh, activist Dr. Umar Khalid, and senior politicians Sitaram Yechury of CPI (M) and Yogendra Yadav (Swaraj Abhiyaan). The Delhi Police however then was forced by public outrage to issue a statement clarifying that Yechury, Yadav and Ghosh were not named as either accused or co-conspirators. “It is clarified that Shri Sitaram Yechury, Shri Yogendra Yadav and Smt Jayati Ghosh have not been arraigned as accused in the supplementary chargesheet filed by Delhi Police,” it had stated.

All the names that have been added to the chargesheet are people who have always been on the forefront of civil dissent, and have protested against the regime’s misgovernance. Many of them have also spoken at the peaceful protests that took place across the country against  the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR). As Sitaram Yechury had then said, this was an attempt to “criminalise peaceful protests in defence of India’s Constitution.”

Related:

Communal violence was to uproot elected govt: Delhi police riots chargesheet
More activists named in riots case: Delhi Police getting desperate?
Police need to stop criminalising the anti CAA protests: Prof. Apoorvanand
Umar Khalid arrested by Delhi Police Special Cell

The post Time magazine calls Shaheen Bagh daadi global icon! appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Not one to be cowed down after his name was mentioned by the Delhi Police, indirectly, of being somehow an alleged influence into instigating the North East Delhi communal riots, veteran Parliamentarian Sitaram Yechury in an exclusive interview spoke to SabrangIndia’s Teesta Setalvad, called out the repeated targeting of activists who spoke up against the CAA-NPR-NRC. He said he will not be cowed down by such targeting, and will continue fulfilling his duty to speak up against things he sees as anti-Constitutional, just like he, and other activists did when the national Emergency was declared in 1975.

On the current scenario, which is widely being seen as an ‘undeclared Emergency’ Yechury also drew parallels and said “investigative agencies are being used against dissenters who are speaking up”. The only way to combat this, according to the verteran leaders, was to build up “people’s resistance”, which is how the Emergency was fought in the 1970s. However, he did point out a crucial difference that ,“At that time, there was still some semblance of the Parliament and institutions,” but now, “the manner in which institutions are being destroyed is disturbing.” He said that to undermine Constitutional order, and replace it with a “rabidly intolerant and fascist Hindutva Rastra” was the real agenda now.

A case in point is the naming of academics, activists, students, opposition leaders, including Yechury in the “official investigations” on grounds that seem to warrant a double check on the investigation itself. “What they are charging me with is, based on unsigned statements, in garbled language. They said I made a speech in Jafrabad to instigate the Muslims into going for actions that caused the riots. I continue to defend the Constitution. It is not just my right to speak, it is my duty,” said the veteran leader.

He minced no words and said that the Delhi Police were “acting under directions of the Home Ministry” and a “political agenda” was being pursued. The latest statements that name the eminent citizens are “unsigned statements” in identical language, including typos and other errors, as reported. “These are educated young women. I can’t believe they write in such language,” said Yechury, as the statements are being attributed to the scholars currently under arrest, “they base this on  unsigned statements and there is doubt on the authenticity. This is their methodology. All these people are named. Then this will be taken to court,” he said adding it is yet to be seen if the court accepts these “statements”.

This is what happened in the Bhima Koregaon case too, added Yechiury, and what is happening to other activists such as Harsh Mander, who has been named in the Delhi riots investigations, and questioned earlier. “The message is that if you do not accept the regime’s agenda, you are an enemy of the state. But if they think we can be cowed down, they are mistaken. It is not only my right, but my duty to protect the Indian Constitution,” reiterated Yechury.

While the current session of the Parliament has been truncated, Yechury said the matter has been raised already, especially by the Left leaders. Even in Parliament, the ruling dispensation may “further their agenda,” he warned, adding that “Notices have been given in both the Houses to discuss this issue. Whether the Chairman or Speaker will accept it, remains to be seen.” He said what is being seen in India today is a form of “Phantom Democracy,” as seen in other totalitarian regimes across the world, “It is just the pretence of a democracy.”

When SabrangIndia editor Teesta Setalvad, pointed out that stringent laws such as the UAPA are being increasingly misused to target young Muslim women and men, Yechiry said that, the “The Delhi Police are acting under directions of the Home Ministry. It is a political agenda that is being pursued.” He said attempts were to “destroy the democracy, Parliament, Judiciary, Election commission. Using law and order machinery as a political arm… Undermining the Constitution.”

“The ideologues of the RSS have identified Muslims, Christians and communists as three internal enemies. They see August 5, 2019, when article 370 was abrogated, and August 5, 2020, when the foundation stone was laid for the Ram Temple are the real Independence days for India according to the Hindutva regime. The message is very clear…  If you are opposing me, you will face the music. If you support me, you will be protected,” said Yechury.

Yechury added that we are living in surreal times asking, “What is the ground reality and what is propaganda?” He gave examples of how the “unfortunate suicide by a promising Bllywood actor is being used to make political gains in Bihar. The Prime Minister is feeding peacocks. Privatisation is unbridled loot of national resources.What is the meaning of handing over profitable airports to your cronies?” He pointed out that “Indian agriculture is being handed over to private players. Agriculture and the public sector are being destroyed for private profit. And Adivasis and forest dwellers who nurture our forests are being uprooted. All this is happening when the Covid pandemic is raging!”  He said the government was “paralysing people and their protests. People are being left to fend for themselves as the government is furthering their own agenda.”

All that has to be resisted, he said, like the 1975 Emergency was resisted by the people. “My generation fought against the Emergency,” he said that there was a need to continue resisting and fighting against the current scenario. Though even he agreed that politically a “a lot more needs to be done. The Left is together, we had protest actions, but this has to be much larger and wider,” he added the effort must now be on bringing the Opposition together, even though the current Parliament session is truncated, and due to the Covid-19 protocol many members are likely to give it a miss. He added that around  “11 ‘anti-people’ ordinances may be converted to Laws”, in this session. “We have already given notices in both Houses to suspend business and raise the issue.”

“What is the way forward,” asked Setalvad. “Only to strengthen popular resistance. At all levels. Use all available forums. Build people’s protest,” said Yechury. He warned that, the targeting was “much larger” now, “and the Prime Minister in his speech even said the agenda was to ‘to liberate India from bondage of 1200 years,’ a clear reference and a deliberate attempt to talk as far back as the Delhi sultanate”, and now the targeting he said was “of every single patriot” and “those who believe in Constitutional values”. He added that institutions that have to upload law are themselves compromised with no checks and balances. A “move towards more totalitarian regimes.” 

On being asked if he was worried about his name now being attacked by Delhi police, Yechury was candid, “I am not worried. If I was worried I would not have been where I am now.” However, he warned, “If you do not resist, much worse is yet to come. If you resist you can put brakes, hopefully reverse it…”

The full interview may be viewed here: 

Related:

More activists named in riots case: Delhi Police getting desperate?
The State has no religion
Constitutional order collapses if Parliament is paralysed: Sitaram Yechury

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