Clarion India
NEW DELHI — “NPR is the 1st step of NRC. It will force Indians to prove their citizenship & put them at risk of being marked as “doubtful citizens”. NRC+CAA will mean that Indian Muslims are reduced to second class citizenship. Go ahead with Census, there’s no need for NPR,” tweeted AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday.
NPR is 1st step of NRC. It will force Indians to prove their citizenship & put them at risk of being marked as “doubtful citizens”. NRC+CAA will mean that Indian Muslims are reduced to second class citizenship
Go ahead with Census, there’s no need for NPR https://t.co/k4YksM1las
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) December 23, 2020
AIMIM leader was reacting to a report which claimed that the Registrar General of India has written to all states requesting them to update the ‘Charge Register’, a Census document which helps enumerators to collect details during the first phase of the census-household survey.
The first phase of the 16th Census of India, which was scheduled to be rolled out in a few states on April 1 2021, has not been finalised due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the first phase, house listing will be conducted, while in the second, the enumeration of population would be done.
The Charge Register would help in updating the National Population Register, which could be used to mark some Indians as doubtful citizens, believes AIMIM. Later, it suspects, the government will bring in the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which requires people to prove their citizenship.
The Registrar General of India’s communication led to doubts and apprehensions among many citizens even though Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday hinted at a delay in implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the much-talked-about nation-wide NRC because of Covid-19 pandemic.
The ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti has also reiterated its opposition to the CAA, NPR and NRC. “It doesn’t matter whether the circular is related to NPR or only confined to Census 2021. The TRS will stick on its stand to oppose the CAA, NPR and NRC,” TRS politburo member and former MP B. Vinod Kumar told Deccan Chronicle.
(With inputs from media)
