Resist NPR! NRC coming camouflaged as NPR! 'National Population Register: Centre reiterates that no one will be required to submit documents'
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Sukla Sen
Jan 3, 2020, 9:21:52 AM1/3/20
to foil-l, Say NO 2 UID Core Group
[Only info, at the (benign!) NPR stage.
Based on that, lists of "doubtful citizens" would be prepared.
Then the NRC takes over - baring its fangs; these people are asked to provide "documents" to "prove" citizenship.
By that time, and in the process, the resistance dips.
That's the "chronology".
So: Resist NPR!
The ministry rejected that there were apprehensions, as reported by The Hindu, that people would have to dig out old documents to prove their residency on the lines of the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam. “The story ignores government’s stated position that no individual will be required to submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey,” the government added. “Information provided by the individual would be accepted and recorded accordingly.”
(Excerpted from the report reproduced below.)
Based on that, lists of "doubtful citizens" would be prepared.
Then the NRC takes over - baring its fangs; these people are asked to provide "documents" to "prove" citizenship.
By that time, and in the process, the resistance dips.
That's the "chronology".
So: Resist NPR!
The ministry rejected that there were apprehensions, as reported by The Hindu, that people would have to dig out old documents to prove their residency on the lines of the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam. “The story ignores government’s stated position that no individual will be required to submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey,” the government added. “Information provided by the individual would be accepted and recorded accordingly.”
(Excerpted from the report reproduced below.)
Also, not to forget:
Immediate Task
In the context of the ongoing protest movements, it's necessary to note that while the incumbent regime is pretending to backtrack a bit on the issue of the NRC - as implied in Prime Minister's blatant lies in his Ramlila Maidan speech (ref.: <https://www.altnews.in/pm-modis-speech-on-caa-nrc-a-combination-of-falsehoods-and-half-truths/> and <https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/nrc-caa-narendra-modi-fact-check_in_5e0050aee4b0843d35fe1e65>), in all probability, it's only meant to deceive.
In fact, the NRC, as it appears, is due to arrive dressed up as (rather harmless-looking?) NPR.
It's quite conceivable that only, or primarily, those identified as "doubtful citizens" would be sent notices under the NRC to provide whatever listed (difficult to produce) documents to prove citizenship.
While a huge number would be affected, most would be not.
The regime is, most likely, banking on the possibility that the resistance would thus be emasculated.
(Quite possibly, only in order to confuse, the rules for the NRC - specifying the methodology to be followed and "documents" to be produced, remain to be framed and notified.
Most likely, this is planned to be done only after the NPR process is over and the necessary data, thereby, collected.)
Hence, right at this point of time, the challenge is to convert the ongoing protest movements into concrete actions towards scuttling the NPR.
It can't be just left to atomised individuals.
In fact, the NRC, as it appears, is due to arrive dressed up as (rather harmless-looking?) NPR.
In its pre-test from, it has added questions as regards parents' places of birth, apart from names. Also will be collected: Aadhaar (optional), voter ID card, mobile phone and driving licence numbers. (Ref.: <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/npr-trial-form-gets-government-nod-for-rollout/article30446279.ece>.)
Based on the NPR, a list of "doubtful citizens" would be prepared.
While a huge number would be affected, most would be not.
The regime is, most likely, banking on the possibility that the resistance would thus be emasculated.
(Quite possibly, only in order to confuse, the rules for the NRC - specifying the methodology to be followed and "documents" to be produced, remain to be framed and notified.
Most likely, this is planned to be done only after the NPR process is over and the necessary data, thereby, collected.)
Hence, right at this point of time, the challenge is to convert the ongoing protest movements into concrete actions towards scuttling the NPR.
It can't be just left to atomised individuals.
Implications of NRC+CAA
I. The CAA as a stand-alone measure has little significance (except in the North-East and, also, West Bengal), other than symbolic .
II. It, however, singles out Muslims for exclusion.
B. Nor the persecuted Muslims - Ahmadiyyas, Shias, Hazaras, Balochs etc., from the Muslim-majority neighbouring countries.
C. The persecuted, on grounds of other than religious, are nor considered.
IV. It's quite another matter that even the filtered out Hindus, and other non-Muslims, in order to be counted as Indian citizens will have to establish the claim of migration, in terms of "documents", from either Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan, to India, on or before Dec. 31 2014.
(Ref.: <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/migrants-wont-get-citizenship-automatically/articleshow/72799784.cms?fbclid=IwAR3A5mMc4F2JD1NXCHfQ8V6Xn8Gm9D-LRtYWMVdtPvpPRDtxYrn9pdBvli0>.)
Hence...
NPR: The Vital Link
Chastened by the experience of the NRC exercise in Assam, where 1.9 million, understandably including a large number of Hindus, out of total 33 million applicants have found themselves, eventually, filtered out (ref.: <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/assam-nrc-final-list-bjp-congress-bangladesh-illegal-migration-5954490/>), the Union Government has, this time, opted to, first, carry out a survey in order to prepare a National Population Register (NPR) - containing biometric details of the individuals, as the stepping stone towards the NRC.
(Ref.: <https://scroll.in/article/947784/npr-days-after-modi-says-nrc-word-hasnt-been-uttered-cabinet-clears-3900-crore-for-first-step> and <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/npr-nrc-link-amit-shah-central-government-parliament-6183572/?fbclid=IwAR2KCXmxsItXP-7_84-_H_JJi1855x2yvfJvWlABYwAz84IQRMchr1Y8BbM>).
Utility of the NPR
I. It'll help delineate those to be targeted during the NRC exercise proper.
II. It'll create a biometric database to subsequently apprehend those filtered out by the NRC process, from any corner of the land.
Apparent Illegality of the Planned NPR
The biometric data collection, unrelated to any state-run welfare schme (or linking with the PAN) appears to go against even the Aadhaar judgement by the Indian Supreme Court, let alone the (previous) one on privacy, recognising it as a fundamental right of a citizen.
This deserves to be also legally challenged on the ground of being violative of privacy rights.
Regardless of how the Court is going to respond.
The Real Driver
The real intent and purpose of the CAA-reinforced NRC is, by threatening an ethnic cleansing by specifically targeting Indian Muslims, to trigger and perpetuate a civil war-like situation - by stirring up panic, rage and hatred, across religious divides, in order to mobilise the Hindus as "Hindus" - drowning out all other competing identities linked to gender, ethnicity, language, caste, class, age-group etc., in turn, to dismantle the "India" that had been brought into being by the epic Indian freedom struggle to make way for a "Hindu Rashtra" - a Hindu majoritarian state, denuded of all vestiges of substantive democracy and pluralism.
(Ref.: What Now? and Conclusion in <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/greenyouth/Sukla$20Sen$2C$202019$20Parliamentary$20Poll$3A$20Outcome$3A$20Drivers$3A$20Consequences$20%7Csort:date/greenyouth/jDH-u677CzY/z4ES9B7OBAAJ>.)
I. The CAA as a stand-alone measure has little significance (except in the North-East and, also, West Bengal), other than symbolic .
II. It, however, singles out Muslims for exclusion.
It's essentially discriminatory - in three ways
A. The persecuted from the non-Muslim-majority neighbouring countries - (Rohingyas from) Myanmar, (Tamils from) Sri Lanka, (Tibetans from) Tibet/China etc., do not qualify.B. Nor the persecuted Muslims - Ahmadiyyas, Shias, Hazaras, Balochs etc., from the Muslim-majority neighbouring countries.
C. The persecuted, on grounds of other than religious, are nor considered.
III. But, bundled with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), it is designed to send out the (deceptive and) toxic message that the huge number of Hindus who would, certainly, be filtered out by the NRC process, for want of "documents", have nothing to worry - the CAA would take care of them, and only the Muslims would be stripped of their citizenship and turned stateless.
(Ref.: Amit Shah repeatedly doing so at <https://scroll.in/article/947436/who-is-linking-citizenship-act-to-nrc-here-are-five-times-amit-shah-did-so>.)
IV. It's quite another matter that even the filtered out Hindus, and other non-Muslims, in order to be counted as Indian citizens will have to establish the claim of migration, in terms of "documents", from either Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan, to India, on or before Dec. 31 2014.
(Ref.: <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/migrants-wont-get-citizenship-automatically/articleshow/72799784.cms?fbclid=IwAR3A5mMc4F2JD1NXCHfQ8V6Xn8Gm9D-LRtYWMVdtPvpPRDtxYrn9pdBvli0>.)
Hence...
NPR: The Vital Link
Chastened by the experience of the NRC exercise in Assam, where 1.9 million, understandably including a large number of Hindus, out of total 33 million applicants have found themselves, eventually, filtered out (ref.: <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/assam-nrc-final-list-bjp-congress-bangladesh-illegal-migration-5954490/>), the Union Government has, this time, opted to, first, carry out a survey in order to prepare a National Population Register (NPR) - containing biometric details of the individuals, as the stepping stone towards the NRC.
(Ref.: <https://scroll.in/article/947784/npr-days-after-modi-says-nrc-word-hasnt-been-uttered-cabinet-clears-3900-crore-for-first-step> and <https://indianexpress.com/article/india/npr-nrc-link-amit-shah-central-government-parliament-6183572/?fbclid=IwAR2KCXmxsItXP-7_84-_H_JJi1855x2yvfJvWlABYwAz84IQRMchr1Y8BbM>).
Utility of the NPR
I. It'll help delineate those to be targeted during the NRC exercise proper.
II. It'll create a biometric database to subsequently apprehend those filtered out by the NRC process, from any corner of the land.
Apparent Illegality of the Planned NPR
The biometric data collection, unrelated to any state-run welfare schme (or linking with the PAN) appears to go against even the Aadhaar judgement by the Indian Supreme Court, let alone the (previous) one on privacy, recognising it as a fundamental right of a citizen.
This deserves to be also legally challenged on the ground of being violative of privacy rights.
Regardless of how the Court is going to respond.
The Real Driver
The real intent and purpose of the CAA-reinforced NRC is, by threatening an ethnic cleansing by specifically targeting Indian Muslims, to trigger and perpetuate a civil war-like situation - by stirring up panic, rage and hatred, across religious divides, in order to mobilise the Hindus as "Hindus" - drowning out all other competing identities linked to gender, ethnicity, language, caste, class, age-group etc., in turn, to dismantle the "India" that had been brought into being by the epic Indian freedom struggle to make way for a "Hindu Rashtra" - a Hindu majoritarian state, denuded of all vestiges of substantive democracy and pluralism.
(Ref.: What Now? and Conclusion in <https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/greenyouth/Sukla$20Sen$2C$202019$20Parliamentary$20Poll$3A$20Outcome$3A$20Drivers$3A$20Consequences$20%7Csort:date/greenyouth/jDH-u677CzY/z4ES9B7OBAAJ>.)
Demands to be Raised
BB. Scrapping of the NPR - the officially designated "first step towards the creation of a National Register of Citizens" (ref.: <http://www.censusindia.gov.in/vital_statistics/crs/crs_division.html>) and also, for the first time, inclusion of parents' names, dates and places of birth in the form (ref.: <https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/news/india/npr-nrc-2-sides-of-the-same-coin/amp_articleshow/72985517.cms?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR15OZnM7E7HtTX7yadTXPwiWfRmDLYz7i1sBp2H3bLqQtyXy4JQD1kpX18>); only routine census to be undertaken, as per schedule.
CC. The government to issue an ordinance to scrap the current, discriminatory, CAA.
DD. India to confirm adherence to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, together with the 1967 Protocol.
Till accomplishment, resistance must keep gathering greater, and still greater, momentum.
All efforts must be geared towards that.
The NPR has got to be resisted.]
https://scroll.in/latest/948488/national-population-register-centre-rejects-news-report-claiming-trial-form-is-set-to-be-finalised?fbclid=IwAR3Tf614uxOF7ehlbCLenFNAE4Fbb2nNPfCvdKuxSUOQ2R8roLvNBnWh9bY
National Population Register: Centre reiterates that no one will be required to submit documents
The Centre was responding to an article in ‘The Hindu’ on a trial NP form that seeks details of the respondent’s ‘place of birth of father and mother’.
National Population Register: Centre reiterates that no one will be required to submit documents
Jan 01, 2020 · 07:43 pm
Updated Jan 01, 2020 · 09:14 pm
[Facsimile]
The NPR questionnaire accessed by Scroll.in. For the first time, the NPR will ask details like birthplace of parents. | Scroll Staff
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday refuted a claim made in an article published in The Hindu on the Narendra Modi government’s decision to finalise a National Population Register form used during a trial last year. The form reportedly seeks details of the respondent’s “place of birth of father and mother”. Scroll.in had reported on this on December 17.
The ministry rejected that there were apprehensions, as reported by The Hindu, that people would have to dig out old documents to prove their residency on the lines of the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam. “The story ignores government’s stated position that no individual will be required to submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey,” the government added. “Information provided by the individual would be accepted and recorded accordingly.”
Around 30 lakh people in 74 districts reportedly responded to the government questionnaire during the trial stage that included queries on 21 parameters, including demographic details such as name, age, sex, relationship in household, nationality, educational qualifications, occupation, date of birth, marital status, residential address, birthplace and mother tongue. It also asked respondents about their parents’ birthplace, and Aadhaar details, driver’s licence, voter identity card and mobile number “if available”.
The current NPR has a database of 119 crore residents. The Hindu reported that the government did not receive any adverse feedback on the form.
“It is brought to the notice of the media to ensure accuracy of facts while publishing any story on such sensitive issues in order to avoid misconception in public,” the ministry added.
The story incorrectly quotes government officials that
"Respondents to NPR exercise will get time to provide papers
families would need to dig out old documents and ensure that such documents are readily available for verification & enumerators would see those documents"
2/4
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) January 1, 2020
An unidentified official had told The Hindu that families would be intimated in advance about an enumerator’s visit so that documents of every family member are readily available for verification.
“If there are 15 members in the family, the enumerators would give them a prior notice, so that documents of all are available when the field visit is undertaken,” the official had added. “The enumerator will see the documents.”
The new NPR data is scheduled to be collected from April to September along with the decennial Census exercise. However, states such as West Bengal and Kerala, and a few Congress-ruled states have issued orders stopping work on the population register amid apprehensions that it will be used to identify undocumented immigrants during the National Register of Citizens exercise. The Census of India website describes the NPR as “the first step towards the creation of a National Register of Citizens”.
However, the government has consistently denied links between NRC, NPR and the Citizenship Act. Last week, Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated that the three were “not interconnected”. “NRC is a separate chapter,” he told a newspaper. “CAA does not apply to any Indian, including the Muslims of India. It only and only relates to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists and Christians who are victimised for their faith in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
It is brought to the notice of the media to ensure accuracy of facts while publishing any story on such sensitive issues in order to avoid misconception in public.
4/4
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) January 1, 2020
National Population Register: Centre reiterates that no one will be required to submit documents
The Centre was responding to an article in ‘The Hindu’ on a trial NP form that seeks details of the respondent’s ‘place of birth of father and mother’.
National Population Register: Centre reiterates that no one will be required to submit documents
Jan 01, 2020 · 07:43 pm
Updated Jan 01, 2020 · 09:14 pm
[Facsimile]
The NPR questionnaire accessed by Scroll.in. For the first time, the NPR will ask details like birthplace of parents. | Scroll Staff
The Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday refuted a claim made in an article published in The Hindu on the Narendra Modi government’s decision to finalise a National Population Register form used during a trial last year. The form reportedly seeks details of the respondent’s “place of birth of father and mother”. Scroll.in had reported on this on December 17.
The ministry rejected that there were apprehensions, as reported by The Hindu, that people would have to dig out old documents to prove their residency on the lines of the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam. “The story ignores government’s stated position that no individual will be required to submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey,” the government added. “Information provided by the individual would be accepted and recorded accordingly.”
Around 30 lakh people in 74 districts reportedly responded to the government questionnaire during the trial stage that included queries on 21 parameters, including demographic details such as name, age, sex, relationship in household, nationality, educational qualifications, occupation, date of birth, marital status, residential address, birthplace and mother tongue. It also asked respondents about their parents’ birthplace, and Aadhaar details, driver’s licence, voter identity card and mobile number “if available”.
The current NPR has a database of 119 crore residents. The Hindu reported that the government did not receive any adverse feedback on the form.
“It is brought to the notice of the media to ensure accuracy of facts while publishing any story on such sensitive issues in order to avoid misconception in public,” the ministry added.
The story incorrectly quotes government officials that
"Respondents to NPR exercise will get time to provide papers
families would need to dig out old documents and ensure that such documents are readily available for verification & enumerators would see those documents"
2/4
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) January 1, 2020
An unidentified official had told The Hindu that families would be intimated in advance about an enumerator’s visit so that documents of every family member are readily available for verification.
“If there are 15 members in the family, the enumerators would give them a prior notice, so that documents of all are available when the field visit is undertaken,” the official had added. “The enumerator will see the documents.”
The new NPR data is scheduled to be collected from April to September along with the decennial Census exercise. However, states such as West Bengal and Kerala, and a few Congress-ruled states have issued orders stopping work on the population register amid apprehensions that it will be used to identify undocumented immigrants during the National Register of Citizens exercise. The Census of India website describes the NPR as “the first step towards the creation of a National Register of Citizens”.
However, the government has consistently denied links between NRC, NPR and the Citizenship Act. Last week, Union Minister of Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad reiterated that the three were “not interconnected”. “NRC is a separate chapter,” he told a newspaper. “CAA does not apply to any Indian, including the Muslims of India. It only and only relates to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Jains, Buddhists and Christians who are victimised for their faith in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan.”
It is brought to the notice of the media to ensure accuracy of facts while publishing any story on such sensitive issues in order to avoid misconception in public.
4/4
— Spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs (@PIBHomeAffairs) January 1, 2020
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