Hyderabad, February 15: A number of people residing in the Old City of Hyderabad have put up a signboard outside their residence that reads 'NPR Enumerator Go Back'. Through the posters, residents have conveyed enumerators of the National Population Register (NPR) that they should not knock on their doors for the survey unless certain questions are not dropped from the NPR form. CAA-NRC Fears: Two Women Mistaken As Enumerators Attacked by Mob in Rajasthan And West Bengal.
Pictures of houses with 'NPR Enumerator Go Back' notice in the Old City of Hyderabad are doing rounds on social media. This is a part of the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the NPR. "We have decided not to provide any kind of information regarding personal details which will be used in the NRC," Najam Rasheed, a resident of Panjeshah, told Deccan Chronicle. Why Citizenship Amendment Act+NRC Raise Fear And Concerns: A Multi-Dimensional Take.
Najma said that they were forced to display 'NPR Enumerator Go Back' notice board after the government did not allow them to protest in a democratic and peaceful manner. Another resident Mohammed Faheem said that the government should address concerns raised by citizens regarding the NRC before conducting the NPR exercise. "These warning boards are a sign of the alarm which shows fear developed among the public," he said.
Last month, two women, mistaken as surveyors collecting data for the CAA and NRC, were attacked by the mob in Rajasthan and West Bengal. A couple of new questions have been added in the NPR 2020 form. One of the questions is about the place and date of birth of residents' parents, apart from their nationality. Many say such questions are linked with the Modi government's plan to carry out nationwide NRC.
Many suspects that the Modi government wants to target Muslims through the NRC and that's why it has brought the Citizenship Amendment Act which gives Indian citizenship to immigrants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh but not if they are Muslims. While non-Muslims left out of the NRC could be able to get citizenship under the CAA, Muslims who could not make the list may be deported or sent to detention centres.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 15, 2020 02:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).