Hyderabad: Fear, anxiety grip poor Muslims
When asked about their children, they are ready with papers as the kids go to schools.
Hyderabad: Economically weaker sections of Muslims are aware that there is a draconian bill passed by the Centre and that there is a chance that they will be taken away from their homes.
This is their only understanding of the Citizenship Amendment Bill and the National Registry of Citizens so far. There will be some papers required but what exactly they are and whether they have these in their possession is not clear.
When asked about their children, they are ready with papers as the kids go to schools. For themselves and their parents, it’s a blank stare.
All of them have Aadhaar cards which they carry with them wherever they go.
But the Aadhaar card is not in the list of required documents. What is required is birth certificate, authentication of place of birth, land or home document, school and university certificate to establish their homeland.
These documents must be handy if the CAB and NRC is implemented in Telangana state.
Thirty slum areas have been identified in the Old City by non-government organisations that are using mosques in the area as help centres. Urban slums around NS Kunta, Vatapally, Jahanuma, Tadbun, Falaknuma and many others from Friday onwards to collect the essential documents for citizens. A small session was held where the need for documents was explained. Those who have documents were told to keep them safely. Those who do not have documents were asked to check with their native village offices and get them.
Pamphlets were also distributed that explained which documents are required, such as a birth certificate with date of birth and place of birth properly recorded.
Mujtaba Hasan Askari of Helping Hand Foundation explained, “The NRC exercise in Assam is being taken as a yardstick to understand the process. The population has been divided into age groups for better understanding. Hence those above 32 years of age, those between 15 to 32 years and those below 15 years of age are categorised. The documents required for each category was explained to them.”
Friday sermons are being used as a platform for disseminating this information as there are large congregations during the afternoon prayers.