Hyderabad: There are apprehensions in a section of the society that the Centre may extend the National Register of Citizens of India (NRC) across the country, forcing them to collect documents to prove that they are indeed Indians.
Adding to the anxiety is a notification issued by the Registrar General, Citizen Registration, regarding the preparation and updating of the Population Register which entails house to house enumeration throughout the country. This exercise will start from April 1 next year.
To counter any fear-mongering, a few people are posting messages condemning the alerts. One such message says, “An audio purporting to be from some organisations is circulated on the NRC. The statement made in this audio in regard to the NRC is not completely correct and it is creating fear among Muslim based on incorrect information.”
A detailed message of Shaik Mohammed Asif Ali, who has authored an e-book, ‘NRC, If not Indian, Who Am I’ is also in circulation. Mr Ali clarifies the apprehensions about the NRC and that no Bill has been passed yet. However Mr Shah has in several speeches stated his intention of doing so.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) TS general secretary Zubair Ahmed Qasmi said the people were confused by the messages being spread on social media. “We have to understand the issue. At present the NRC is applied only in Assam which is confronted with the problem of illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.”
He said the JUH workers were educating the people on that issue.
Moulana Qasmi said, “It is true that the BJP government intends to implement the NRC across the country, but what will be the parameters no one is aware. We have to wait for the government decision. But every citizen should keep such documents which are necessary to prove citizenship. A meeting was also held at Masjid Alamgiri, Shantinagar, to discuss the situation.
Their anxities are driven by messages on social media that suggest that the people must procure documents to prove that their families have been living in India at least since 1951.
Social media is flooded with text, video and audio messages seeking to sensitise people about the intention of the Modi government to implement NRC across the country. Another group is engaged in countering the claim.
Those who are convinced that the citizenship register will become a nationwide affair are circulating a video clip of Union home minister Amit Shah who is shown saying that the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill will be passed first and the NRC taken up after that. Mr Shah says in the video that the NRC will be implemented in the entire country.
Netizens are sensitising people to acquire documents that prove that they or their forebears were in India before 1951, before the start of NRC exercise. This has created unrest in a section of society. Even educated people have expressed concern about lack of clarity.
