JAC wants state govt to put NPR on hold Convener says they don’t trust Amit Shah’s statement
Telangana-AP Joint Action Committee against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Population Register (NPR) demanded the TRS government to announce a stay on NPR on or before March 18, otherwise it will siege the Assembly buildings the next day.
The convener of the JAC Mr Mohammed Mushtaq Malik said, “We do not trust the statement given by Home Minster Mr Amit Shah in the Parliament as in the past Kalyan Singh government did not adhere to the assurance of protecting the structure of Babri Masjid in 1992.”
Addressing the media, Mr Malik said, “We appreciate the statement of Chief Minister, Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao given in the Assembly regarding NPR, but it is not enough and we hope he will take concrete steps towards staying NPR in the state.”
He said the government should not only come with a resolution against NPR in the Assembly, but also announce that it will not in favour of conducting NPR survey with additional questions which create fear among the common people.
He said that merely passing a resolution against NPR is not enough as the union government is not bound to abide the request of a state government’s resolution passed by the Assembly. The state government has to send a letter to the union government intimating it about a stay on the exercise unless the concerns shown by the state government are settled. He also said that the state government has to prepare to challenge NPR in the Supreme Court under Article 131 of the Constitution of India.
Mr Malik also added, “The union government should roll back the orders issued in the month of July 2019 regarding NPR. Earlier, BJP’s Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mr Kalyan Singh had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court that he will not allow any damage to the Babri Masjid structure and we saw what happened in 1992.”
Moulana Naseeruddin, state organiser of Wahadat e Islami said, “In case the speaker adjourns the Assembly sine die before March 19, we will adopt other options to pressurise the KCR government. Our Chief Minister is in principle against the NPR and expressed his reservations over the proofs sought under NPR. He has to show courage and has taken a firm stand to stop NPR in its present form.”
Mr Amjadullah Khan Khalid, spokesperson of MBT said, “On one hand, the Chief Minister is expressing concern over NPR and on the other the police are registering cases against the people who are protesting peacefully against the union government's move. He demanded the Chief Minster to withdraw all cases registered in this connection since no one has disturbed the law and no damage to any public or private property has happened so far.”