No ‘D’ in NPR, lies being spread, Shah tells House
NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah sought to allay fears around the National Population Register (NPR) on Thursday, saying any information shared with enumerators would be voluntary and no documents would be required, dismissing Opposition allegations that the biometric database of Indian residents could lead to loss of citizenship.
Replying to a debate on last month’s riots in Delhi that left 53 people dead, Shah told the Rajya Sabha that the government would punish the rioters irrespective of their religion, caste or party affiliations.
“Blame me if you want, don’t blame Delhi Police. They acted professionally and didn’t allow the riots to spread...they limited the violence to 4% of Delhi’s land and 13% of its population,” he said. Delhi Police reports to the Union home ministry.
In response to senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal, Shah clarified that no one will be marked “D” or doubtful during the process of compiling the NPR, which is a biometric and demographic database of “usual” residents that will be updated simultaneously with the Census exercise from next month.
He also blamed “hate speech and false propaganda” about the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA, for the communal flare-up that engulfed north-east Delhi in February-end and left 526 people injured, 171 shops torched and 142 homes destroyed.
“Rumours are being spread to mislead minorities. The CAA cannot take away anyone’s citizenship…no one needs to fear the NPR process,” he said. “No document will be required to be furnished in the NPR exercise. It wasn’t done in the past and it won’t be now.”