Delhi Assembly passes resolution against NRC
The resolution ‘earnestly’ appealed to the Centre to withdraw and not carry out the whole exercise of NRC and NPR ‘in the interest of the nation’
The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed a resolution not to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) in the national capital. It also said the NPR would be implemented in Delhi in the old 2010 format.
It also said that “should the government of India insist on going ahead” with the exercise, it should be restricted to carrying out the NPR only with its 2010 format and no new fields added to it.
Delhi joins the list of the Assemblies of Puducherry, Punjab, MP, Kerala, and West Bengal in passing resolutions either against the Citizenship Amendment Act or the NRC or the NPR.
At a special day-long session of the Delhi Assembly, which was held to discuss the NPR and the NRC, CM Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to withdraw the documents since those were inter-linked.
The Delhi Assembly on Friday passed a resolution not to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR) in the national capital. It also said the NPR would be implemented in Delhi in the old 2010 format.
The resolution “earnestly” appealed to the Centre to withdraw and not carry out the whole exercise of NRC and NPR “in the interest of the nation, particularly when the economy is witnessing the worst-ever downslide and unemployment is witnessing a terrifying growth, and with the threat of the coronavirus pandemic looming large.”
At a special day-long session of the Delhi Assembly, which was held to discuss the NPR and the NRC, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal requested the Centre to withdraw the documents since those were inter-linked.
“I, my wife, and my entire Cabinet do not have birth certificates to prove citizenship. Will we be sent to detention centres?” asked Mr Kejriwal.
He challenged the Union ministers to show their birth certificates issued by the government. He asked the MLAs to raise their hands if they had birth certificates, following which only nine legislators in the 70-member House raised their hands.
“Sixty-one the House members of do not have birth certificates,” Mr Kejriwal said, adding, “Will they be sent to detention centres?”
The chief minister said: “If you are a Muslim and do not have documents, you will be sent to a detention centre. If you are a Hindu from Pakistan, you will be given citizenship. But if you are an Indian Hindu and do not have documents, you will still be sent to a detention centre.”