No ‘D’ in NPR, lies being spread, Shah tells House

Clarifies no one will be marked ‘D’ or doubtful during NPR compilation process

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.”

The CAA, passed in December, is aimed at fast-tracking the grant of Indian citizenship to refugees belonging to six non-islamic faiths from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who arrived in India before December 31, 2014. Opposition parties and activists say that the legislation goes against India’s secular ethos by linking citizenship to religion.

Three Opposition-ruled states have suspended the NPR process over concerns that some of the information collected – such as that about birth parents -- could be used later to deny citizenship. Opposition parties have also alleged that the NPR was the first step to a nationwide National Register of Citizens, which is aimed at detecting illegal immigrants. The government has repeatedly denied any link between the NPR and the NRC.

“I would like to tell my Muslim brothers and sisters that false propaganda is being spread on

the issue of CAA. This Act is not to take anyone’s citizenship but to give citizenship,” said Shah.