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.

The minister said that hate speeches began soon after the CAA was passed in December.

In his address, a day after his detailed reply to a similar debate in the Lok Sabha, Shah said 1,922 people had been identified as participating in the riots -- 336 of these from Uttar Pradesh -- with the help of facial recognition software, but asserted that the government had breached no privacy laws. He also said that only voter identity cards and driver’s licences were used, not Aadhaar details.

“These characters were seen rioting, stone pelting and killing. Homes were burnt, livelihoods and lives lost… Police should have the right to produce rioters in court, based on transparent and scientific probe,” he said.

“We haven’t violated any Supreme Court guidelines.”

He announced that three special investigation teams were probing 50 serious crimes, such as murder, arson and looting, and that 40 teams were formed to catch the people identified by the facial recognition software. “They are speaking to neighbours, going to their homes and tracing their phones to arrest them,” he said.

Shah repeated the allegation that money was funnelled from abroad to instigate the riots, and said five people were arrested for allegedly distributing money before the violence. He also said the Delhi chief justice was asked to name a judge to adjudicate claims for compensation. “There should be no doubt that the Narendra Modi government is taking up the probe in a transparent, speedy manner,” he said.

The home minister said social media accounts were opened only to channel incendiary content. He dismissed charges that the government dithered in calling in the army, saying no such suggestion was made at a high-level meeting on February 25.

He also defended the transfer of former Delhi high court judge S Muralidhar to the Punjab and Haryana high court, saying the decision was made by the Supreme Court collegium. The transfer, which followed the judge’s sharp criticism of the police response to the riots, was alleged to be politically motivated by opposition parties.

Shah’s response came after a day-long debate in which Opposition leaders demanded a judicial probe and blamed the government and police for failing to control the Delhi violence, or arrest the rioters quickly.

“Two kinds of viruses have created havoc. At international level, it is coronavirus, about which research is still going on. The second virus is in Delhi... the communal virus, which too is spreading with high intensity. We all know the source of the virus -- where this virus was spreading and who all were supporting it and who were the collaborators of this communal virus,” Sibal said.

Sibal questioned Shah’s silence during the violence and asked why first information reports (FIRS) were not registered against those who delivered hate speeches that “incited” communal violence. “You can do anything to protect cows, but not human beings? Do we need to bring another article to ensure the protection of human beings?” he asked, referring to provisions of the Constitution on cow protection.

His party colleague, Anand Sharma, demanded a probe into the alleged failure of intelligence agencies in gathering information. “There was mishandling of situation by the administration. It should also be probed. There should be a judicial commission and the probe should be fair,” he said in the Rajya Sabha.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Sanjay Singh accused the central government of not doing enough to quell the violence and said the riots were “conspired and carried out in a well-planned manner”, linking the violence to the February 8 Delhi assembly polls.

“Humaneness and humanity were killed in riots. It didn’t happen in a day. The fire was planned before the assembly polls, and ignited after that,” he said.

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’brien asked Shah and Modi to stop following social media handles that “spread bigotry and hate”.

“If Delhi Police had done so well, why was the chain of command superseded and the NSA [National Security Advisor] deployed...or is the new role of NSA to control riots?” he added, referring to NSA Ajit Doval’s visits to the riot-hit areas.

Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said Opposition leaders were “unable” to state any clause in the CAA that took away citizenship. He said Shah in his “effective” reply had “cleared all misgivings” about the CAA and NPR.