'Unbelievable arbitrariness': Asaduddin Owaisi fearmongers over NPR data collection

Asaduddin Owaisi sharing a news media report, reprimanded the 'arbitrariness' of those in power over the contentious National Population Register (NPR). Citing the news report, he questioned the additions made in the NPR by the Modi government in 2020 in comparison to the NPR prepared by the UPA government in 2010. He pointed out that previously, the NPR data did not include 'parents' date of birth and place of birth.'

=Fearmongering on Republic Day, Owaisi claimed that thse changes makes it easier to mark people as "doubtful" or "object" to their citizenship. Condemning the move, the AIMIM chief pointed at the "unblievable arbitrariness" that he claimed was "without any parliamentary oversight." Protests have erupted across the country wherein people fear that NPR is the first step to the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) and if combined with the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) goes against the values of the Constitution.

In the renewed NPR under the BJP government, seeks information on eight addition fields including--date and place of birth of parents, mother tongue of the individual, passport number, mobile number, voter ID, Aadhar card, and driving license details. It is argued that the purpose of acquiring information of parents' date and place of birth is to determine the citizenship of the person in question. As per India's Citizenship Act, any individual born after July 1, 1987 is considered as an Indian citizen, given both their parents are citizens of the country as well. 

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NPR

On December 17, Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal government became the first state to put on hold the work on NPR. It was followed by Kerala governed by the CPI(M) three days later. While the Congress party has opposed the move, none of the five Congress-led states have passed an official resolution against the same. BJP allies on Thursday welcomed the Union government's decision that giving details about parents' birth will be optional for people during the NPR exercise, with LJP president Chirag Paswan expressing confidence that it will help end "confusion" over the issue.

Union minister Prakash Javadekar had said on Wednesday that giving date of birth or place of birth of parents is optional in the exercise. "If you don't have it or don't remember, don't give it ... Answering many any questions are optional," he said. Opposition parties, which have been protesting against the exercise, have said that a large number of people, especially the poor, in the country does not have details of their parents' birth dates or places. However, BJP leaders and Ministries have been given contradictory statements. As per Home Ministry report, every household head will have to sign the NPR document, which says that the information given by him is to the best of his knowledge. In case of any wrong information, there is a provision of imposing a penalty of up to Rs 1000 in NPR as well as in the Census too.

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