Don’t Use Citizenship as a Weapon

Against the Poor, Minorities, Women, Dalits and Adivasis

We Oppose Citizenship Amendment Act and nationwide NRC
Why we should all be concerned about NRC and CAA?
Under Indian Constitution, every citizen – whether poor, landless, homeless, female, minority, dalit, adivasi, or anyone else
– gets one vote each and equal rights under law. This has ensured that the poor and disadvantaged have a voice, and a
protection for their rights.Now, imagine if our citizenship itself is under threat, what will happen to our rights, especially for
the disadvantaged sections? If you are concerned about the Indian nation, you should concerned about this.
What is the problem with NRC or National Registry of Citizens?
For the last 6 years, NRC has been implemented in Assam and devastated the lives of millions of people. Now, the Home
Minister Amit Shah has announced that it will be implemented throughout the country. Let us understand why this will be
a big blow to the entire nation.
 How the NRC is being prepared: Every person is asked to prove that they are citizens based on documentation, going
back to 1951 or 1971. How many people will have documentation to prove their ancestry, birth, property, etc.going
back until then? The existing documentation like Voter ID card and Aadhar are not considered sufficient.
 Who is being excluded? The poor, landless, unorganized Assam Experience
sector workers, women, minorities, dalits, adivasis, old  For 3 crore people, NRC process took 6 years.
people – anyone who cannot prove by birth certificate, school  Govt spent 1,600 crores; people spent 8,000 crores
records, marriage certificates, land pattas, etc. – are being to obtain documents and register.
excluded and considered illegal migrant. In Assam, this  After 3 NRC list, 19 lakh people still excluded.
rd

 Most are poor, landless, women, old people, with

included people who voted legally in 5 elections, 80-year no school certificates, marriage certificates
old women, freedom fighters…  11 lakh Hindus, 4 lakh Muslims, 4 lakh other
 What about real illegal immigrants? The question to ask is: religions labeled illegal migrants, many in detention
centres.
Why is each of being considered a potential illegal
immigrant, and the onus placed on each of us to prove citizenship? If government wants to identify illegal immigrants,
it should fairly use due process of law to do so rather than placing onus on each citizen to prove.
 This is like Demonetization. In the name of black money, the government declared Rs.15 lakh croresof currency notes
invalid and asked each of us to prove that our own money is legal. The real smugglers, black money hoarders, big
businesspersons all escaped – but common citizens suffered and the India’s economy was destroyed. All India NRC
will go on for 20 years, citizens will be left running for documents to prove their citizenship, while all other problems
will be neglected and people cannot question the government under threat of losing citizenship.
What is the problem with Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)?
 Religion as criterion for Citizenship: This Act will amend Citizenship Act of 1955 to use religion as a criterion for
citizenship for the first time. This strikes at the very premise of secular India that people of all religions, castes and
creeds have equal rights under the Constitution.
 Religious persecution being used as a false excuse: CAA will give citizenship to illegal migrants from Bangladesh,
Afghanistan and Pakistan, if they are Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian – but not if they are Muslims. The
stated reason is that these are religious minorities facing persecution in these neighbouring countries. But if the
governmentis sincere about protecting against persecution, it should extend this to Ahamadiyas from Pakistan or
Rohingyas from Burma too. There are accepted laws for identifying refugees and giving asylum without putting in a
religious criterion.
 Combination of CAA with NRC will be used to target and isolate Muslims: While NRC itself applies to people of all
religions, once the NRC categorizes people as ‘doubtful voters’ or ‘illegal migrants’, then CAA will ensure that the non-
Muslims among them will have a legal path to citizenship while the Muslims will become ‘illegal foreigners’.
Nation wide people are opposing Citizenship Amendment Act. let us Join in this movement
Let us reject CAA and all-India NRC. Let us demand Telangana government to oppose it like West Bengal.
Let us oppose both all-India NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act together!
All communities should stand together in protecting Secular India!
Published by “Citizens against NRC and CAA,” (a forum of concerned citizens, associated with various social causes and
fighting for the rights of disadvantaged people.) Contact: Kiran Vissa: 9701705743; Zahid Qadri: 9121019848 (Date: 18-12-2019)