The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has appealed to the State government not to implement the National Register of Citizens (NRC) or the National Population Register (NPR) as sought by the Centre as these were aimed at discriminating the minority communities, especially Muslims.
CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said already Chief Ministers of 13 States refused to implement the NRC, and two of them (Kerala and West Bengal), made their intentions clear against implementation of the NPR. “I appeal to all the Chief Ministers, including Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao not to implement the NPR. NRC is the first stage of NPR and it is being used to achieve the target of sharpening communal polarization for consolidating the Hindutva vote bank,” he averred.
Centre’s confrontationist approach
Mr. Yechury, who participated in an interactive session with representatives of the students’ unions on the theme “Save Constitution, Save India,” here on Friday, stressed the need for unity among secular forces in taking up a struggle against the NPR, NRC and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as the Central government had adopted a confrontationist approach in implementing these measures which were “arbitrary”.
Asked whether the CPI (M) would share the dais with the Trinamool Congress led by Mamta Banerjee, he said sharing dais with the West Bengal Chief Minister was not an issue. “She and her party are primarily responsible for butchery of democracy in West Bengal. People’s anger against her gave benefits to the BJP,” he said.
Mamata’s‘murderous politics’
He alleged that Ms. Banerjee continued her “murderous politics” and thousands of people booked under false charges were unable to go home and join their families. “She seems to be on our side on this issue (NRC, NPR). But sharing dais with her will have different implications for all other struggles that are going on in the State,” Mr. Yechury clarified.
In a lively interaction with the youth earlier, the general secretary explained the “ill effects” of the Central government’s moves that had communal overtones. “The process in which the NRC and NPR are contemplated is anti-Constitution. It is an arbitrary decision taken by the executive without consulting the other wings of the democracy,” he said.
Violative of the very idea and concept of India
The methodology adopted by the government was “violative of the very idea and concept of India” and the BJP government was trying to create religious tension in the country for consolidation of the Hindutva vote bank. “In the process, the BJP is trying to brand those opposing its policies as anti-national or speaking the language of Pakistan,” Mr. Yechury asserted, adding it was the responsibility of the youth to carry forward the struggle to protect the country and save the Constitution.
