The United Muslim Action Committee (UMAC) has urged the State government to stay any work taken up on the updation of the National Population Register after holding consultations with the Kerala government and experts.
The government should take steps to ensure that citizens in the State were protected from “arbitrary and discriminatory” measures such as National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC). Measures should be initiated to ensure that conduct of public services was in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and not contrary to them.
A delegation of the committee headed by MIM president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi called on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to represent their objections to the exercise launched by the Central government with regard to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NPR and NRIC. During the meeting that lasted more than three hours, the delegation expressed concern that the CAA had incorporated a religious qualification for the first time and, when seen in the light of NRC, it would create the possibility of an avoidable humanitarian disaster.
The link between the NPR and NRIC should be clearly understood as the exercise would cause disproportionate hardship to the most marginalised communities, besides imposing unnecessary and excessive burden on government employees and civil servants.
The Constitution placed the power and responsibility of public order on the State governments. Burdening citizens, especially from poor and marginalised sections, with the arbitrary procedure under the provisions of the CAA, NPR and NRC was likely to deepen the fissures in society and empower miscreants to disrupt public order.
