India Tomorrow
HYDERABAD, JUNE 18— Joining the club of non-BJP states which have already opposed the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), the Andhra Pradesh Assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution against the two initiatives of the central government which had led to the historic mass demonstrations across the country last year.
“Government of Andhra Pradesh reiterates its principled stand against National Register of Citizens and National Population Register,” said Deputy Chief Minister Azmath Basha Shaik Bepari while tabling the resolution in the state Assembly here on Wednesday.
In the resolution adopted by the House with voice vote, the YSR Congress government, which has brute majority (151 members) in the 175-member Assembly, has said that some clauses in NRC and NPR are “highly objectionable” and they must be set right.
On March 4 this year, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy cabinet had passed resolution against NRC and NPR.
After the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was passed by the Parliament on December 11 last year, weeks after central government indicated to implement NRC and NPR, huge protest demonstrations had erupted across the country and continued till the last week of March this year when the lockdown was imposed in order to contain the spread of Coronavirus.
As the CAA meant to provide citizenship to religious minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, namely Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains, India’s Muslim minority feared that the trinity of CAA, NRC and NPR would put their citizenship in danger and consequently they came out on the streets.
The NRC exercise in Assam, whose final list was declared on August 31 last year, had rendered over 19 lakh people stateless as they were not found to be bona fide citizens of the country. They were asked to prove their credentials before the state government-appointed Foreigners Tribunals.
During the protests, at least six states passed resolution against NRC and NPR. They include Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
