New Delhi: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has strongly opposed the possibility of a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC), warning that the proposed exercise could create far greater difficulties for vulnerable communities than those witnessed in Assam, ANI reported.
In a post on X on Monday, Owaisi said the NRC would be “100 times worse” and claimed that the process had already caused widespread hardship for minorities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and migrants.
“NRC is going to be 100 times worse. We’ve already seen how disastrous the NRC has been in Assam. It has caused immense trouble, especially for minorities, SC/STs and migrants,” Owaisi said.
He argued that a nationwide exercise would require people to repeatedly appear before authorities and produce documents to establish their citizenship. Owaisi questioned how citizens dependent on government food assistance would be expected to locate and submit the required records.
“NRC will force everyone to stand in line and prove their citizenship. In a country where 80 crore people depend on ration for food, you want them to find documents and prove their citizenship? To what end?” he said.
Owaisi Flays Documentation Process
The AIMIM chief alleged that the proposed procedure would leave ordinary people vulnerable to the discretion of government officials.
“This government wants us to be at the mercy of one babu or another,” he said.
Owaisi also drew a parallel between the NRC and the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. He alleged that people were being made to attend official hearings and produce documents, creating anxiety among ordinary citizens.
“We are now seeing a tragedy play out with SIR, wherein ordinary people are being forced to attend hearings with documents,” he said.
He further accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of triggering the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC protests in 2019 through what he described as “misplaced arrogance” and his reference to “chronology”.
“It’s Amit Shah’s misplaced arrogance and ‘chronology’ that resulted in the anti-CAA/NRC movement in 2019,” Owaisi said.
“Modi himself had to say that no NRC was going to happen,” he wrote.
Remarks Follow Shah’s Manipur Statement
Owaisi’s comments came a day after Shah said the NRC would be carried out in Manipur before the elections, with 1951 serving as the baseline for identifying citizens.
Asked when a nationwide NRC could be introduced, Shah said consultations were under way with the government’s colleagues and political parties in Manipur.
“We are discussing both these matters with our colleagues as well as with the political parties in Manipur. As soon as any decision is taken, we will inform you,” he said.
