The National Alliance Against CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act), NRC (National Register of Citizens) and NPR (National Population Register) on Wednesday announced its biggest agitation in Mumbai to be held on Saturday.
‘MahaMorcha’ will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Azad Maidan. The protest expects the support from various politicians from the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress.
Retd. Justice Kolse Patil, convener of the Maharashtra chapter of the alliance, at a press conference on Wednesday said, “It is not just Muslims but all poor people, OBCs, SCs and STs who will be adversely affected by CAA, NRC and NPR.”
The alliance members are visiting Buddha vihars, guruduwaras and NGOs in order to reach out to all communities and mobilise people for the agitation. Hasib Bhatkar, co-convener of the alliance, said, “There is panic in the country because of the wrong narrative that there are one crore intruders in Assam. Whereas the reality was contrary to this.”
Mr. Bhatkar said the census data is confidential, but data collected through NPR is transferable. “It can be shared with any one and is a threat to our privacy. NPR is also the first step to NRC. Therefore, we request the Maharashtra government to take a stand against it and ask the Centre to upgrade the data collected in 2010,” he said. Mr. Bhatkar pointed out that the government data mentions that 38% of the public does not have proper documents. “Then how are they expected to prove their citizenship?” he asked.
Maulana Aijaz Kashmiri, another co-convener, said the alliance did not belong to a single community. He urged people from every part of the city and from all the religions, castes and creed to join the protest. Advocate Rakesh Rathod, another co-convener, said it doesn’t matter which party passed the laws as the alliance is against the laws, not the political party.
“The government hasn’t yet explained the use of NPR. The boundaries of Bangladesh and Pakistan are not completely sealed. Once the count is done and NPR is prepared, the intruders will enter from the very next day. The people from backward classes and poor people, who work hard daily and earn wages, will get stuck in procedures and documentation and will not be able to provide basic necessities to their families,” he said.
The National Alliance Against CAA, NRC and NPR also appealed to the people to be peaceful and stay away from any kind of violence.
