Dalit outfit declares support for Kalaburagi protest meeting

D.G. Sagar, president of the organisation, said the CAA and NRC would affect not just Muslims, as some people thought or were trying to project, but the poor and deprived sections of all communities such as Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes.

The Karnataka Rajya Dalit Sangharsha Samiti has declared its support to the massive public meeting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) to be held by People’s Forum here on Tuesday.

At a press conference here on Friday, D.G. Sagar, president of the organisation, said they would mobilise the people to make the rally a success. “People all over the country are coming out in droves to oppose the CAA and the NRC. Yet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have not heard the people’s voices. We have to continue to protest till the government repeals the CAA and drops the NRC,” he said.

Terming the CAA and the NRC as anti-people, Mr. Sagar said the move would affect not just Muslims, as some people thought or were trying to project, but the poor and deprived sections of all communities such as Dalits, Adivasis and Backward Classes.

“One should be clear that the Aadhaar, EPIC or PAN cards are not enough to prove one’s citizenship in the NRC process. If these documents are valid for proving your citizenship, then the need for NRC would have not arisen and it could have been prepared form the database that the government already had. The government going in for NRC means that one needs to provide land-holding documents and birth certificates of one’s parents. There are 30 crore people who don’t own land. There are more than two crore people who don’t own houses. There are 15 crore belonging to nomadic tribes that don’t have any documents. There are 8.43 crore Adivasis who don’t have any records. If th eNRC is implemented, more than 60% of the population would become doubtful citizens overnight,” he said.