Two days after the Centre notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has reiterated that his Left Democratic Front government will not hold the process to prepare a National Population Register (NPR) in the State.
Opening an event to uphold constitutional values, organised by the CPI(M)-backed Keluettan Centre for Study and Research on the Kozhikode beach on Sunday, he vouched for the safety of the minority community.
“I presume that some people are still apprehensive about the NPR and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). We are not going to implement them here. My government will not implement the whims and fancies of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh,” Mr. Vijayan said. Soon after both the Houses of Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, Kerala was one of the few States to declare that it would not implement the NPR and the NRC. In December, the Union government had allocated funds for updating the NPR.
However, Mr. Vijayan clarified that the enumeration process for Census would be held in the State. “But nobody is going to seek proof of your birth in this country. You need not worry about digging up old documents to prove that your ancestors lived here… You are in a safe fortress,” he said. He pointed out that without NPR, the NRC could not be implemented. Mr. Vijayan also accused the BJP of hiding this fact and misleading the people.
He alleged that the CAA was a continuation of the anti-Muslim policies of the Centre.
Earlier, K. Alikkutty Musliyar, general secretary of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulema, a forum of Sunni scholars, urged the State government to issue birth certificates to each and every one who was born in Kerala.