The Aligarh Muslim University Teachers’ Association (AMUTA) has said that the proposal to apply National Register of Citizens (NRC) across the country and the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) are being foisted on society with a “political motive.”
It has urged President Ram Nath Kovind, the Visitor of the university, to intervene in the matter.
At a general body meeting held on Saturday evening, the AMUTA resolved that there have been several discrepancies in the final draft of the NRC in Assam, and hence, this cannot be a unilateral decision and that other political parties and the country’s citizens need to be consulted on this separately if it is applied across India.
“Recent statements of the Home Minister have created this apprehension that the NRC is going to be applied across India. As the President is the first citizen of the country and our guardian, we have appealed to him to look into the matter,” said Prof. Najmul Islam, Honorary Secretary, AMUTA.
A statement issued by the AMUTA said, the fear of the NRC targeting the largest minority community of the nation has to be addressed, and resolved before the exercise is carried out — it cannot be left for later. Also, it said, the issue of how the poor and unlettered, and migrants will go around in proving their citizenship is a matter of serious concern.
Prof Islam told The Hindu the truth was that the Citizenship Amendment Bill was “an offshoot of the NRC exercise” that has caused much hardship to the people.
“We already have stringent laws such as the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, as well as tribunals to detect, detain and deport all illegal migrants residing in the country . Hence this definitely is not an issue that required further legislation,” he said.
