Writer and activist Arundhati Roy on Wednesday said that the National Population Register (NPR) will work as a database for the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and in an open appeal, urged people to oppose it by misleading it.
Asking Indians To ‘lie’ In Census
The 58-year-old writer on Wednesday said when officials come to obtain details for the NPR, people should give them incorrect details about their names and address. Arundhati Roy said this while taking part in a protest in New Delhi against the Citizenship Amendment Act and NRC.
“When they come to your house asking for your name, you give them some other name–like Ranga Billa, Kung-Fu Kutta, give your address as seven racecourse road and let’s fix one phone number. But we need multiple revolutions. We were not born for lathis and bullets,” Arundhati Roy said.
चल झूठी #ArundhatiRoy
Well ! her statement should be considered as her request to update her details as #RangaBilla in her passport & degree ( if possess any genuine )
Such a shameless liability of India#NPRForIndia #IndiaSupportsCAA_NRC#IstandwithModi#India pic.twitter.com/hPrOjoS2Bt
— Rahul Singh (@rahulsinghmalik) December 26, 2019
The writer claimed that after extensive protests against the CAA and NRC in the country, the government has been trying to promote the requirements of NRC and CAA through NPR.
Arundhati Roy: This is an existential question. pic.twitter.com/lAjNt025jS
— Shivam Vij (@DilliDurAst) December 19, 2019
Is NPR against Muslims and Dalits?
She said CAA and NRC were not only against Muslims but also against Dalits, tribals and poor people in the country. According to her, on her visit to Assam, people loved their documents more than their children and cattle. There was nothing in the villages, but everyone had records. In the case of floods, they knew how to save their documents. Despite all the preparations 19 lakh people were out of NRC, a lot of them were not Muslims, because Muslims collected their documents out of fear.
Writer-activist #ArundhatiRoy on Wednesday addressed a protest against the #CitizenshipAmendmentAct at Delhi University's North Campus. | Video by @ShubhamIIMChttps://t.co/vPGKOX2B14 pic.twitter.com/Dz03HK9M08
— Firstpost (@firstpost) December 25, 2019
“They don’t get proper food to eat, but they will have to hire lawyers. This is against Muslims, but it is also against the poor, Adivasis, Dalits and tribal people. This is a strategy to get everyone in confusion.
There are detention homes being built, one should think about which private company would this go to. Our economy has fallen, with demonetization. They are even lying there. Now they want to kill the Constitution,” she said.
What is NPR?
The National Population Register (NPR) proposes to collect a complete database of every “usual resident” in the country, which includes the demographics and details of the individual. A “usual resident” is defined for the purposes of NPR as a person who has lived in a local area for the past six months or more or a person who plans to reside in that area for the next six months or more.
The NPR project will be carried out across states and union territories except for Assam. The law effectively seeks to register every citizen of India and publish a national identity card.
The information for NPR was obtained in 2010 along with the house-listing period of the Census of India 2011. The data was renewed in 2015 by conducting a door-to-door survey. And now, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved Rs 3,941.35 crore for updating the National Population Register(NPR).
