Team Herald
PANJIM: More than four months after the State government issued a notification pertaining to the commencement of National Population Register (NPR) from April 2020, apprehensions are now being raised it would form the basis for the preparation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
The passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has already sparked protests across the country with many fearing that the controversial legislation that grants Indian citizenship to select minorities from Pakistan, Afghanis-tan and Bangladesh, will be used in conjunction with the NRC to deem minorities as “illegal immigrants.”
The notification dated August 14, 2019, which has gone viral on WhatsApp groups has created fear especially amongst those Goans holding Portuguese passports.
The notification was initially issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs in pursuance to which the Goa government issued an official gazette. It stated, “The Central Government hereby decides to prepare and update the Population Register and the field work for house to house enumeration throughout the country except Assam for collection of information relating to all persons who are usually residing within the jurisdiction of Local Registrar shall be undertaken between April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020.”
At a press conference Congress slammed the government for forming a base to enforce the controversial law through the NPR. Similarly, concerns have been raised over cases wherein several Goans are holding Portuguese passports even as the Chief Minister has allayed worries about their citizenship.
One of the officials in the Chief Minister’s Office stated that NPR and NRC should not be linked, in what is an attempt to downplay fears in the minds of the people regarding CAA.
