Opposition parties demand stoppage of NPR, withdrawal of CAA

The Congress and 19 other opposition parties on Monday demanded the withdrawal of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the immediate stoppage of the National Population Register (NPR).

They have also said that the chief ministers who have declared that they will not implement the NRC must consider "suspending NPR enumeration as it was a prelude to the NRC".

In a resolution adopted at a meeting here, the parties said the NPR being conducted by the government was the basis of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

They said that "CAA, NPR, and NRC are a package that is unconstitutional" and targets poor, downtrodden, SC/STs, and the linguistic and religious minorities.

The parties said that all the deaths of "peaceful protesters" who were opposing the CAA and NRC have taken place in the BJP-ruled states with 21 deaths in Uttar Pradesh, five in Assam and two in Karnataka.

"The NPR is the basis for the NRC. We demand the withdrawal of the CAA and the immediate stoppage of the nationwide NRC/NPR. All the Chief Ministers, who have announced that they will not implement the NRC in their State, must consider suspending the NPR enumeration as this is a prelude to NRC," the resolution said.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, whose party is a constituent of ruling NDA, is among the CMs who have said the NRC will not be implemented in their states.

The Union Cabinet last month approved the proposal for conducting the Census of India 2021 and the updation of NPR.

The opposition parties said that peaceful multi-religious, popular protests against the CAA, NRC, and NPR have erupted all over the country.

"We stand in solidarity with all such peaceful protests to safeguard the Indian Constitution. These protests are being met with violent repression in BJP-ruled states and in Delhi where the police are under the Home Ministry," the resolution said.

The political parties said that police brutalities in universities, institutes of higher learning and other research bodies across the country must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.