1/ Second thread, time time on NPR-NRC. Puts together NPR Schedules (tinyurl.com/sy4e7xw); 2003 Citizenship Act Rules (tinyurl.com/uxmqett); Census Schedules (tinyurl.com/v7qmxdj). Read them for yourself, and real along with the thread!
2/ First, the 2003 rules. These are the basis of the NRC, and are put into action through the NPR which is defined in Para 2(l). What is the NPR? Effectively, it's a set of extra questions - called a “Schedule” - to be asked of households beyond the Census.
3/ NPR is meant to start April 1, 2020 (See tinyurl.com/v9c5l53). With it, the NRC starts, no matter what PM is now trying to say.
4/ Census/NPR both ask for Place of Birth. Difference? Census is self-declaration, no verification or forms. Used to measure migration. Read with 2003 Rules, NPR requires proof of place of birth, adds a question on self-declared nationality. It is used to determine citizenship.
5/ The 2003 Rules demand that households comply with NPR (See Para 7) with fines as consequence (See Para 17), and allow the DM to demand furnishing of documents (See Para 8).
6/ More, they “require any person to furnish any information within his knowledge in connection with the determination of Citizenship status of any person”. Imagine the violence this set up could allow.
7/
The Rules then create the category of “doubtful citizen” (See Para 4.3) - a bizarre category that is inherently subjective and open to administrative interpretation. It isn’t “has/doesnt have” documents, or even “has enough” documents, it is an unknown notion of "doubt."
The Rules then create the category of “doubtful citizen” (See Para 4.3) - a bizarre category that is inherently subjective and open to administrative interpretation. It isn’t “has/doesnt have” documents, or even “has enough” documents, it is an unknown notion of "doubt."
8/
The Rules themselves say nothing about what happens if you are found doubtful. But: the 2019 Foreign Tribunals Act amendments (tinyurl.com/rsr5z76) now allow the same DM in charge of the NPR-NRC to refer to someone to a Foreigners Tribunal (See Para 2.A.a).
The Rules themselves say nothing about what happens if you are found doubtful. But: the 2019 Foreign Tribunals Act amendments (tinyurl.com/rsr5z76) now allow the same DM in charge of the NPR-NRC to refer to someone to a Foreigners Tribunal (See Para 2.A.a).
9/ NRC creation with newly decentralised power to refer
to Tribunal for precisely the DM in charge of making the NRC. Coincidence? You decide.
to Tribunal for precisely the DM in charge of making the NRC. Coincidence? You decide.
10/ What documents will suffice and what if you don’t have documents? Govt itself is making contradictory noises and this vagueness is deliberate. Without protests, even this much clarification may not have been made public.
11/ Vagueness in rules feeds discretion and prejudice in determining who is “doubtful”. Aadhar, Voter ID and Passports have all been found insufficient for citizenship in other legal cases and administrative policies.
12/ Another oddity: the usually careful and public Census has none of the training manuals for NPR enumerators available publicly that it does for its own enumerators. So we don't know what documents they are asked to look at. Coincidence? You decide.
13/
The consequences of a mandatory registration into an NPR-NRC will be devastating for a majority of Indians in inverse order to their proximity to privilege, paperwork and social power, even before we get to CAA and detention camps.
The consequences of a mandatory registration into an NPR-NRC will be devastating for a majority of Indians in inverse order to their proximity to privilege, paperwork and social power, even before we get to CAA and detention camps.
14/ NRC will not just be Muslims and Non-Muslims: Rural citizens will be hit worse than urban; dalit-bahujan worse than dominant caste; women worse than men; trans folks worse than cis-folks; informal workers more than formal workers; adivasi communities likely worst of all.
15/
Separately, the consequence of being declared doubtful will impact everyone but differently: Muslims, Non-Muslims, Non-Muslims from beyond P/A/B, and do so on existing faultlines from caste and religion to region and gender.
Separately, the consequence of being declared doubtful will impact everyone but differently: Muslims, Non-Muslims, Non-Muslims from beyond P/A/B, and do so on existing faultlines from caste and religion to region and gender.
16/ Make no mistake: making the list itself will delegitimise citizenship; harass citizens; instigate exclusion, fear, and violence; and be an enormous waste of economic resources. In each place, it will press the nerve of existing conflicts. Ask yourselves: for what?
17/ So what do we take away? Protest demands then could be: Repeal of 2003 rules; Stopping NPR based on those rules in addition to challenging constitutionality of CAA; Telling Govt we know that promises to back off on NRC require backing off on NPR; Push more CMs to stop NPR;
18/ Keep pressing Govt to clarify what documents count for citizenship so that those can be expanded as well as challenged so that people have options ranging from ensuring their inclusion to protect themselves or boycotting.
