Clauses 3 to 6 of the 2003 rules under the Citizenship Act, deal exclusively with the process of preparation of NPR.

In a fact-check of Union Home minister Amit Shah’s assertion in the Parliament that nobody would be marked as ‘doubtful’ in the National Population Register, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and CPI(M) on Friday said that the government would have to amend the 2003 rules under the Citizenship Act, which contains the provisions to designate residents under just such a category.

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Clauses 3 to 6 of the 2003 rules under the Citizenship Act, deal exclusively with the process of preparation of NPR and the identification of individuals whose citizenship is ‘doubtful’ and prescribe the further process of enquiry and documentation required for people thus marked as ‘doubtful’.

“His claim that nobody will be marked as doubtful is a big lie,” TMC Parliamentary Party leader in the Rajya Sabha Derek O’ Brien said. “Let him read the 2003 rules under the Citizenship Act which clearly has provisions for ‘doubtful’ category. Unless, they amend the 2003 rules under the Citizenship Act, how can you say that there will be no doubtful category,” he asked rhetorically.

There had been at least nine replies tabled in Parliament by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which had stated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) would be the precursor to a National Register of Citizens, Mr. O’ Brien said, adding that Mr. Shah himself had repeatedly explained the correlation between the two. “He needs to explain the chronology once again on the floor of the house that NRC will not follow CAA. In his one hour forty minute speech he did not mention NRC even once,” the TMC MP added.

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Mr. O’ Brien also rejected Mr. Shah’s invitation to the Opposition parties to meet him to clear all their doubts about the NPR. “Parliament is not a boys club; you have to come and answer the hard questions here in Parliament. You invite three or four MPs to your chamber. I don’t go to anybody’s chamber to have coffee or dhokla. I want answers here on the floor of the house,” the TMC MP said in the Rajya Sabha.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau asserted that the Home Minister’s assurances didn’t mean anything.

“If the Home Minister’s assurance to the Parliament is to be believed, then this government should immediately scrap these Rules,” the left party said in a statement. “In which case, the relevant clauses in the 2003 Amendment to the Citizenship Act that provide a legal status for the NRC would be rendered infructuous and, hence, the law should also be amended to scrap the NRC,” it added.

The party has also demanded that the 2003 rules should be scrapped. “Mere assertions in the Parliament do not evince confidence amongst the people that the NPR will not be used on a later date to facilitate the NRC,” CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said. “The relevant rules must be scrapped and the 2003 Act amended,” he added.