Citizenship Act: Hyderabad municipal corporation passes resolution against amendment to law
The resolution was passed during the municipal body’s General Body Meeting held in Hyderabad to approve its budget.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Saturday became the first city council in India to pass a resolution against the amendments to the Citizenship Act, The News Minute reported. The Telangana government has already opposed the Act, but is yet to take a stand on the National Register of Citizens.
The resolution was passed during the municipal body’s general body meeting held in Hyderabad to approve its Budget. Hyderabad Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin said during the meeting that the CAA and other plans of the Centre, including the NRC, are against the Constitution of India, and suggested that a resolution be passed against the amendment. Mayor Bonnthu Rammohan accepted the idea after former Mayor Majid Hussain also backed it.
However, there was confusion following the speech. While Rammohan mentioned both CAA and NRC in his speech, he later told reporters that a resolution had been passed only against the amended citizenship law. Adding to the lack of clarity, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said a resolution had been passed against the National Population Register.
“Hyderabad is now the first Indian city to adopt a resolution against #NPR,” Owaisi tweeted. “I thank all @aimim_national corporators must also thank @TelanganaCMO for his support.”
Later on, he retweeted journalist Naseer Giyas, who said that he had spoken to Rammohan, and that the resolution was against the CAA, NRC and NPR. “Even Telangana Today also reported that resolution is against NPR and NRC too,” he said. “My best wishes to Mayor who has taken a bold step.”
The Citizenship Amendment Act, approved by Parliament on December 11, provides citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country by December 31, 2014. The Act has been widely criticised for excluding Muslims. At least 28 people have died in protests against the Act, of which 26 have died in states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
On the other hand, the NRC is a proposed nationwide exercise to distinguish undocumented migrants from genuine Indian citizens. One such exercise, carried out in Assam last year, led to the exclusion of 19 lakh people.