Civil Society Group Accuses Center of Backdoor NRC Implementation Through Aadhaar Deactivation

A group made up of representatives from civil society has said that, in the midst of the political controversy over the abrupt deactivation of several Aadhaar numbers in Bengal, the Center introduced the National Register of Citizens via the "backdoor."

At a press conference on Saturday, the Joint Forum Against NRC, a platform of mass organizations, attacked the Narendra Modi administration for allegedly causing confusion by deactivating the Aadhaar numbers of Bengali citizens.

According to Prasenjit Bose, the convenor of the group, "the Modi government's ulterior motive is to introduce Assam-like NRC in Bengal to pursue its divisive politics over citizenship and the deactivation of Aadhaar is the first step towards that objective."

The forum has demanded that the deactivation be undone in a comprehensive letter sent to the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which is responsible for issuing Aadhaar numbers.

This month, the UIDAI sent letters to a number of people in Bengal, informing them that their Aadhaar numbers had been deactivated in accordance with Regulation 28A of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016. Most of the people who got these letters are from border districts, including East Burdwan, Nadia, Malda, South Dinajpur, Cooch Behar, and North 24-Parganas.

According to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the deactivation was a ploy by the federal government to force the National Register of Citizens (NRC) into effect. In addition, she inaugurated the "West Bengal Government's Adhaar Grievance Portal" and promised to provide the resentful parties with substitute cards so they could use the state government's welfare initiatives.

The chief minister was criticized by the leader of the opposition, Suvendu Adhikari, for her pledge to give replacement cards. She said that this amounted to unlawful intervention in a topic that was on the Union List under the Indian Constitution's 7th Schedule. He further chastised Mamata for supposedly inciting fear among the people of the state by disseminating false information with political motivations.

The Aadhar cards were deleted due to a technological fault, as the BJP stated when devising a damage management plan. The public was given the assurance by Shantanu Thakur, the union minister of state for ports, shipping, and waterways, that all impacted cards will be reactivated in the next days.

On the other hand, the UIDAI administrators provided an alternative explanation. The authorities said in a press statement that no Aadhaar number had been canceled. Aadhaar number holders sometimes get notifications as part of the efforts made to maintain the Aadhaar database current. This refutes the Union minister's assertion that there was a technical mistake.

During the press conference held by the Joint Forum Against NRC, many speakers challenged the assertions put out by the UIDAI and the BJP. "The purpose of Adhaar is to enable the efficient, transparent, and focused distribution of publicly funded benefits, services, and subsidies." Jhuma Sen, a lawyer at the Calcutta High Court, said that the Aadhaar authority does not have the jurisdiction to specify and control citizenship.

Section 28A of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulation Act, 2016, which was adopted via an amendment in September of last year, was questioned by other forum members as to its constitutionality. The Aadhaar authority now has the ability to detect "foreign nationals" and delete their Aadhaar numbers thanks to this recently added section.

"Why are these notices from the Aadhaar authority limited to the residents of the Matua community?" inquired of Jai Bhim India Network's Saradindu Biswas.

"We will have to challenge Regulation 28A in court if the UIDAI does not annul it," he said.