– Shabana Javed
Kolkata, Feb. 28: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has expressed displeasure on the Centre’s bid to deactivate Aadhaar cards in Bengal, saying that the central government wants to start the process of implementing NRC by deactivating Aadhaar cards. Now civil society has also started a movement with the slogan of NO NRC.
As the incidents of Aadhaar cancellation in various districts come to the fore, the No NRC movement has become active again. Various programs, including a meeting at Park Circus, have already been announced. Besides, processions are going on in different parts of the city.
According to Chief Minister, the deactivation was a political game by the Union Government to force NRC into effect. In addition, she inaugurated the “West Bengal Government’s Adhaar Grievance Portal,” promising to provide the victims with substitute cards so they could use the state government’s welfare initiatives.
A group of civil society representatives has said that, amid the political controversy over the abrupt deactivation of several Aadhaar cards, the Centre introduced NRC via “backdoor.”
At a press conference, the Joint Forum Against NRC attacked the prime minister for allegedly confusing Bengali citizens by deactivating their Aadhaar numbers. According to Manzar Jamil, a member of the group, the Modi government wants 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 written a detailed letter to the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), demanding that the deactivation be reversed.
Several individuals received letters from the UIDAI this month, notifying them that their Aadhaar numbers had been deactivated under Regulation 28A of the Aadhaar (Enrolment and Update) Regulations, 2016. Those who received such letters are mostly residents of border districts like North 24-Parganas, Nadia, Malda, South Dinajpur, and Cooch Behar and even East Burdwan.
Prasenjit Basu, coordinator of civil society Manch, said, “In September last, the Aadhaar authorities added Section 28A. It is claimed that if there is any doubt about someone, they can find a way to cancel that citizen’s Aadhaar. But Aadhaar authorities cannot legally do this. That is why we have written. If we do not get an answer, preparations will be made for a PIL.
