CAA, NRC aimed at establishing Hindu Rashtra: Federation of Telugu churches

Hyderabad: Rejecting the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Registry of Citizens (NRC) and National Population Register NPR, the Federation of Telugu churches (FTC) on Friday said the process is aimed at establishing Hindu Rashtra and undermining the Ambedkarian constitution.

“This process will result in the supremacy and dominance of the upper caste Hindus and lead towards establishing Hindu Rashtra and undermining Ambedkarian constitution that was born out of Independent struggle”, the FTC said in a statement.

The church body said they (CAA, NRC, NPR) are closely linked together, one leading to the other as part of one process, creating fear in most of the citizens, leading to violent protests all over the country, and resulting in many deaths and a lot of destruction in some states like UP and Delhi.

“CAA is treating Muslims differently from other religions, violating the right to equality and secularism enshrined in the constitution. Hence, Muslims across India rightly feel threatened as it will be easier now to label them illegal under NRC. This will lead to unequal citizenship to which any other religious or caste communities can easily be added in the future”, it said.

Welcoming the citizenship rights for persecuted minorities from other countries, the FTC said this should have been done without excluding anyone and irrespective of religion or ideological affiliations.

"We also accept the need to check the infiltrators, illegal migrants, extremists, and terrorists to whichever religious or ideological group, they may belong to. The latest amendment to the citizenship act which excludes Muslims, goes against the very soul of our nation and the spirit of Indian civilization," it said

The apex church body said with the changes being made, the present NPR and NRC processes affect everyone, not only Muslims. “They are hazardous to anyone who cannot show the documents of their birth and of their parents. It has already happened in Assam. Those who are poor, landless, women, minorities, Dalits, Adivasis, illiterates and nomadic and migrant communities will be most affected to which ever religion they may belong, “it said

The FTC said there is a lurking grave danger that most of them would be labeled as 'doubtful citizens', and end up losing their citizenship and basic fundamental rights including the right to vote and property, and other constitutional privileges.

The FTC asked the Centre and state governments to stop the whole process until the threats and fears are allayed and required guarantees are put in place.

*Representational Image Used