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Get your papers ready, there might be NRC in West Bengal: Clerics warn Muslims

After neighbouring Assam released an NRC, Muslim leaders and organisations in West Bengal want the community members in the state to get their identification papers and proofs readied before a probable NRC implementation in West Bengal.

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After neighbouring Assam released an NRC, Muslim leaders and organisations in West Bengal want the community members in the state to get their identification papers and proofs readied before a probable NRC implementation in West Bengal.

Talking to DNA, Maulana Shafique Qasmi, imam of Nakhoda Masjid in Colootola area said that BJP’s next target was Bengal and although this warning was for everyone in Bengal. “Muslims are at a greater risk because BJP has clearly said that while members of other communities would be treated as refugees and would be given all help to attain citizenship, Muslims would be treated as infiltrators. So it is clear that Muslims and Dalits are being targeted. This is very disappointing. It is better they are prepared. People need to get their identification papers ready, correct spellings if there is an error, get proper papers of their businesses and properties so that if questioned it will easy for them to prove their citizenship,” he said.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) that been working in Assam for the people whose names have been excluded from the NRC has also chipped in. 

Md Nooruddin, President of JIH, West Bengal chapter said that their volunteers have been mobilised in all the districts of West Bengal to help people and from September 1 when correction in voters’ list would begin, JIH workers would help people, especially those from the SC/ST community solve issues with their names in the voters’ list. 

“From what we have found out what is more alarming is that in West Bengal, about 2.5 lakh names of Muslims have been excluded from the voters’ list, the number being the highest among all the states of the country. It is also true that Muslims here rank the top among the number of people abstaining from voting. We are also trying to spread awareness among people regarding participation in democracy and exercising their franchise,” he told DNA.

JIH will organise workshops from September 1 at different districts, educating people about where to get relevant forms from, how to fill those up and where to submit the filled out forms to get their names enrolled or to correct their details if there had been a mistake.

ATM RAfiqul Hassan, president, All Bengal Imam and Moizzin Samity said that he would instruct all imams to announce it ahead of the Friday prayers. “I will issue a notification to all imams that before the Friday namaz at all masjids in every district they should announce this during the deliberation making people aware that their Aadhaar cards and voter IDs and other forms of identity should be in order,” he told DNA.

All Bengal Minority Youth Federation general secretary Md Kamruzzaman who led an agitation in central Kolkata on Thursday against NRC said that their demand from the government was to ensure that no new papers of identification was demanded. “Documents like Aadhaar cards and Voters’ ID should be good enough that a person was the citizen of Bengal. We want the government to ensure that people in general and Muslims in particular are not asked to produce proofs of their three-four predecessors to prove that they were not infiltrators,” Kamruzzaman told DNA.

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