CPI(M) to launch house-to-house campaign to explain CAA-NPR-NRC 'link'

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday (January 19) said the party will soon launch a nationwide house-to-house campaign and explain to the people the “link” between the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Addressing the media about the party’s three-day central committee meeting held in Kerala’s Vilapilsala, Yechury said the party has also called upon the people “not to answer any questions concerning the NPR” when the enumerators come to their houses.

“The ongoing people’s movement comprising students, youth, women and ordinary citizens, clearly shows that people realise the threat posed by the CAA to our Constitution. These protests are continuing every day in various locations in the country for nearly two months,” he said.

Claiming that the legislation was “not just unconstitutional but anti-constitutional,” Yechury said the party condemned the police violence that had taken place during the anti-CAA protests country-wide. Innocent people were “targeted and framed for the damage of property caused by the police,” he alleged.

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“The NPR and NRC prepared will affect millions of poor people, tribals, Dalits, homeless, disabled, transgenders and other marginalised communities and targeting the minority Muslim community,” the party said in a statement, adding many of these sections will find it impossible to produce documents to have their name entered into the NRC.

Asked about the Congress-led UDF backing out from the joint protest against the CAA in the state, Yechury said the fight against the Act was beyond politics. “The protest is not based on election fronts. There is no political joining of hands. We are fighting beyond politics. We need to save India for a better India. If Congress has backed out, they have to answer,” he said.

The party has also provided “a new slogan for the people” to protest against the NPR — “Jawaab Nahi Denge (We shall not answer)”. “The central committee also decided that all party units will conduct a house-to-house campaign explaining the linkage between the NPR and the NRC and calling upon the people not to answer the NPR question,” Yechury said.

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The CPI(M) demanded that all the detention centres be dismantled and the directions to set up the such centres in various states be withdrawn. The party also expressed shock over the comment of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat that de-radicalisation camps are needed for people including young children who are being radicalized in the country, particularly in Kashmir.

“Shockingly, he indicated that such camps are already functioning. The Modi government must immediately clarify if such camps exist in Jammu & Kashmir,” said Yechury. According to the CDS, it appears that they do and the army is running these camps, he said.

The Left party alleged the Centre failed to honour the assurances made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of its accession to India.

It is now more than four months since most of the political leaders including three former chief ministers and thousands of others had been detained. Some of them are being detained under the draconian Public Safety Act, he said seeking their immediate release.

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The party also demanded restoration of communications and public transport facilities in Kashmir. Condemning the economic policies of the Modi government, the central committee said the country was heading towards a recession.

“The economic crisis has been caused by the sharp decline in the purchasing capacities of the vast majority of our people. Consumer spending in rural areas declined by 8.8% in 2017-18. The solution for a turnaround in the economy lies in providing the people with the capacity to purchase, thus increasing the levels of domestic demand which may lead to revive all closed factories,” CPI(M) said in a release.

Later, Yechury addressed a massive anti CAA protest meeting, which was attended by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other left leaders.

(With inputs from agencies)