Keralam Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said it was “deeply troubling” that the Census 2027 exercise reportedly asks respondents about their religion and the place of birth of both parents.

Criticising the Union government, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader said that the Census must not “become a backdoor” for the National Population Register and the National Register of Citizens.

The National Population Register is a list of all the usual residents of India. The National Register of Citizens is an exercise to create a list of Indian citizens and to identify undocumented immigrants.

Critics fear that the NRC, when used in conjunction with the Citizenship Amendment Act, will allow the government to force many Muslims to prove their citizenship. The government and its supporters have sought to insist that the CAA and the NRC are not linked.

Vijayan said on Wednesday in a social media post that citizenship could not be tied to religion, and that the Census should not be used to divide people. “The Union Government must immediately drop such divisive questions,” he demanded. “Secular forces must stand united against this dangerous move.”

The former chief minister noted that a report of the Union home ministry from 2018-’19 had made it clear that the NRC is prepared by filtering data from the NPR. The population register is a preparatory step for the NRC, it had noted.

Vijayan asked the Centre to remove such “sinister queries” from the Census questionnaire.

It was a matter of concern that Keralam’s United Democratic Front government led by Congress leader VD Satheesan was silent on the subject, he added.

Vijayan said that his government had in 2019 decided the NPR would not be implemented in the state and had reaffirmed this stance ahead of the 2027 Census.

“The Congress cannot wash its hands of the NPR, having implemented it in 2010,” he said. “Will the UDF Government stand up against this divisive agenda, or allow the Union Government’s political agenda to move forward?”

During Vijayan’s tenure, the state government had reiterated in a February 4 gazette notification that “all activities connected with the updation of National Population Register in the state stand suspended” with effect from December 20, 2019.

The notification had come three days after the Union government in its Budget on February 1 proposed to allocate Rs 6,000 crore for “Census, Survey and Statistics/Registrar General of India”.

Edited by Sneha.

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