Owaisi urges citizens to respond to SIR notices, warns SIR of electoral rolls could be NRC backdoor

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi reiterated that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise is a backdoor implementation of the NRC. He urged people to respond to notices seriously, warning that failure could risk both voting rights and citizenship.

Hyderabad: Reiterating his claim that Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is the National Register of Citizens (NRC) through the backdoor, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday appealed to people to respond to notices being issued under SIR.

The Hyderabad MP said all those who received notices need to take this with all seriousness.

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“(Union Home Minister) Amit Shah has stated that the NRC will be implemented. It is possible that the NRC could be conducted based on the SIR electoral roll,” he told media persons here.

He appealed to those who received notices to respond to notices, go to hearing centres with documents and fill up their Form 6. “You could lose not only your right to vote but also your citizenship,” he said.

Owaisi said the BJP has formed a Commission headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court to visit areas where demographic changes have come. “They will visit the places where SIR has been completed; they will see the final list and illegal migrants will be apprehended,” he said.

On the current controversy surrounding the Election Commission of India, he said a Constitutional body has totally gone into the executive’s control.

He recalled that while speaking in the Parliament on the Bill for appointment of Chief Election Commissioner by a panel comprising the Prime Minister, a Union Minister, and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, he had told the government that it was undermining the credibility of the Election Commission in the eyes of the Parliament.

He pointed out that the legislation replaced the Chief Justice of India with the Union Minister. “The law made for the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner will favour the ruling party, won’t it? The government should think about why all this happened and how it is happening,” he said.

Owaisi cited a report in which two Election Commissioners said they were not being consulted or their consent was not being taken, and that is why they expressed their objections several times.

On changes in Form 6, the MP said that the government needs to amend the law by taking the views of all former Election Commissioners.

The AIMIM chief also criticised the decision that Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will visit the homes of individuals who received notices during the SIR.

He said it was a very difficult task for BLOs to visit the homes and expressed the apprehension that many genuine voters will be left out.

Owaisi said the BLOs had failed to deliver notices during the earlier phase of the exercise.

“If an alliance is formed with anyone, we will let you know,” Owaisi said when asked if AIMIM will be entering into an alliance with any party for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh.

On the INDIA bloc meeting, Owaisi said, “I am not part of NDA, INDI Alliance. I am neither part of NDA, thankfully, nor am I part of the INDI Alliance, thankfully… On one side there is NDA, on the other side there is INDI Alliance, and in the middle, there is AIMIM.”