'Keep Documents Safe, You Will Need To Show Them Again': BJP K'taka Tweets To Muslim Voters

The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday tweeted a clip of Muslim women showing their voter identity cards outside a polling booth in the national capital, with the caption "keep the documents safe" for the NPR exercise. This comes in contrast to PM Narendra Modi's constant claims that documents would not be compulsory during the National Population Register (NPR) process. 

The caption referred to the slogan "Kaagaz nahi dikhayenge (won't show papers)" written by comedian-lyricist Varun Grover, which has become a symbol of resistance amid the CAA and the NRC protests across the country. 

The NPR is a list of "usual residents" which include those who have lived at a place for six months or intend to live there for the next six months. The exercise to update the NPR will be carried out across India from April 1 to September 30, 2020, along with the Census 2021. 

Several people are afraid that the NRC, along with the CAA, will be used against Muslims and puts them at risk of persecution. Several states, including West Bengal and Kerala, have dismissed the process related to the NPR. 

However, the government has repeatedly rubbished any connection between the NPR, NRC, and CAA, claiming that the population register is just a part of the Census.

The government also told the Parliament earlier this week that no document would be collected during the NPR exercise. "No documents will be collected during the process of updating NPR," Union Minister Nityanand Rai had said. 

In response to The Hindu for one of their stories published in January, the Ministry of Home Affairs had said, "The story ignores government's stated position that no individual will be required to submit any document to any authority or enumerator visiting his/her household for NPR survey."

After BJP's state unit shared the video with a sarcastic caption, several netizens pointed out the contradiction between the stated assurances from the party and the tweet. 

Some also agreed with the BJP's claims and wrote, "Who are these Muslims with no conscience? Till yesterday, they were saying 'we will not show papers.' Today, they stand in line with their identity papers in hand."

BJP's threatening tweet seems like an attempt to create a divide among Muslims, majority of whom have been agitating across the country for months against the contentious CAA, NRC and NPR.

This is not the first time that the party's twitter handle sparked a row with its controversial tweets. Recently, the party had tweeted about an Amazon delivery receipt for razors that it allegedly sent to Omar Abdullah after his unshaven face's pictures went viral. The tweet was later taken down. 

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