New Delhi: Terming the Particular Intensive Revision (SIR) train as ‘backdoor NRC’ meant to disenfranchise individuals within the identify of faith, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi mentioned it additionally violated parliamentary laws.

Owaisi, the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), was talking within the Lok Sabha throughout a dialogue on election reforms.

“What ECI is doing is flawed. It has no position on this. How is it that the ECI is assuming the facility given to a different company of Parliament? ECI is violating the sanctity of a legislation that was handed on this August Home,” Owaisi mentioned.

“I oppose SIR; that is nothing however a backdoor Nationwide Register of Residents (NRC). This can be a selective train to disenfranchise individuals within the identify of faith,” Owaisi added.

On the outset—mentioned Owaisi—the SIR is violative of the powers prescribed by the Parliament.

“It’s opposite to the judgment of the Supreme Court docket. It’s a mala fide train of energy, solely to selectively disenfranchise primarily based on faith. The Election Fee of India can’t be larger than the SC and Parliament of India,” he mentioned.

Citing the Illustration of the Individuals Act (RP Act) of 1950, Owaisi mentioned it prescribes individuals’s inclusion in electoral rolls primarily based on self-declaration of citizenship, backed by one of many six paperwork, which, he added, consists of Aadhaar playing cards.

“That is an Act, which was handed within the Parliament. Supreme Court docket, in its Lal Babu Hussain judgment, held that after a voter has been included within the electoral roll, there’s a presumption that they’re residents; they can’t be eliminated besides by an enquiry into the citizenship of the person voter and giving them a chance of listening to, after informing the idea on which doubt arose regarding the citizenship,” he added.

Owaisi accused the Election Fee of placing the burden of proof on the voter, which, he mentioned, utterly violates the 1950 RP Act, in addition to the 1960 electoral guidelines.

The SIR, he additional mentioned, has put the onus on voters who have been already a part of the electoral rolls in 2025. As a substitute of extending the good thing about presumption to them, voters are actually required to submit paperwork to show their citizenship.

Referring to B.R. Ambedkar, Owaisi mentioned that when Babasaheb was requested whether or not India is a democracy, he had mentioned that’s true solely in a proper sense. “To be a democracy within the substantial sense, political energy must be held by essentially the most marginalised and the weakest. He repeatedly mentioned political energy is the important thing to social progress,” mentioned Owaisi.

The AIMIM chief expressed considerations concerning the under-representation of Muslims within the Parliament. “You’ve got solely 4 p.c Muslims right here. The ruling get together has no Muslim members…. Muslims will not be there. I imply that they aren’t even being mirrored in secular events. For instance, if Muslim-majority seats like Wayanad can elect non-Muslims, absolutely Rai Bareilly, Amethi, and Etawah can elect Muslims,” he mentioned. Including, “We’re solely turning into electors, not getting elected.”

In a request, Owaisi additional requested the “ruling get together to please take into account adopting a mixed-member parliamentary system, like Germany”. “Every voter has two votes—one for his or her MP and one for a political get together,” he mentioned.

Delimitation, he mentioned, shouldn’t be performed in the way in which that it had been in Kashmir and Assam. There’s a have to construct a consensus and make the fitting to vote a basic proper, he added.

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)

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Additionally Learn: Recent challenges to electoral roll revision in Assam & UP; SC discover to EC on Assam plea

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