HYDERABAD: The all-India National Register of Citizens (NRC) proposed by the Centre has some of the residents in Hyderabad biting their nails.
“My mother is on the edge. She has no idea what is happening with regard to the NRC and that is scaring her more,” Canada-based Ayesha Iffat said while talking about her mother who resides in Hyderabad.
Ayesha’s anxiety arises from the fact that her mother does not have a birth certificate. And quite akin to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who wondered about his fate after the implementation of NRC as he too does not have a birth certificate, Ayesha has similar enquiry.
There is no clear answer to this as the rules for the all-India NRC have not been formulated yet, and hence, no one knows the documents that they should possess. It is this lack of clarity, coupled with statements made by the top leadership, that is giving many residents in Hyderabad the sleepless nights.
This has made many from Hyderabad, including Iffat, who have families in other countries, think that the prospect of relocating to their relatives’ place overseas is better.
They think leaving the country would be easier than dealing with the awry business of procuring documents to prove one’s citizenship.Iffat’s sexagenarian mother was born in Mumbai and she currently stays at Mehdipatnam in Hyderabad. “It is not possible for her to apply for a birth certificate here. Since she was born in Mumbai, she has to apply for it there,” said a GHMC official.
But that seems an impossible task for Iffat and her mother. Hence, she is being forced to consider the option of uprooting her mother from the city, where she has spent a majority of her life. “We want to bring her here. We want to do it permanently, and in such a way that no further questions are asked.”
As of now, Ayesha’s mother visits her daughter once a year.And this is not a sole case, according to MBT spokesperson and social activist Amjed Ullah Khan. “A majority of people living abroad are feeling insecure about the developments in India. I have been receiving numerous calls from those staying in New Zealand and Canada, who have expressed their desire to shift their relatives from here to their current residence.”
Khan said the countries like Canada and New Zealand are attractive destinations because of their relative flexible citizenship rules and their policy of welcoming immigrants to their countries.