Challenging the Union Government to conduct National Register of Citizenship (NRC) exercise by testing the DNA of people to check whether they are original residents of India, members of Dharwad District SC/ST Pourakarmikara-Noukarara Sangha staged a unique protest by collecting blood samples of 10 protesters to be sent to the Centre.
"NRC should not be implemented, and if the Centre wants to conduct it, it should conduct on the basis of DNA of people. We are sending blood samples of 10 people to the President of India, through the tahsildar, for DNA test, to check whether we are original residents of India or not. If we do not get response within a month, we will send blood samples of 1,000 members of SC/ST and minority communities," said the Sangha president Vijay Guntral.
At Dr B R Ambedkar Circle here on Wednesday, the Sangha members staged the protest, and raised slogans against BJP government at the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"Crores of people belonging to SC/ST, OBC, tribal and nomadic communities, who are original residents of the country, cannot submit documents to be asked during the NRC. NRC would create serious hardships for them, and it is aimed at dividing people," one of the protesters said.
"Those who cannot produce documents for the NRC would be deprived of facilities, and they would be treated as second grade citizens. Therefore , the NRC should not be conducted. If the Centre wants to conduct it at any cost, it should be based on DNA test, and not on documents," the protesters added.
Published 26 February 2020, 13:44 IST