Front Page
Mainstream newspapers Wednesday lead with the latest addition to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) chaos — the National Population Register, a pan-India exercise, barring Assam, seeking information regarding the date and place of birth of a resident’s parents. Also making news on the front page is the Narendra Modi government’s decision to clear the creation of post of India’s first 4-star Chief of Defence Staff.
Chilling reports from Uttar Pradesh about deaths during the anti-CAA protests in the state also make it to page 1.
NPR: “Union Cabinet clears NPR update, census”, The Hindu writes simply. Hindustan Times highlights, “NPR in motion, Shah says no link with NRC”; The Times of India too emphasises this in “Govt approves update of national population register, says no link to NRC”. The Indian Express highlights the growing confusion around the issue in its headline, “Alphabet soup simmers: CAA through, NRC hanging and now NPR from April”. The Telegraph is unabashed in its callout, “Pinocchio Parivar”.
“A meeting of the Union Cabinet “approved over Rs 3,941.35 crore for updating the National Population Register across the country, barring Assam, and Rs 8,754.23 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2021,” reports Hindu. TOI quotes Home Minister Amit Shah to write, “The National Population Register process, to be carried out along with the Census, has no connection with the pan-India National Register of Citizens and is intended to help the Centre and states frame welfare schemes for the poor and minorities.”
HT explains, “A ‘usual resident’ for the purposes of NPR is defined as a person who has lived in a local area for the past six months or more, or a person who intends to live in that area for at least the next six months”.
In its ‘Explained’ box, Express writes, “This time, a new query is parents’ place and date of birth. This, coupled with the ongoing protests and distrust around CAA-NRC, have raised questions over the intent.”
CDS: In “Govt okays ‘first among equals’ in armed forces”, HT writes that “the government on Tuesday cleared the appointment of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who will be a four-star officer and head the department of military powers in the defence ministry”. The Hindu writes, “Army chief Gen. Bipin Rawat, who is set to retire on December 31, is among the contenders for the new post”. This news finds space in the lower half of Express page 1 and TOI’s flap.
Uttar Pradesh: In a chilling report from Uttar Pradesh, the Hindu writes that Mohammed Shafeeq, a resident of Firozabad “was returning from work when he was shot at by the police during protests against the Citizenship Amendment act in Firozabad on 20 December”. Express writes that the “Rampur district administration became the first in the state (UP) to initiate the process for recovery of damage to government property including police motorcycles, barrier, dandas”. The state toll has reached 20 after a “youth in his early 20s” was shot in the stomach during the anti-CAA protests, writes TOI. “Two senior officials of Uttar Pradesh Police have admitted that a policeman fired the bullet that killed a protester participating” in anti-CAA protests in Bijnor, writes HT.
Others: “Banks’ NPA decline for first time in seven years”, reports TOI, adding that the fall came on the back of “a conducive policy environment and the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code”. The development “brings some cheer for the financial sector and policymakers grappling with the problem of bad loans,” adds TOI. This report doesn’t feature on the front pages of other newspapers.
Opinion
The Indian Express: In “Don’t Protest in UP”, Express writes that civic protests against the contentious CAA “reported from cities across the country have been largely peaceful, barring in states ruled by the BJP”. Even though the “right to assembly and protest peacefully is guaranteed by India’s Constitution”, the Uttar Pradesh administration “seems to be unabashedly unmindful of democratic niceties”. Express calls for the UP government to “rethink its adversarial strategy towards the citizens’ freedom of expression, including the right to express disagreement”. It should “take a cue from another BJP government” in Karnataka. After the CAA protests in Mangaluru led to the death of two people, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa “ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident”. Express suggests that CM Yogi Adityanath too should “order a probe into the charges of police brutality against protestors in UP”.
Hindustan Times: Describing “Afghanistan’s presidential election process as troubled will be an understatement”, HT writes in “End the uncertainty around the Afghan polls”. The election was held three months ago, but the “preliminary results were announced this week”. They “show that President Ashraf Ghani is on course for a second term”. The “election commission has said that the outcome could change and it also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of a second round of voting”, explains the daily. It is “understandable” that countries like the US and India have “reacted with some amount of scepticism”. It argues that “there is far too much at stake for India in Afghanistan, and not just the $3 billion in aid provided so far, for any sort of lingering uncertainty to hamper the democratic process”. Finally, HT adds that “while bolstering Afghanistan’s efforts to tackle terrorism through security assistance”, India must “help strengthen democracy and its institutions”.
Prime Time
Prime time debate Wednesday stuck to issues related to Citizenship Amendment Act, National Register of Citizenship and the National Population Register.
Aaj Tak, meanwhile, speculated that BJP would have won the Jharkhand assembly elections if they had not ended their alliance with the All Jharkhand Students Union: “Isliye har ek friend zaroori hota hai (every friend is important)”, said anchor Rohit Sardana.
NDTV India: Home Minister Amit Shah gave an interview to news agency ANI Wednesday to further explain the government’s policy on NPR. Anchor Nidhi Kulpati asked why did the minister have to give a clarification.
Senior journalist Vinod Agnihotri noticed that Shah’s tone was calm and composed during the interview unlike his old aggressive speeches about NRC. “Looking at the growing unrest in the country, it was important to clarify misconceptions,” he said.
Zee News: As hashtag #HinsaKePeecheKaun trended, anchor Aditi Tyagi demanded that those behind violence and destruction of public property be booked soon.
The channel also had a number listed on screen for people to give a missed call in support of NRC-CAA. Later, Zee News editor-in-chief Sudhir Chaudhary claimed that they were receiving over 1 lakh calls every hour.
Political analyst Nishant Verma claimed that a number of videos are available where the police can be seen dragging and beating people who were peacefully protesting. “The number of deaths and violence is an intelligence failure of the police and the government,” he added.
BJP’s K.K. Sharma denied the allegations and said those inciting violence will be caught soon.
Islamic scholar, professor Ateeq-Ur-Rahman believed the violence is being perpetrated by anti-social elements. “Local police is always well equipped to detect and quell such things… But why casualties happened in BJP ruled states only,” he asked.
India Today: With the death toll highest in Uttar Pradesh amid anti-CAA protests, and Section 144 imposed all over the state, anchor Rajdeep Sardesai asked, “UP becoming a police state under Yogi government?”
“It’s a very wrong charge that the Uttar Pradesh police is a communal force. It is not,” said former UP DGP, A.L. Banerjee.
Activist and writer Harsh Mander said the police was chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, and students (of AMU) were scared to come forward over threat of cases under NSA being filed against them.
Sardesai replied, “This is a very serious charge. The UP police were shouting Jai Shri Ram? There are eyewitnesses? Who is claiming this?”
Mander answered, “Teachers and students (of Aligarh Muslim University).”
Times Now: With the Union Cabinet clearing collection of data under NPR, anchor Navika Kumar debated whether the register is a prelude to NRC?
Abhijit Iyer Mitra, senior fellow at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies, said, “NPR is a statistical exercise… Any kind of population register is a very critical part of an economy.”
JD(S) spokesperson Tanveer Ahmed said, “The government should have brought NPR first and discussed CAA later.”