In a significant clarification on the National Population Register (NPR), the Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said in the Parliament on Thursday that no document would have to be submitted and no one would be marked in ‘D’ (doubtful) category.

“No document needs to be submitted. You can give whatever information you have and leave the other questions blank,” Amit Shah said.

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad questioning home minister stressed on the point of “D” will be removed or not on which the Home Minister gave him assurance by saying, “No one needs to fear about NPR. No one will be marked doubtful in the updating process.”

He also assured to be present to answer opposition leaders’ questions on the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act.

Several states in India have passed resolutions in their state assembly abstaining to carry out the NPR exercise. Many considered NPR as a precursor of the nation-wide NRC.

Nation-wide protests were witnessed due to the CAA and NRC. It was believed that the combination will strip-off thousands of Muslims of their citizenship.

The biggest fear among the citizens over the NPR was that those who won’t be able to give answers to the questions listed in the NPR, their houses will be marked “D”. It was believed that those falling in such category would lose their citizenship.

The NPR was carried out in 2010 also as a part of 2011 census. This time again ahead of the 2021 census, the NPR was to be conducted. This time, there are eight additional data fields that ask for the parents’ birthplace and date of birth. Person’s present and permanent address, mother tongue and nationality were also listed in the NPR.

Amit Shah also spoke on the Delhi riots that had shaken the city last month. He assured punishment for the culprits irrespective of their religion and party.

“We won’t spare anybody, irrespective of whichever party or religion they belong to. We will set an example by punishing the rioters,” he said.

Yesterday, he had addressed in the Lok Sabha as well on the Delhi riots, promising punishment for the culprits.

In both the Houses, the minister praised the Delhi Police for efficiently containing the violence.