"How Many Muslim, Dalit?" Asaduddin Owaisi Slams Aadhaar Notices To 127

Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi today accused the Unique Identification Authority Of India or UIDAI of bias after it said that 127 people in the Telangana capital were sent notices for obtaining "Aadhaar on false pretences". "How many of those 127 listed people are Muslim and Dalit?" the AIMIM chief tweeted, attacking the Aadhaar body and Telangana Police.

In a series of tweets, the Aadhar authority this morning said that 127 people in Hyderabad were found to be "illegal immigrants who were not qualified to obtain an Aadhaar number" during a preliminary probe. They were sent notices after the UIDAI received reports from the state police and have been asked to "appear for a personal hearing".

"After their replies are received and examined; if it is found and proved that if any of them has obtained Aadhaar by submitting false documents or through false pretences, then their Aadhaar is liable to be cancelled or suspended depending on the severity of the transgression," said an official statement. The notices have "nothing to do with citizenship and cancellation of Aadhaar number is in no way related to the nationality of any resident", it further said.

#PressRelease 18 Feb 2020 Aadhaar is not a citizenship document 1/n

— Aadhaar (@UIDAI) February 19, 2020

Hours later, Mr Owaisi said the Aadhaar body "abused its powers", and "did not follow due procedure". "Request @UIDAI &@TelanganaPolice to tell us how many of those 127 listed people are Muslim & Dalit @TelanganaPolice please stop asking for Aadhaar during your 'search & cordon' operations. You're not legally permitted to do so (sic)," the AIMIM chief tweeted.

THREAD: UIDAI did not follow due procedure & abused its powers. The result was (understandable) panic among people

First, @UIDAI has no power to verify citizenship. It has few powers to look into some cases of Aadhaar being granted incorrectly (rules 27 & 28) https://t.co/2QlzaOcwVJ

— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) February 19, 2020

"The words used in the notice is verification of citizenship (not validity of aadhaar). So will @UIDAI suspend the Deputy Director who issued this notice? They clearly exceeded their powers by issuing this notice. It was a bad faith & biased exercise of their powers (sic)," the 50-year-old leader wrote in another post.

"UIDAI did not follow due procedure & abused its powers. The result was (understandable) panic among people First, @UIDAI has no power to verify citizenship. It has few powers to look into some cases of Aadhaar being granted incorrectly (rules 27 & 28)," he further wrote.

All the people who have been sent the notices have been asked to appear for a personal hearing and submit documents till May 2020, the UIDAI said, adding that it is following guidelines set by the Supreme Court. In its statement, the Aadhaar body further underlined that "the Supreme Court, in its landmark decision, has directed the UIDAI not to issue Aadhaar to illegal immigrants".