BCS, CJP allege selective profiling of Christians in Mumbai, Thane

The Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS) and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) have received reports of Christians in Mumbai and Thane district being asked about their religion and conversion history by surveyors carrying out the Maratha Reservation Survey.

At a press conference in the city on Thursday, representatives of the BCS and CJP said they have received reports from Vikhroli, Gokuldham in Goregaon East and even Thane.“According to the reports, individuals using an app-based software under the guise of Maratha Reservation Survey are inquiring about the Maratha community as well as asking Christians about their religion and conversion history, while refusing to disclose their own identities. 

Citing examples, the BCS and CJP said in a housing society at Mahim, comprising 56 members, the surveyor visit was only to a house that had a Christian resident escorted by the building’s security person.“When the security guard was confronted, he said the gentleman wanted to visit this particular apartment and he escorted him. When the resident confronted the survey guy, asked him to provide authorisation, he got nervous, fumbled and left the place immediately. In another instance at Gokuldham, members were given a survey form which mentioned Maratha reservation, but other columns mentioned the Religion Caste of other members and their occupation details. What was the need for that? As responsible citizens of this metropolis we demand full disclosure and accountability from the state government,” said Dolphy D’Souza, president BCS.

Teesta Setalvad, CJP, said a series of Right to Information queries to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has revealed that the Aadhaar database was linked to the National Population Register (NPR) in 2015 without informed consent from citizens. “The only legal way of linking the two databases is by acquiring informed consent from every resident through a public exercise similar to the Census conducted by the Registrar General of India. Investigations reveal that the exercise did not have any provision to collect any informed consent for this linkage,” said Setalvad.