Soon after the Citizens (Amendment) Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, a Maharashtra cadre IPS officer, Abdur Rahman, decided to resign from his services as a protest against the "blatantly communal and unconstitutional" bill. IPS Rahman, who was posted as an IGP rank officer with Maharashtra Police, issued a statement stating that he will not be attending office from Thursday, December 12.
On Wednesday, December 11, Rajya Sabha approved the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday, December 10. According to IANS, soon after quitting, IPS Rehman said, "Yes... I have quit citing personal reasons in my resignation letter. I have also released a statement explaining in detail the reasons behind my decision."
Official resignation letter:
Resigned due to CAB or personal reasons?
According to the resignation letter submitted by IPS officer Abdur Rahman:
- The IPS officer himself stated that he applied for voluntary retirement on August 1.
- The request was declined by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
- Claims the application was rejected in "haste by not applying mind, with clear prejudice."
- He also claimed there was no pending departmental inquiry against the officer
- Challenged the Home Ministry's order before the Central Administration Tribunal, Mumbai.
- In the resignation he also mentioned, "owing to his personal reasons" he would not be able to attend office on and from December 12.
▪️IPS OFFICER RESIGNS▪️
On 1.08.2019 a MAHA Cdr IPS Officer sought Voluntary Retirement citing "personal reasons".
On 25.10.2019 the MHA rejects it.
And conveniently on 12.12.2019 he calls it his last day at work citing "civil disobedience" & CAB as a reason.
What gives?♂️ pic.twitter.com/NciExvQtBR
— Danish Manzoor | ದಾನಿಷ್ (@TellDM) December 11, 2019
On Wednesday, December 11, the hard-hitting communication, which went viral on social media with thousands of likes and retweets in a short time, the officer said the bill is against the very ethos and spirit of the Constitution and violates Articles 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution, and that religion cannot be the basis for giving or denying person citizenship.
According to the IPS officer, during the passage of the Bill, wrong facts, misleadingly information and wrong logic were produced by Home Minister Amit Shah. History was distorted. "The idea behind the bill is to stoke fear in Muslims and divide the nation," he added.
I condemn this Bill. In civil disobedience, I have decided not to attend the office from tomorrow. I am finally quitting the service - Abdur Rahman, IPS Officer
Read the entire personal statement here:
'The Bill is totally un-Constitutional' - Abdur Rahman, IPS Officer
The IPS officer appealed to all those belonging to the poor and deprived sections to oppose the Bill in a democratic manner as it would harm them the most, and also called upon the tolerant, secular and justice-loving Hindus to oppose the Bill, besides activists who should challenge it in the courts.
Rahman also said that the Bill aims to grant citizenship to illegal migrants from all communities except Muslims. It clearly discriminates against the people belonging to the Muslim community. The Bill is totally un-Constitutional and against the very basic feature of Equality before Law
"The whole idea behind the Bill is to divide the nation into religious and sectarian lines. It creates fear among the people belonging to the Muslim community. It also compels Muslims to leave their faith and adopt some other religion to save their citizenship. This is totally divisive and unconstitutional.
On Assam's NRC
In regards to the Assam example on National Register of Citizens (NRC), the officer said that if it is implemented jointly with the CAB, non-Muslims will be declared refugees and granted Indian citizenship even if they cannot produce the required documents.
The real burden will be only on Muslims to prove their citizenship. This will cause statelessness and hardships to Muslims who have been living in India for thousands of years and a majority of them are the original inhabitants of India.
In the statement, Rahman also apologised to those who wanted him to continue in service and urged for justice to all the deprived people.
(We are trying to contact Abdur Rahman for his statement. The article will be duly updated after we get the officer's version.)