New Delhi: Former central information commissioner and Right to Information activist Shailesh Gandhi said he applied for his birth certificate at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) out of the concern that the central government might soon start the process of creating a nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) but he failed to get it as his birth was not in the BMC records.Mumbai-based Gandhi told The Wire, “My grandfather stayed in the Matunga area of Mumbai where I was born in 1947. Since I don’t have a birth certificate, I thought of procuring one as the government may start a nationwide NRC. I applied for one to the BMC. But it turns out that my birth was not recorded.”This past week, Gandhi, who was born on July 7, 1947, received a one page response from the BMC stating that “a search has been made on the request”, adding, that it “found that the event relating to the birth of Sailesh Gandhi, son of Ramkumar Bhagawandas Gandhi was not registered.”The response from BMC. Photo: Shailesh Gandhi/TwitterThough prime minister Narendra Modi has recently said his government has not yet decided on having a countrywide NRC, BJP top leaders have been continuously contradicting him, leading many across the country to ready documents related their birth.Though birth certificate is a proof of one’s citizenship, those who have school leaving certificates, which also mention date of birth, may still be able to provide some documentary evidence – an option not available to the unlettered and the poor.Gandhi, though, added, “In India, it is a well known fact that even fairly educated parents in towns and cities gave wrong dates of birth of their wards in schools. Accepting school leaving certificates as proof of birth would therefore reduce the whole process into a farce.”Also read: Documents Reveal That As Far Back as 2015, PMO Said Aadhaar Should Be Linked to NPRIn a recent article, Gandhi pointed out, “It is well recognised that most people’s claim to citizenship arises from having been born in the country. Additionally – at times – it is the birthplace of their parents and grandparents. This has to be established by documentation. That is the real snag. It is likely that a significant percentage of India’s population will not be able to give any birth certificates, either because they did not obtain one or have lost it (I do not have my birth certificate). Aadhar card or ration card cannot be the basis for accepting citizenship claims.”On being asked about it, he said that if a nationwide NRC is carried out after the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act “it would result in untold misery, harassment and humiliation for Muslims in India because the norms for establishing the fact that they were born in India could be stringent only for them.”“It could be argued that others would have to prove that they were in India before December 31, 2014 and hence not be denied citizenship. If that happens, it will be a grievous wound on the heart of India,” he said.He said, “The government must declare that it will not implement NRC for a decade.”