1.9m people left off Assam NRC list, risking statelessness: 3.1 crore people included

[Black_cats]

10:52 AM, August 31, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 11:27 AM, August 31, 2019
1.9m people left off Assam NRC list, risking statelessness

3.1 crore people included

This photo taken on August 29, 2019, shows a road sign for a new detention centre being built for people who are not included in a "citizens register" in Kadamtola Gopalpur village, in Goalpara district, some 170km from Guwahati, the capital city of India’s northeastern state of Assam. Security was tightened in the Indian state of Assam on August 30 before the release of a "citizens register" expected to leave millions deemed as "foreign infiltrators" facing detention camps and even deportation. Photo: AFP
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This photo taken on August 29, 2019, shows a road sign for a new detention centre being built for people who are not included in a "citizens register" in Kadamtola Gopalpur village, in Goalpara district, some 170km from Guwahati, the capital city of India’s northeastern state of Assam. Security was tightened in the Indian state of Assam on August 30 before the release of a "citizens register" expected to leave millions deemed as "foreign infiltrators" facing detention camps and even deportation. Photo: AFP

The Statesman, India

The final National Register of Citizens (NRC) list in Assam was published today including names of 3.1 crore people and leaving out 19 lakh names.

The citizens’ list was published amid tightened security and a ban on assembly of more than four people in some sensitive places.

Read More

• 
  NRC issue in Assam and our security concern
• 
  Assam NRC: Should Bangladesh be concerned?

The list has been published in the NRC website. Those who do not have internet connections can go to Seva Kendras set up by the state government to check their status.

“A total of 3,11,21,004 persons found eligible for inclusion in final NRC leaving out 19,06,657 persons including those who did not submit their claims. Those not satisfied with the outcome can file an appeal before Foreigners’ Tribunals,” Prateek Hajela, State Coordinator, NRC was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The draft published on July 30, 2018, included the names of 2.9 crore people out of total applications of 3.29 crore. Forty-one lakh people were left out in the draft.


The publication of the citizens’ list is aimed at identifying whether a person residing in Assam is actually an Indian or a foreigner.

The NRC is a list of all citizens domiciled in Assam and is being updated at present to retain bonafide citizens within the state and evict illegal settlers, purportedly migrants from Bangladesh.

The publication of the final NRC list, which is a sensitive political matter, is likely to stir up a huge gamut of reactions involving a large number of stakeholders.

Keeping in view the far-reaching implications of the move, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has called upon the people of the state to maintain peace and tranquillity.

Sonowal said that those people whose names have been excluded from the proposed NRC would get an opportunity to file their appeals and be heard in the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) as per the direction of the Union Home Ministry.

“Extension of filing an appeal from 60 days to 120 days to the FT will help all the excluded persons enjoy a level playing field. The government of Assam will take care of the cause of the excluded people and due care will be taken so that nobody is subjected to any unnecessary harassment,” he said.

Assam Director General of Police (DGP) Kuladhar Saikia said that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure that there is no law and order problem post the publication of the NRC.

“The law and order situation is normal across the state. We have already done a sensitivity and vulnerability assessment and asked the concerned police to remain alert. Deployment of forces has been done to ensure that there is no problem,” he said.

The DGP said that apart from the forces of the Assam Police, 218 companies of additional forces have also been deployed to ensure safety and security for all.

The police have declared 14 districts as sensitive areas.

There had been huge backlash from local citizens, who claimed they originally belonged to Assam, when their names went missing from the draft NRC published on 30 July 2018.

Earlier, the first part of the draft NRC, called Part Draft NRC, was published in December 2017 and incorporated the names of 1.9 crore people out of the 3.29 crore applicants.

The final NRC list comes 13 months after the Complete Draft NRC was published on July 30 last year.

The list has been updated – for the first time since 1951 – by the Registrar General of India in a Supreme Court-monitored exercise.

The update process of NRC started in 2013 when the Supreme Court of India passed orders for its update. Since then, the apex court bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justice R Fali Nariman has been monitoring it continuously. The entire project is headed by the State Coordinator of National Registration, Assam, Prateek Hajela under the strict monitoring of the Supreme Court.

Copyright: The Statesman/ Asia News Network (ANN)

https://www.thedailystar.net/world/news/indian-state-publish-contentious-citizenship-list-1793425

 

[Pakistani Fighter]

May ALLAH have mercy on them. Ameen

 

[Kabira]

Now after Rohingas, BD will have to take back millions more.

 

[Black_cats]

Just read somewhere that out of 1.9 million, 1.1 million is hindu and .8 million is muslim. I am quite sure big chunk of them will make their place into the NRC.

It marks the big failure of BJP, RSS and other hindu extremist groups those who have propagated there are millions on illegal Bangladeshi muslim is in dirt poor and improvised Assam.

This NRC will not only empower the muslims and both Bengli muslim and hindus as well and put the final nail on the coffin of the BJP and other hindu extremist group. Biggest loser will be the Ahoms and other cae dwelling tribes of Assam.

 

[Kabira]

Just read somewhere that out of 1.9 million, 1.1 million is hindu and .8 million is muslim. I am quite sure big chunk of them will make their place into the NRC.

It marks the big failure of BJP, RSS and other hindu extremist groups those who have propagated there are millions on illegal Bangladeshi muslim is in dirt poor and improvised Assam.

This NRC will not only empower the muslims and both Bengli muslim and hindus as well and put the final nail on the coffin of the BJP and other hindu extremist group. Biggest loser will be the Ahoms and other cae dwelling tribes of Assam.

Hopefully BD take care of them.

 

[Black_cats]

Hopefully BD take care of them.

This is India’s internal matter. BD has nothing to do here apart from watching the drama with popcorn.

BJP and extremist hindutva groups are done and dusted in Assam.

Next time what fear monger ing tactics they will apply? Bengali Muslim, Hindus and Ahoms none will vote for BJP

Assam NRC: What next for 1.9 million 'stateless' Indians?

• 33 minutes ago
  

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionFour million people were stripped off their citizenship in the draft list last July
India has published the final version of a list which effectively strips about 1.9 million people in the north-eastern state of Assam of their citizenship.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a list of people who can prove they came to the state by 24 March 1971, a day before neighbouring Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan.

People left off the list will have 120 days to appeal their exclusion.

It is unclear what happens next.

India says the process is needed to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

It has already detained thousands of people suspected of being foreigners in temporary camps which are housed in the state's prisons, but deportation is currently not an option for the country.

The process has also sparked criticism of "witch hunts" against Assam's ethnic minorities.

A draft version of the list published last year had four million people excluded.

What is the registry of citizens?
The NRC was created in 1951 to determine who was born in Assam and is therefore Indian, and who might be a migrant from neighbouring Bangladesh.

The register has been updated for the first time.

Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe NRC was created in 1951 to determine who was born in the state and is Indian
Families in the state have been required to provide documentation to show their lineage, with those who cannot prove their citizenship deemed illegal foreigners.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long railed against illegal immigration in India but has made the NRC a priority in recent years.

Why is the registry happening in Assam?
Assam is one India's most multi-ethnic states. Questions of identity and citizenship have long vexed a vast number of people living there.

Among its residents are Bengali and Assamese-speaking Hindus, as well as a medley of tribespeople.

A third of the state's 32 million residents are Muslims, the second-highest number after Indian-administered Kashmir. Many of them are descendants of immigrants who settled there under British rule.

But illegal migration from neighbouring Bangladesh, which shares a 4,000-km-long border with India, has been a concern there for decades now. The government said in 2016 that an estimated 20 million illegal immigrants were living in India.

So have 1.9 million people effectively become stateless?
Not quite. Residents excluded from the list can appeal to the specially-formed courts called Foreigners Tribunals, as well as the high court and Supreme Court.

However, a potentially long and exhaustive appeals process will mean that India's already overburdened courts will be further clogged, and poor people left out of the list will struggle to raise money to fight their cases.

Image copyrightAFP
Image captionSaheb Ali, 55, from Goalpara district, has not been included in the list
If people lose their appeals in higher courts, they could be detained indefinitely.

Some 1,000 people declared as foreigners earlier are already lodged in six detention centres located in prisons. Mr Modi's government is also building an exclusive detention centre, which can hold 3,000 detainees.

"People whose names are not on the final list are really anxious about what lies ahead. One of the reasons is that the Foreigners Tribunal does not have a good reputation, and many people are worried that they will have to go through this process," Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, author of Assam: The Accord, The Discord, told the BBC.

Why have been the courts so controversial?
The special courts were first set up in 1964, and since then they have declared more than 100,000 people foreigners. They regularly identify "doubtful voters" or "illegal infiltrators" as foreigners to be deported.

But the workings of the specially formed Foreigners Tribunals, which have been hearing the contested cases, have been mired in controversy.

There are more than 200 such courts in Assam today, and their numbers are expected to go up to 1,000 by October. (The majority of these tribunals have been set up after the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014.)

The courts have been accused of bias and their workings have often been opaque and riddled with inconsistencies.

Media captionLiving in limbo: Assam's four million unwanted
For one, the burden of proof is on the accused or the alleged foreigner.

Second, many families are unable to produce documents due to poor record-keeping, illiteracy or because they lack the money to file a legal claim.

People have been declared as foreigners by the courts because of differences in spellings of names or ages in voters rolls, and problems in getting identity documents certified by authorities. Amnesty International has described the work by the special courts as "shoddy and lackadaisical".

Journalist Rohini Mohan analysed more than 500 judgements by these courts in one district and found 82% of the people on trial had been declared foreigners. She also found more Muslims had been declared foreigners, and 78% of the orders were delivered without the accused being ever heard - the police said they were "absconding", but Ms Mohan found many of them living in their villages and unaware they were declared foreigners.

"The Foreigners Tribunal," she says, "must be made more transparent and accountable."

A decorated Indian army veteran, Mohammed Sanaullah spent 11 days in a detention camp in June after being declared a "foreigner", prompting national outrage.

Both the citizen's register and the tribunals have also sparked fears of a witch hunt against Assam's ethnic minorities.

Have the minorities been targeted?
Many say the list has nothing to do with religion, but activists see it as targeting the state's Bengali community, a large portion of whom are Muslims.

They also point to the plight of Rohingya Muslims in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe move to make millions of people stateless will probably spark protests
However significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus have also been left off the citizenship list, underscoring the communal and ethnic tensions in the state

"One of the communities worst affected by the list are the Bengali Hindus. There are as many of them in detention camps as Muslims. This is also the reason just days before NRC is to be published the BJP has changed tack, from taking credit for it to calling it error-ridden. That is because the Bengali Hindus are a strong voter base of the BJP," says Ms Barooah Pisharoty.

The human tragedy
Fearing possible loss of citizenship and detention after exclusion from the list, scores of Bengali Hindus and Muslims have killed themselves since the process to update the citizen register started in 2015, activists say.

And in an echo of US President Donald Trump's policy to separate undocumented parents and children, families have been similarly broken up in Assam.

Detainees have complained of poor living conditions and overcrowding in the detention centres.

Image copyrightCITIZENS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE
Image captionA father and son killed themselves 30 years apart because of doubts over their citizenship
One detainee told a rights group after his release that he was taken to a room which had a capacity of 40 people, but was filled with around 120 people. People who have been declared foreigners as well as many inmates have been suffering from depression. Children have also been detained with their parents.

Human rights activist Harsh Mander who has visited two detention centres has spoken about a situation of "grave and extensive human distress and suffering".

What happens to people who are declared foreigners?
The BJP which rules the state, has insisted in the past that illegal Muslim immigrants will be deported. But neighbouring Bangladesh will definitely not accede to such a request.

Many believe that India will end up creating the newest cohort of stateless people, raising the spectre of a homegrown crisis that will echo that of the Rohingya people who fled Myanmar for Bangladesh.

It is not clear whether the people stripped of their Indian citizenship will be able to access welfare or own property.

One possibility is that once they are released, they will be given work permits with some basic rights, but will not be allowed to vote.

 

[TeesraIndiotHunter]

hahahahahaha

Where is poor @Nilgiri

The Muslim proportion of Assam remains around the same (1/3), now that NRC list has been cut down in half!!!...Only 1.9 million people left out. Even if we assume that 60% of them are Muslims, the ratio of Muslims in Assam remains pretty unchanged. Not to mention, Muslims are still rising faster than non-Muslims in Assam, AH.

Total loss and embarrassment for hindu nationalists yet again. BJP Assam leader has already "rejected" the NRC results

The only way to soothe humiliated hindu soul is now to shut its eyes and believe the myths. In next census, just put Muslims percentage of india as 5%....and show no increase. Hindus might have enough self-worth to sleep atleast.

What happens on the ground.....lets just not even talk about it

 

[Pakistani Fighter]

This is India’s internal matter. BD has nothing to do here apart from watching the drama with popcorn.

BJP and extremist hindutva groups are done and dusted in Assam.

Next time what fear monger ing tactics they will apply? Bengali Muslim, Hindus and Ahoms none will vote for BJP

Assam NRC: What next for 1.9 million 'stateless' Indians?

• 33 minutes ago

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionFour million people were stripped off their citizenship in the draft list last July
India has published the final version of a list which effectively strips about 1.9 million people in the north-eastern state of Assam of their citizenship.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a list of people who can prove they came to the state by 24 March 1971, a day before neighbouring Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan.

People left off the list will have 120 days to appeal their exclusion.

It is unclear what happens next.

India says the process is needed to identify illegal Bangladeshi migrants.

It has already detained thousands of people suspected of being foreigners in temporary camps which are housed in the state's prisons, but deportation is currently not an option for the country.

The process has also sparked criticism of "witch hunts" against Assam's ethnic minorities.

A draft version of the list published last year had four million people excluded.

What is the registry of citizens?
The NRC was created in 1951 to determine who was born in Assam and is therefore Indian, and who might be a migrant from neighbouring Bangladesh.

The register has been updated for the first time.

Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe NRC was created in 1951 to determine who was born in the state and is Indian
Families in the state have been required to provide documentation to show their lineage, with those who cannot prove their citizenship deemed illegal foreigners.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has long railed against illegal immigration in India but has made the NRC a priority in recent years.

Why is the registry happening in Assam?
Assam is one India's most multi-ethnic states. Questions of identity and citizenship have long vexed a vast number of people living there.

Among its residents are Bengali and Assamese-speaking Hindus, as well as a medley of tribespeople.

A third of the state's 32 million residents are Muslims, the second-highest number after Indian-administered Kashmir. Many of them are descendants of immigrants who settled there under British rule.

But illegal migration from neighbouring Bangladesh, which shares a 4,000-km-long border with India, has been a concern there for decades now. The government said in 2016 that an estimated 20 million illegal immigrants were living in India.

So have 1.9 million people effectively become stateless?
Not quite. Residents excluded from the list can appeal to the specially-formed courts called Foreigners Tribunals, as well as the high court and Supreme Court.

However, a potentially long and exhaustive appeals process will mean that India's already overburdened courts will be further clogged, and poor people left out of the list will struggle to raise money to fight their cases.

Image copyrightAFP
Image captionSaheb Ali, 55, from Goalpara district, has not been included in the list
If people lose their appeals in higher courts, they could be detained indefinitely.

Some 1,000 people declared as foreigners earlier are already lodged in six detention centres located in prisons. Mr Modi's government is also building an exclusive detention centre, which can hold 3,000 detainees.

"People whose names are not on the final list are really anxious about what lies ahead. One of the reasons is that the Foreigners Tribunal does not have a good reputation, and many people are worried that they will have to go through this process," Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty, author of Assam: The Accord, The Discord, told the BBC.

Why have been the courts so controversial?
The special courts were first set up in 1964, and since then they have declared more than 100,000 people foreigners. They regularly identify "doubtful voters" or "illegal infiltrators" as foreigners to be deported.

But the workings of the specially formed Foreigners Tribunals, which have been hearing the contested cases, have been mired in controversy.

There are more than 200 such courts in Assam today, and their numbers are expected to go up to 1,000 by October. (The majority of these tribunals have been set up after the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014.)

The courts have been accused of bias and their workings have often been opaque and riddled with inconsistencies.

Media captionLiving in limbo: Assam's four million unwanted
For one, the burden of proof is on the accused or the alleged foreigner.

Second, many families are unable to produce documents due to poor record-keeping, illiteracy or because they lack the money to file a legal claim.

People have been declared as foreigners by the courts because of differences in spellings of names or ages in voters rolls, and problems in getting identity documents certified by authorities. Amnesty International has described the work by the special courts as "shoddy and lackadaisical".

Journalist Rohini Mohan analysed more than 500 judgements by these courts in one district and found 82% of the people on trial had been declared foreigners. She also found more Muslims had been declared foreigners, and 78% of the orders were delivered without the accused being ever heard - the police said they were "absconding", but Ms Mohan found many of them living in their villages and unaware they were declared foreigners.

"The Foreigners Tribunal," she says, "must be made more transparent and accountable."

A decorated Indian army veteran, Mohammed Sanaullah spent 11 days in a detention camp in June after being declared a "foreigner", prompting national outrage.

Both the citizen's register and the tribunals have also sparked fears of a witch hunt against Assam's ethnic minorities.

Have the minorities been targeted?
Many say the list has nothing to do with religion, but activists see it as targeting the state's Bengali community, a large portion of whom are Muslims.

They also point to the plight of Rohingya Muslims in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image captionThe move to make millions of people stateless will probably spark protests
However significant numbers of Bengali-speaking Hindus have also been left off the citizenship list, underscoring the communal and ethnic tensions in the state

"One of the communities worst affected by the list are the Bengali Hindus. There are as many of them in detention camps as Muslims. This is also the reason just days before NRC is to be published the BJP has changed tack, from taking credit for it to calling it error-ridden. That is because the Bengali Hindus are a strong voter base of the BJP," says Ms Barooah Pisharoty.

The human tragedy
Fearing possible loss of citizenship and detention after exclusion from the list, scores of Bengali Hindus and Muslims have killed themselves since the process to update the citizen register started in 2015, activists say.

And in an echo of US President Donald Trump's policy to separate undocumented parents and children, families have been similarly broken up in Assam.

Detainees have complained of poor living conditions and overcrowding in the detention centres.

Image copyrightCITIZENS FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE
Image captionA father and son killed themselves 30 years apart because of doubts over their citizenship
One detainee told a rights group after his release that he was taken to a room which had a capacity of 40 people, but was filled with around 120 people. People who have been declared foreigners as well as many inmates have been suffering from depression. Children have also been detained with their parents.

Human rights activist Harsh Mander who has visited two detention centres has spoken about a situation of "grave and extensive human distress and suffering".

What happens to people who are declared foreigners?
The BJP which rules the state, has insisted in the past that illegal Muslim immigrants will be deported. But neighbouring Bangladesh will definitely not accede to such a request.

Many believe that India will end up creating the newest cohort of stateless people, raising the spectre of a homegrown crisis that will echo that of the Rohingya people who fled Myanmar for Bangladesh.

It is not clear whether the people stripped of their Indian citizenship will be able to access welfare or own property.

One possibility is that once they are released, they will be given work permits with some basic rights, but will not be allowed to vote.

@AfrazulMandal

 

[namefield_empty]

Just read somewhere that out of 1.9 million, 1.1 million is hindu and .8 million is muslim. I am quite sure big chunk of them will make their place into the NRC.

It is prudent for you to wait for official stats before jumping on to the crazy train. Word from my place is lots of people from both religions didn't feature, which debunked your vicious propaganda that NRC is only against a certain religion.

BJP and extremist hindutva groups are done and dusted in Assam.

Lol, BJP is just warming up and they will make sure that not a single miya overstay their welcome. As i have stated earlier that many other plans have already been envisioned to weed out the illegals, apart from the NRC.

However, we will now see NRC being implemented pan-India wise, first in West Bengals where the real Bengalis are sick and tired to their utterly incompetent CM pandering to the illegals.

 

[Murgah]

More independent movements are gonna happen

 

[namefield_empty]

More independent movements are gonna happen

Keep on hallucinating on a topic you have no idea about. NE stands steadfast together in opposing the illegal miyas that have crept up in our regions. We will drive each and every one of these illegals. India is for Indians only, and that includes our NE.

 

[Bilal9]

It is obvious that the Chin-Ahom minority in Assam is trying its level best to reduce the 'legal' Muslim population in Assam by hook or by crook. But these lies will not succeed. As always, chaiwala and RSS tricks will backfire here, like they have elsewhere in India...

 

[bluesky]

Now after Rohingas, BD will have to take back millions more.

Do not please make a mistake. Neither Rohingya nor the Assamese Muslims were ever our citizens. Had the Rohingyas been our citizens they would have returned to their homes and live with their mothers in their villages instead of living such a hard life in refugee camps.

The same is true for the Assamese Muslims. They left this land many centuries ago since the time of Malik Bakhtiar Khalji's failed invasion of western Assam in 1205. They are certainly Assamese citizens.

 

[AfrazulMandal]

Now comes the task of the Foreigner Tribunals.

Out of almost 2 million people 0.5 million are Hindus.

They will not get Indian citizenship because they have refugee status (ran away from East Pakistan).

1.5 million Muslims will go to camps.

Congrats India for reducing your Muslims population so easily.

Congrats to the Muslim world for staying quiet.

Ridiculous.

Just read somewhere that out of 1.9 million, 1.1 million is hindu and .8 million is muslim. I am quite sure big chunk of them will make their place into the NRC.

It marks the big failure of BJP, RSS and other hindu extremist groups those who have propagated there are millions on illegal Bangladeshi muslim is in dirt poor and improvised Assam.

This NRC will not only empower the muslims and both Bengli muslim and hindus as well and put the final nail on the coffin of the BJP and other hindu extremist group. Biggest loser will be the Ahoms and other cae dwelling tribes of Assam.

You know nothing about this then.

Muslims are going to get the worst in this deal - but that is expected from a Hindu fascist regime.

 

[Smarana Mitra]

Do not please make a mistake. Neither Rohingya nor the Assamese Muslims were ever our citizens. Had the Rohingyas been our citizens they would have returned to their homes and live with their mothers in their villages instead of living such a hard life in refugee camps.

The same is true for the Assamese Muslims. They left this land many centuries ago since the time of Malik Bakhtiar Khalji's failed invasion of western Assam in 1205. They are certainly Assamese citizens.

These muslims were always Bangladeshi. Rohingya kept migrating in and out of Bangladesh during the time they stayed in Myanmar. Rohingya would behave as if they are Bangladeshi citizens itself. Similarly, Assam muslims are also Bangladeshi and keep moving in and out.

All these muslims have settled outside Bangladesh for some years but that doesn't make them non Bangladeshi