Are Muslims from Assam, India, the next Rohingya?

They represent 30% of the local population. In Assam, in the far east of India, Muslims are at the heart of tensions. A petition, signed by nearly 250,000 people, warns that "in a few days, India could erase up to 7 million Muslims from its register of citizens in Assam State because they do not speak not the 'good' tongue and do not pray the 'good' god. The Avaaz team assures that "husbands, wives and children could be separated and locked up in camps.

The initiators of the petition affirm their fear of genocide. "That's how the Rohingya nightmare started," they write. It must be said that the situation is strangely similar to what is happening in Burma. Many Muslims arrived in Assam in 1971 to Bangladesh. Since then, tensions are at their height between Hindus and Muslims. Recently, Amnesty International reported the cases of Abu Hanifa and Riazuddin Ali, lynched by a mob in the state of Assam, suspected of stealing a cow.

Hindu nationalism at its height [19659004] Beyond the sometimes deadly confrontation – in the summer of 2012, seventy people died in Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon – it is a true anti-Muslim policy that is taking place in India. "The situation of Muslims is very worrying, especially since the coming to power of Narendra Modi, who belongs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a hard fringe of Hindu nationalism. He advocates an India rid of its Christian and Muslim minorities. Muslims are afraid of the regime in place, "said Charlotte Thomas, a specialist in India.

Muslims displaced in the state of Assam in 2012 © DIPTENDU DUTTA / AFP

So what's going on he in Assam? The initiators of the petition indicate that "the government claims to take action against illegal immigration from Bangladesh. But in reality, the vast majority of people targeted are Muslim citizens, poor, illiterate and lacking 'real' identity documents. It is indeed for Muslims to prove that they lived in India before 1971. Those who can not prove their nationality will be expelled to Bangladesh, with the risk of becoming stateless. Last March, 5 million Muslims in Assam did not provide the necessary documents, according to Al Jazeera

A register impossible to update

"All those whose names are not on the National Register citizens will have to be expelled, "said Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister of Finance and Health of Assam, a few months ago. Without however, specify where the persons concerned would be sent. Regarding undocumented migrants, only Hindus of Bangladeshi origin will be allowed to stay in India, as permitted by law. In 1985, a law was passed declaring all Bangladeshis who arrived after 24 March 1971 as foreigners. Assam had until June 30 to update its National Register of Citizens, after the Supreme Court refused to grant the authorities additional time.

Updating the register is problematic: Assam Coordinator indicates that the process is "difficult because not all members of the same family live in the same place" and that "it is important to ensure that all concerned receive advice". giving them time to provide the requested documents. Many Muslims, whose families have lived in Assam for several decades, have learned that they are not on the register. They will soon be stateless.