Millions of people potentially excluded from Indian citizenship in a controversial register



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The publication of the National Register of Citizens (CNR) comes Monday in a popular anger against illegal immigration to Assam, which shares a porous border with Bangladesh.

Proponents of the register say it will help eliminate Bangladeshi illegal immigrants, but this decision has sparked fears of deportations among the hundreds of thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims in Assam.

The decision to impose a state-wide citizen registry has made parallels with the Rakhine state in Myanmar, where Rohingya Muslims have long been confronted with persecution because of their Bangladeshi descent.
Last year, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas were forced to cross the border into Bangladesh as part of a targeted attack by the UN on ethnic cleansing.

Tensions over citizenship began to be felt for decades in Assam, resurfacing this year with the government's effort to root out "Bengalis" and "strangers."

Many Bengalis have lived in India for decades, crossing the border with Assam during the bloody struggle for independence of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) in 1971. Many others can tracing their history until the independence of India in 1947.

  Assam is the only state in India to have a citizenship registry. Assam villagers are queuing up to check their names on the first NRC draft earlier this year.

Appeal Process

Security was strengthened throughout the tea-rich state in anticipation of possible anti-immigration violence as a result of the release of the registry .

Of the 32.9 million people in the state, 28.9 million people were recognized as legal citizens

Assam is the only Indian state to have a registry of citizenship. It was established in 1951 to identify Indian citizens of illegal migrants from East Pakistan.

The deadline for being eligible for Indian citizenship is March 24, 1971, one day before the start of the Bangladesh liberation war.

Authorities stated that no one would be deported until an appeal process was allowed. The authorities have made assurances that those who will stay off the list will be able to appeal from August 30 to September 28, 2018.

In the weekly economic and political, Sanjoy Hazarika, activist of the rights of the Human and Human Rights Director of the Commonwealth Initiative, said that it was not clear what will happen to those who could end up stateless.

"While a number of illegal immigrants can emerge across the NRC, there is no clarity on what happens after identification and prosecution: they can not be deported Many of them, Hindus and Muslims, have apparently established homes and businesses, schools, farms and factories, including students and college students, "Hazarika said.

" What is the process of treating their cases? Will they be removed from their homes and from each other? Where will they be held? These questions must be answered, "added Hazarika, asking questions that Indian and state governments still have to address

Living in Limbo

Expressing At a press conference after the launch of the final draft list, Sailesh, the Registrar General and India's Census Commissioner attempted to calm fears, suggesting that the state government would begin a period of "claims and objections".

"We will wait for the finalization of the NRC … No punitive or penal measures will be taken," added Sailesh

Indian Interior Minister Rajnath Singh issued a statement on Twitter on 22 August July, stating: The Rules of Citizenship provide that anyone who is not satisfied with the outcome of the claims and objections may appeal to the Aliens Court, which means that it is not necessary. There is no question of placing someone in a detention center after the publication of the CNR. In 1983, hundreds of people were killed in Assam by rioters to hunt Muslim immigrants.

The renewed process of updating the list began in 2015 under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India.

Those whose names or names of their descendants appeared in the 1951 NRC will be included in the final draft, which is expected to be published in December 2018.

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