What would you do if you suddenly discovered you were not considered a citizen of the country where your family had lived for generations? Nearly 2 million people in India's northeast Assam have been left off a massive list of Indian citizens in the state this weekend. Published Saturday, the controversial new National Register of Citizens (NRC) excludes 1.9 million of the state's population of 33 million.
The register's supporters say it will help root out undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants, but critics fear it will lead to the deportation of Assam's hundreds of thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims, with claims to legal residency. There are also concerns that the register will be used to justify religious discrimination against Muslims in the state. Since 2015, all residents of Assam have had to prove with documentary evidence that they or their relatives were living in the state before March 24, 1971 -- the day preceding the Bangladesh Liberation War -- to be considered eligible for Indian citizenship.
The register's supporters say it will help root out undocumented Bangladeshi immigrants, but critics fear it will lead to the deportation of Assam's hundreds of thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims, with claims to legal residency. There are also concerns that the register will be used to justify religious discrimination against Muslims in the state. Since 2015, all residents of Assam have had to prove with documentary evidence that they or their relatives were living in the state before March 24, 1971 -- the day preceding the Bangladesh Liberation War -- to be considered eligible for Indian citizenship.
