The National Register of Citizens, or NRC, is the list of Indian citizens in Assam.

It is being
updated to weed out illegal immigration from Bangladesh and neighbouring regions. It is a
register containing names of all genuine Indian citizens. At present, only Assam has such a
register.

The exercise may be extended to other states as well. Nagaland is already creating a similar
database known as the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants. The Centre is planning to create a
National Population Register (NPR), which will contain demographic and biometric details of
citizens.

The 1951 NRC in Assam

NRC for Indian citizens in Assam was first created in 1951. Manipur and Tripura were also
granted permission to create their own NRCs, but it never materialised. The list comprised of
those who lived in India on January 26, 1950, or were born in India or had parents who were
born in India or had been living in India for at least five years before the January 26, 1950
cut-off.
In 2010, NRC was first started as a pilot project in two districts of Assam — Barpeta and Kamrup.
Nevertheless, this was abandoned in the aftermath of violence in one of the districts. NRC got a
fresh momentum after the Supreme Court’s intervention in the response of a petition filed by a non-
governmental organisation Assam Public Works demanding the removal of the illegal migrants from
the voters' list. The Assam government under the supervision of the Supreme Court executed NRC.

The process to update the register began following a Supreme Court order in 2013, with the
state’s nearly 33 million people having to prove that they were Indian nationals prior to
March 24, 1971.
In Assam, one of the basic criteria was that the names of applicant's family members should
either be in the first NRC prepared in 1951 or in the electoral rolls up to March 24, 1971.

Under Article 6 of the Constitution, the cut-off date for migration to India from Pakistan is July 19,
1948. “There are other provisions like citizenship by birth and naturalisation as per the Citizenship
Act, 1955. In Assam, the cut-off date for inclusion in the updated NRC is March 25, 1971, as spelt out
in the Assam Accord.

According to Vice-Chancellor of NALSAR, Hyderabad, Faizan Mustafa, the date to acquire

Indian citizenship for those who migrated from Pakistan is 1948 only. They become citizens
automatically and those who came after that date, need a registration.

“First, the constitutionality of cut-off date should be determined. If tomorrow, the SC that is
examining the NRC, says that the cut-off date for Assam should be 1948 and not 1971, then
the entire exercise will be futile,” Mr. Mustafa said.

The updated final NRC was released on August 31, with over 1.9 million applicants failing to
make it to the list.

How does one prove citizenship?

In Assam, one of the basic criteria was that the names of applicant's family members should
either be in the first NRC prepared in 1951 or in the electoral rolls up to March 24,
1971. Other than that, applicants also had the option to present documents such as refugee
registration certificate, birth certificate, LIC policy, land and tenancy records, citizenship
certificate, passport, government issued licence or certificate, bank/post office accounts,
permanent residential certificate, government employment certificate, educational certificate
and court records.

What happens with the excluded individuals

"Non-inclusion of a person's name in the NRC does not by itself amount to him/her being
declared a foreigner," govt has said. Such individuals will have the option to present their
case before foreigners' tribunals. If one loses the case in the tribunal, the person can move the
high court and, then, the Supreme Court.

In the case of Assam, the state government has clarified it will not detain any individual until
he/she is declared a foreigner by the foreigners' tribunal.

Home Minister Amit Shah reiterated his stand on a wider NRC exercise a few days ago in Kolkata
when he said “all infiltrators will be thrown out” while assuring six non-Muslim communities from
neighbouring Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan that the “BJP government will bring the
Citizenship Amendment Bill before NRC.” The Bill seeks to provide citizenship to Hindu, Sikh,
Buddhist, Jain, Parsis and Christians from the three neighbouring countries.

The CAB is an outrightly sectarian Bill, which will change the definition of illegal immigrants. The
government seeks to amend it in order to facilitate the grant of Indian citizenship to non-Mulsim
immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who are of Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Parsi, Buddhist
and Christian extraction and who had migrated to India without valid travel documents or the
validity period of whose documents had expired during their stay in India. These people were
compelled to seek refuge in India owing to religious persecution or fear of religious persecution in
their countries of origin. The Bill has no provision for Muslim sects such as Shia and Ahmediya,
whose members face persecution in Pakistan.

The Assam NRC was monitored by the Supreme Court. The final list published on August 31
excluded 19 lakh out of 3.29 crore applicants in the State.

Impact of NRC Assam amongst people

observation from the ground
In Assam, people are still reconciling with the initial shock of publication of the final list of
the National Register of Citizens (NRC). On 31 August, the final list was unveiled and it
included 3,11,21,004 persons as India’s citizens and excluded another 19,96,657 persons.
And many of them is Begali Hindu. People are now trying to figure out and plan their next
step.

NRC was conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court of India, in response to a
writ petition filed by an Assam based non-governmental organisation, Assam Public Works
(APW), which aimed to protect the rights of the indigenous people of Assam. Notably, APW
is dissatisfied with the outcome of the NRC. The organisation has filed an affidavit in the
Supreme Court demanding 100% reverification of the NRC.

Today, a feeling of despair is prevailing amongst the people because claims are made about
the inclusion of foreigners in the list, while genuine Indian citizens have been excluded.

Barak Valley comprises of three Bengali speaking districts: Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakadi
in southern Assam.

Nevertheless, Bengali speaking people have been inhabitants of the valley for a long time.
Before the Partition of India in 1947, Karimganj was part of the Sylhet district, which was in
Assam in undivided India. In 1874, Sylhet was broke away from greater Bengal and merged
with Assam to make the state commercially lucrative because of the district’s rich resources.
Karimganj came to India following a referendum during Partition.

In the valley, Hindus maintain a marginal majority and Islam is the next largest religion
practised by the people. According to the 2011 census, Muslims are in majority in Karimganj
and Hailakandi districts. In NRC final lists, Karimganj and Hailakandi are the two districts
which had a higher number of inclusions. Inclusions in Karimganj and Hailakandi are
92.33%, and 91.96% respectively. Amongst the three districts, exclusion in Cachar is highest.
Around 15 percent of the applicants have been left out in the final list.

The persons who made it to the final list are thanking their fate, but this did not reduce their
suffering since names of many of their family members and friends are missing in the final
list. Today, people have been questioning the fairness of the NRC process.

Many of the families fear separation from their near and dear ones, especially those who
could not make it to the final list. They fear their loved ones being detained in detention
camps meant for confining the foreigners in Assam.

Authorities have decided to establish 11 detention camps in districts like Goalpara, Barpeta,
Dima, Hasao, Kamrup, Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar and Sonitpur.
The first of its kind is under construction in Goalpara, a district that will house around 3,000
people. Each of these centres will have a capacity of at least 1,000 people. Currently, there
are six detention centres operating in the district jail. Families of the persons are holding the
NRC responsible for infusing uncertainty in their lives.

The government promised that excluded persons would continue to enjoy all the rights of a
citizen. If one has exhausted all other options, the government has also promised to provide
the legal option to appeal for a redressal. In this respect, the first step would be to appeal to
the Foreigners Tribunal (FT). People can approach the High Court and the Supreme Court for
reconciliation if they are not satisfied with the FT’s decision. Around 400 FTs are planned to
be established for hearing these cases. Already, the work of establishing 200 FTs have been
initiated and rest of the 200 will be set up in the coming months.

People are apprehensive about the capacity of the FT’s timely delivery of justice. At present,
three to four lakh cases are pending in 100 of the existing tribunals. Recently, 221 members,
equivalent to the judge position, have been appointed into FTs for hearing of the cases, but
people feel it is insufficient to deal with such a large number of appeals. Besides, applying to
the FTs will require financial resources. Not all the applicants will have adequate financial
support to pursue their case.

The NRC is expected to end the illegal Bangladeshi migrant issue, which has been a much
debated topic in Assam. The migrant debate has been a point of tension in Assam’s
multicultural and multi-ethnic society. During the 1980s, Assam witnessed a bloody, ethnic
conflict over the issue of infiltration from Bangladesh. The people of Assam wanted a
conclusion of peace and development for the region.

Post-NRC, people expressed scepticism of fragmentation of the society along ethnic and
religious lines. The apprehension expressed by some, is that the exploitation of the situation
by some vested groups might open up a new dimension in the identity politics in Assam.

An important question that comes up is, the preponderant issue to introspect NRC was
benefited by whom- the local or the migrants. Ultimately, the point to ponder is, it is the
lives of the people involved. Even if the people excluded are migrants, they had compelling
reasons behind their migration. In the present era, deportation is not a preferred option.
Moreover, Bangladesh does not recognise infiltration-taking place from its end.

Again, government does not recognise all the people left out are illegal migrants rather
refugees. For example, the Bengali Hindus who are forced to migrate to follow religious
persecution back home. The ruling party in Assam has expressed its displeasure over the
NRC outcome. Besides, an important section that is excluded is women who migrated to the
state due to marriage. All such issues demand a patient hearing.

The NRC has exposed many fault lines and to some extent dwindled the confidence level of
Assam’s people on the government machinery. However, It will be fruitful to watch how the
state navigates its way through these challenges and brings everyone together to fulfil the
dream of Assam as a vibrant, inclusive, peaceful and prosperous society.

The Government has laid down a well-structured redressal mechanism. In this respect, 400
Foreigners Tribunal (FT) have been set up to hear the cases of the people left out in NRC.
Such individuals have to file their claim within 120 days from the declaration of the final list.
FT is not the end of the road. If the individual is not happy with the verdict passed by the FT,
he/shecan approach the High Court and Supreme Court. In addition, the government declared
no one be treated as a foreigner unless he/she has exhausted all the legal options. Yet, such
announcement could not subside the agony and the trauma of the people of being stateless.

The NRC in Assam is basically a list of Indian citizens living in the state. The citizens’
register sets out to identify foreign nationals in the state that borders Bangladesh.

I visited the Barak Valley in Assam to gain a first-hand understanding of the people’s
responses from the ground, post-NRC. Three days in the region allowed me to interact with a
cross-section of the people, cutting across religious and ethnic divides.