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NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS IN ASSAM: A HUMANITARIAN

PERSPECTIVE

Presentation · January 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23615.12961

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Urmitapa Dutta Abdul Kalam Azad

University of Massachusetts Lowell Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
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NATIONAL REGISTER OF
CITIZENS IN ASSAM:
A HUMANITARIAN
PERSPECTIVE
Created by Urmitapa Dutta & Abdul Kalam Azad
 TOPICS COVERED

This presentation provides an overview of the National Register of Citizens and its implementation in Assam,
India. The objective is to acquire a humanitarian perspective of the issues, especially its impact on most
vulnerable communities – already dispossessed and displaced communities living in ecologically fragile areas. It
also highlights grassroots activism and resistance enacted within these communities along with
recommendations for coalition and solidarity building to support their work.

I. II. Understanding III. IV. V.

Current the historical The human Grassroots What can
crisis and context, costs of activism you do?
context reframing the NRC and
issue resistance
 NORTHEAST INDIA:
AN EXERCISE IN
COLONIALITY

Continuation of colonial policies,

relations, and trends by successive
governments in post-colonial India

Historically, Northeast treated as “the other” by the Indian state and viewed through the lens of
“national security.” The current issues, protests and counter-protests have to be understood keeping
these colonial relations in mind.

Armed Forces Special Power Act of 1958 (AFSPA)

This colonial era act can be put into operation in any area declared “disturbed” by the Indian Government. It authorizes
the armed forces to use force “even to the causing of death” in disturbed areas in the following circumstances: against any
person acting against a law or order, to prevent the assembly of more than five persons, and/or against anyone carrying
weapons or anything that is capable of being used as a weapon. Furthermore, the act states that no legal proceeding can
be brought against any member of the armed forces under the AFSPA, without permission of the Central Government.
AFSPA has been implicated in widespread violation of human rights in Northeast India and Jammu & Kashmir.
 I. CURRENT CRISIS

This section provides a brief summary of the current crisis – who are affected, the
mechanisms of disenfranchisement, adjudication of claims, and recent statistics.
 INTRODUCTION

Eroding Citizenship in Assam

Watch this video (click on the icon) to learn
about the people in Assam whose names are
missing from the NRC - the National Register of
Citizens; people who are labelled as
“foreigners.” Produced by. Karwan e Mohabbat,
this is the story of the people who live in the
Char islands and constitute ~10% of the
population of Assam.
 NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS (NRC)

1,906,657 disenfranchised
at risk of detention and statelessness
 WHO ARE AFFECTED BY NRC?

Indigenous Muslims
Bengal origin
(e.g., Deshi, Goria, Bengali Hindus
Muslims
Moria)

Nepali, Hajongs, Koch, Rajbangshis, and

other tribal groups

Women, children, destitute people, people living in hard to

reach areas like chars
 WHO ARE AFFECTED BY NRC?

Indigenous Muslims
Bengal origin
(e.g., Deshi, Goria, Bengali Hindus
Muslims
Moria) There are three
major mechanisms
that are used to
Nepali, Hajongs, Koch, Rajbangshis, and
other tribal groups disenfranchise
these groups.
Women, children, destitute people, people living in hard to
reach areas like chars
 MECHANISMS OF DISENFRANCHISEMENT

D (doubtful)
Voter

Reference
Excluded
Case (Border
from NRC
Police)

Foreigners’
Note that the
Tribunal burden of proof is
on those accused of
being “foreigners”
EXCLUDED FROM NATIONAL
REGISTER OF CITIZENS (NRC)

vFirst published after 1951

census to detect “illegal
immigrants”
vDerived from the
Foreigners’ Act of 1946
vCut off date: March 24, 1971
v Exclusions during updating
of NRC in 2014 – 2019
 D (DOUBTFUL) VOTER:
ELECTION COMMISSION

v 1997 Election
Commission of India
conducted extensive
revision of voter lists
v 3.7 lakh voters were
marked as doubtful or
Shajahan Kazi, a school teacher was D voters
marked as D voter
v From a one-time event to
Source: TRTWorld [Link] routine exercise
 REFERENCE CASE:
ASSAM POLICE BORDER ORGANIZATION
Army veteran Sana Ullah was
suspected to be a foreigner by
Assam Police Border
Organization
Source:The Hindu [Link]
v 4000+ forces are engaged to
“detect and deport illegal
foreigners”
vEmpower to fingerprint
anyone who is a
“suspected foreigner”
v Nearly 2.5 lakhs cases
referred to Foreigners’
Tribunal
FOREIGNERS’ TRIBUNALS (FT)

Quasi-judicial bodies responsible for

hearing cases with respect to
foreigners/non-citizens/D-voters under the
Foreigners Act, 1946.

Foreigners’ Tribunals have the power to

deem a person Declared Foreigner
based on insufficient evidence.
 PROBLEMS WITH THE STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTIONING OF FOREIGNERS’ TRIBUNALS (FT)

• No. of FTs on the rise: Already 100 FTs are functional, another 200
added last month, total 1000 FTs will be established in Assam
• FTs are allowed to form their own procedure, burden of proof on the
accused.
• Qualification and affiliation of appointees: Lawyers with 7 years of
experience and retired civil servants of Assam government are
appointed as FT member – not an autonomous body
• Performance of FTs evaluated based on number of people declared as
foreigners; otherwise contracts are not renewed.
 PROBLEMS WITH THE STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTIONING OF FOREIGNERS’ TRIBUNALS (FT)

• Latest circular from Ministry of Home Affairs empowers FTs to

reject appeals of those excluded from NRC without hearing
their case.

• People are declared foreigners for minor discrepancies like

spelling mistake, mismatch of age in different year’s electoral roll,
etc.

• Bureaucratic documentation as the sole and overriding criterion

for establishing citizenship.
 CURRENT SCENARIO

Foreigners’ Detention
Tribunals Camps
 CURRENT SCENARIO

~ 400,000 people
marked as D-voters
and reference cases
Foreigners’ Detention
Another ~2 million Tribunals Camps
people added to
queue (excluded
from NRC)
 CURRENT SCENARIO

More than 100,000 people

~ 400,000 people declared foreigners via ex
marked as D-voters parte judgements
and reference cases
Foreigners’ Detention
Another ~2 million Tribunals Camps
people added to
queue (excluded
from NRC)
 CURRENT SCENARIO

More than 100,000 people

~ 400,000 people declared foreigners via ex More than 1000
marked as D-voters parte judgements people in ad-hoc
and reference cases detention facilities
Foreigners’ Detention
Another ~2 million Massive detention
Tribunals Camps camp being
people added to
queue (excluded constructed with 10
from NRC) more in the works
 CURRENT SCENARIO:
CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT 2019

Fast tracks citizenship for persecuted Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and
Christians who arrived in India before Dec. 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or
Afghanistan [Muslims conspicuously excluded in the act]
• Violates Constitutional principles of secularity, Equality (Article 14), right to life (Article 21) and
non-discrimination (Article 15). These rights are absolute, i.e., they apply to “any person” and are
not limited to citizens of India.
• Examples of persecuted groups ignored by the Act: Rohingyas from Myanmar, Tamils from Sri Lanka
(Muslim or Hindu), Ahmadiyyas from Pakistan
• Combined with the NRC, it can become a mechanism for persecuting and/or rendering stateless people
from several groups e.g., Muslim, Dalit, transgender, Adivasi, women, landless people.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

about the CAB/CAA 2019
 CURRENT SCENARIO:
CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT 2019
IMPLICATIONS FOR THOSE EXCLUDED FROM NRC OR
DECLARED AS FOREIGNERS

Hindus Muslims

CAA offers Denied claims

pathway to CAA to cultural
citizenship citizenship
India’s first mass detention center under
construction in Goalpara district, Assam
Tiered
citizenship Statelessness Detention Credit: Reuters/Anuwar Hazarika
[More info]
 THE 2019 CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT(CAA):
IMPLIC ATIONS

Fast tracks citizenship for persecuted Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who
arrived in India before Dec. 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Afghanistan.
• Two major groups conspicuously absent: Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils
• Violates Constitutional secular principles, viz., Article 14 – “The State shall not deny to any person
equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”
Rights under Article 14 are absolute and not exclusive to the citizens of India but to “any person.”
• In Assam (and Northeast India), which shares a border with Bangladesh, people fear an ethnic, and
demographic shift due to “influx of immigrants” (not just Muslims).

No pathways to citizenship available for Tiered citizenship

those from Bengal origin Muslim Detention Positioned as “foreigners,” they lose
communities who are declared Statelessness any claims to cultural citizenship
foreigners
 THE 2019 CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT(CAA):
IMPLIC ATIONS

Fast tracks citizenship for persecuted Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians who
arrived in India before Dec. 31, 2014, from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Afghanistan.
• Two major groups conspicuously absent: Muslims and Sri Lankan Tamils
• Violates Constitutional secular principles, viz., Article 14 – “The State shall not deny to any person
equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.”
Rights under Article 14 are absolute and not exclusive to the citizens of India but to “any person.”
• In Assam (and Northeast India), which shares a border with Bangladesh, people fear an ethnic, and
demographic shift due to “influx of immigrants” (not just Muslims).

No pathways to citizenship available for Tiered citizenship

those from Bengal origin Muslim Detention Positioned as “foreigners,” they lose
communities who are declared Statelessness any claims to cultural citizenship
foreigners
 II. UNDERSTANDING HISTORICAL
CONTEXT, REFRAMING ISSUES
This section places the current crisis in historical context. Looking at colonial and postcolonial
histories of migration, boundaries, and displacement helps to reframe the current issue – so
that it is not reduced to “illegal immigration” or “infiltration.”

Colonial period: Forced
movement/colonial population
transfers since mid-19th century
NOTE: State power is triggered differently by differently
positioned bodies. In Assam, the vast majority of those
disenfranchised are Bengal-origin Muslim communities who
now risk detention and statelessness. What is erased in
dominant narratives of ‘illegal immigration” is colonial
population transfers or the forced movement of Muslim
peasants from present Bangladesh to serve as agricultural
workers in the plains of Assam.

British Muslim Bengalis Migrants initially

colonizers brought to received
annexed Assam Assam engage in favorably
in 1826 agriculture

Tea discovered;
Adivasis brought to Muslim peasants
work in tea brought into Assam to
plantations settle in fertile lands
 Colonial period:
Divide and rule policy

Middle class and 1931 census Land rights of

political leadership report incited Muslim peasants
threatened by large Assamese who migrated
against Bengali
scale migration of Muslim after 1938
peasants revoked

Line system 1940s saw rise in violence; 1000s

established in 1920s of Muslim peasants evicted by
(Muslim peasants allowed provincial council
to settle only in specific
demarcated regions)
 NOTE: While questions of citizenship rights are complex in any heterogenous context,
they are especially fraught with difficulty in post-colonial societies. In the Indian context,
Colonial period: the British colonial administration engaged in a systematic process of demarcating
Shifting boundaries and classifying people in ways that were antithetical to diverse local
circumstances and needs. The British colonial administration used shifting borders as a
cartographies means of retaining control over subject populations and to curb resistance/dissent.

Image source: Assam in Historical Maps, https://cjp.org.in/assam/ Borders are not natural; they are often a function of
political expediencies and interests rather than
meaningful correspondence to people’s sense of
belonging.
 NOTE: While popular ideas of immigration,
Post-colonial infiltration, influx, etc. lead people to assume that
period: there are clearly demarcated borders that establish
territorial integrity, the Indo-Bangladesh border is in
Reconfiguration of fact one of the most one of the most contested,
international and convoluted, and porous borders in the world. It is also
state boundaries one of the most heavily militarized borders.

Assam (1947) 1972

Meghalaya gets statehood
(Garo, Khasi, and Jaintia Hills
separate from Assam following
hill state movement)
1971 1972/1986
Source: https://cjp.org.in/assam/#history
Formation of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh
Bangladesh separate from Assam
(formerly East (As Union Territories in. 1972 & states
Pakistan) in 1986)
 Post-colonial The narrative of “illegal immigrants,” “foreigners,” and “infiltrators” have haunted the
period: geopolitics and cultural politics of Assam during the entire postcolonial period. These
categories tend to be pitted against those of “original inhabitants,” “genuine Indian
The narrative of citizens,” or “indigenous people.” Yet, as the complicated history of migration and forced
the “illegal movement indicate, the questions of who is a citizen and who is a foreigner is not a
immigrant” simple one. In fact, these categories are not congruent with the history of the region.

1979 – 1985 1985

Nellie massacre (1983) Assam
Assam agitation
14 villages (predominantly Bengal Accord
“extinction of
origin Muslims) decimated; 1800 Updating NRC
indigenous people” Source: The Guardian, Sept. 9, 2019
people killed; mostly women and as part of
“proliferation of children who could not escape
foreign influence” agreement
the mobs; unofficial figure ~3000)
“detect, delete, and [Read more] 2014 – present
detain/expel Illegal immigrants |
foreigners | infiltrators
Exercise of updating
foreigners” Nellie Massacre:The NRC
vs.
Untold Story (Hindi) original inhabitants | Demolition and
By Shakil Ahmed genuine citizens | indigenes eviction exercises
 POSTCOLONIAL CONTEXT:
THE NARRATIVE OF THE “ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT”

Illegal immigrants | foreigners | infiltrators

vs.
original inhabitants | genuine Indian citizens | indigenes

t • Indigenous and Bengal origin Muslim communities

h • Bengali Hindus from East Pakistan
e • Internally displaced people
The category of “illegal immigrants” is not a
homogenous one. Essentially, the category of
o • Colonial population transfers “Illegal immigrant” has come to stand for a
t • Movement prior to partitions diverse group of people considered ethnic,
h • Movement across enclaves cultural, religious and linguistic others. Notably,
e the fault line, unlike other parts of India, is not
r • “Tea tribes” and migrant workers primarily religious.
 POSTCOLONIAL CONTEXT:
NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS

The infographic, taken from the official NRC

website, lays out the process that people whose
names are excluded have to go through in order
to submit their claims. It offers a glimpse of the
convoluted and complicated process of making
citizenship claims. Here bureaucratic
documentation has become the sole and
overriding criterion of citizenship—where all
rights and identity claims are linked to state-issued
documents.

a r y
e nt
u m ce?
oc e n
D vid Image source: www.nrcassam.nic.in
E
 POSTCOLONIAL CONTEXT:
NATIONAL REGISTER OF CITIZENS

When we consider this being enforced in a

context where:
a) the state has abysmal history of record
keeping,
b) the functional literacy rate is extremely low
c) poverty levels are extremely high
d) there are many migrant and displaced
populations,
e) demands for documentary evidence is skewed
against women, transgender people, and poor
communities
we can see how the NRC functions as a form of
a r y state sanctioned violence.
e nt
u m ce?
oc e n
D vid Image source: www.nrcassam.nic.in
E
 REFRAMING THE ISSUE:
NRC AS A FORM OF STATE SPONSORED
VIOLENCE

Targeted at ethnolinguistic “others”

Overreliance on bureaucratic documentation; demand for

evidence used to exclude people

Legislature, executive, and judiciary are implicated in exclusion

and persecution

Violation of rights; suppression and criminalization of dissent

 III. THE HUMAN COST

This section provides a glimpse into the human costs

of the NRC, its implications for the most vulnerable
communities in Assam.
STORY FROM THE GROUND

Who killed Zabeda’s baby? | Citizenship

Distress in Assam
Watch this video (click on the icon) to learn
what does it mean to lose your home? Your
income, savings, family, identity, citizenship?
What does it mean to lose your own child...all
because of the state's arbitrary rules and callous
human errors?
 Sleep disorders Impact on
Increase in
Increased
Loss of appetite physical and vulnerability to
gendered
mental discrimination and
Shame and isolation violence
health reduced access

Economic
burden, NRC and
Accidents, deaths climate Social segregation,
loss of conflict, and violence
[More info] livelihood change
[Read [More info] [Read info]
more]
More than 60 suicides
Assam Family’s NRC
More than 25 deaths in Ordeal: 2 Deaths, Bleak Future
Detention
detention camps & Endless Trauma
The Quint
[More info]
IV. GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM AND
RESISTANCE
 ONGOING WORK & NEXT STEPS

Civic education and Community Narrative

awareness: empowerment: intervention:
Consciousness raising Gender justice Shifting public discourse
about Miya
Policy advocacy Sustainability communities
Peacebuilding
EXAMPLES FROM THE GRASSROOTS

I am Miya: Reclaiming identity through

protest poetry
Watch this video (click on the icon) to learn about the
creative and arts based resistance in Assam – how poets
and activists from persecuted communities are using
poetry to reclaim their identities
[Read more Miya poetry here]

Activists help 2 million Assam residents

fight to keep Indian citizenship
The Observer
 CHALLENGES FACED BY GRASSROOTS
ORGANIZERS AND ACTIVISTS

• Criminalization of resistance and advocacy

• Multiple police cases registered
• Negative campaigns by local media
• Death threat, rape threat, and organized trolling on
social media
• Campaigns to instill fear and xenophobia
• Blocking access to resources, livelihood to impede
the activism
V. WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Create awareness about the crisis

Try to influence public opinion whenever possible

Support building of solidarity and coalitions with similarly engaged

activists/movements

Support capacity building amongst activists and communities on the ground

Unequivocally oppose state repression, police brutality, and militarized response to

protests in Northeast India (regardless of the specific demands of protests)
 HELPFUL RESOURCES

• Eroding Citizenship in Assam: https://youtu.be/Lp-owKTRz0I

• Assam NRC: A History of Violence and Persecution:
https://thewire.in/rights/assam-nrc-a-history-of-violence-and-persecution
• Foreigners Tribunals:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=9&v=xsItZJ7P-SQ
• The Crisis in Assam – Citizens for Justice and Peace (Comprehensive
resource) - https://cjp.org.in/assam/
 THANK YOU

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