Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Dozens take their own lives in Assam as two million people are told they may be stripped of Indian citizenship

Described as ‘shocking, shambolic and shameful’, the state’s register of citizens is rumoured to be arriving in other Indian states too. Adam Withnall reports on the latest BJP ruling that is playing with people’s lives

Tuesday 17 September 2019 15:04 BST
Comments
Villagers protest in Assam – those left off the register face detention or deportation
Villagers protest in Assam – those left off the register face detention or deportation

It was supposed to be the ultimate fix to weed out illegal immigrants, administered by a right-wing ruling party that dubbed them “termites”. Now, despite bizarre results, UN concerns and dozens of suicides directly linked to the shambolic process, senior politicians across India are talking about rolling it out nationwide.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published online in its final form at the weekend. Applying only to the verdant, tea-growing northeastern state of Assam, its creation has cost the country 1.5bn rupees (£16m) and the work of more than 52,000 officials. The human cost of the process, however, is a lot harder to calculate. As things stand, nearly two million people in Assam have been told that they are not citizens and, unless they successfully appeal, they face an uncertain future that could include being made stateless or put in a detention camp.

All of the state’s 33 million residents were invited to apply to be included on the NRC, and asked to provide potentially dozens of documents that proved they or their descendants were residents of the state before 1971. That date is significant. Assam, with the draw of work at its tea plantations and a porous, 262km-long border with Bangladesh, has long been subject to migration from both other countries and other states.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in