Four million in Indian state risk losing citizenship

GUWAHATI, India: India on Monday effectively stripped four million people in Assam of citizenship, sparking fears of mass deportations of Muslims from the northeastern state.

A new draft register of citizens includes only those able to prove they were in Assam before 1971, when millions fled Bangladesh’s war of independence into the state, and their descendants.

Critics say it is the latest move by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bolster India’s Hindu majority at the expense of minorities. India will hold a national election next year.

The Assam government has brought in 25,000 extra security force members from outside the state in case of trouble. News of the draft register sparked opposition protests in the national parliament, forcing the adjournment of upper-chamber hearings for the day.

Just over four million of the more than 30 million people who applied to be on the list were excluded from the draft, said Shailesh, the registrar general of India, who uses one name.“No genuine Indian citizens need to worry as there will be ample opportunities given to them to enlist their names in the final list,” he told a news conference in Assam’s biggest city Guwahati.

He said appeals could be made under “well-laid-down procedures” starting August 30. The definitive list is to be finalised in December.“We are going to provide assistance to anyone whose names are not included in the document and whoever wishes to file a claim and objection in this regard,” Shailesh added.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won control of Assam in 2016 after promising to expel illegal immigrants from mainly Muslim Bangladesh and protect the rights of indigenous groups.Assam, where one third of the population is Muslim, is the only Indian state to compile a register of citizens.

Hundreds of thousands fled to India from Bangladesh during its 1971 war of independence. Most settled in Assam, which shares a long border with Bangladesh.Migrants have since been accused of illegally entering the state and taking land and jobs, causing tensions with locals.

Rights groups have criticised the government move, saying deletion from citizenship lists was similar to Myanmar’s removal of rights and protections for its Rohingya community in 1982.Avaaz, a US-based activist group slammed the Indian action.

“It’s just Muslims who will likely have to go through a complicated, unfair appeal with no right to counsel, ending in no hope of staying if they lose,” Ricken Patel, the executive director of Avaaz, said in a statement.