In India, stories of fear, uncertain futures and perils of being stateless

What would you do if your country asks you to provide proof of citizenship, or to produce documents that could construct your family tree and then prove your link to that tree? What if your proof falls short, even though the only reality you know is that you were born in the land that now calls you a foreigner?

Imagine further that you live in India and belong to the impoverished, illiterate and marginalised sections of society that are document-poor. They could become the most disadvantaged if the burden of documentary proof of citizenship is on them.

If it is hard to imagine, here is the fact: Around 33 million people in the north-eastern state of Assam participated in a four-year exercise to find a place in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). It has resulted in nearly 1.9 million people, predominantly poor, being rendered stateless for lack of documentation. And the programme Insight saw first-hand the humanitarian crisis now unfolding following the government’s crackdown on illegal immigration.…

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What next for India’s Muslims? More suffering and a further crackdown on their rights by the Modi government – By Gareth Price (Mar 3, 2020, Independent)

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The mystery behind 127 Hyderabad residents asked to prove their citizenship by Aadhaar authority – By Aarefa Johari (Mar 5, 2020, Scroll.in)