M. Mohsin Alam Bhat & Aashish Yadav residing there.49 These events have further aggravated the concerns among the vulnerable communities about the impending policies. The fact that some states have already started establishing detention centres has not done any favours to the public opinion. The state government of Maharashtra assured that it would not build detention centres but it was directed by the central government to set up a temporary facility.50 The state of Karnataka opened its first detention centre for ‘illegal migrants’ in December 2019.51 The High Court of Karnataka recently held that ‘illegal migrants’ on bail shall also be kept in the detention centre till further orders of the court or deportation.52 There were widespread and spontaneous protests across the country against the CAA-NRIC. These were probably the largest protests of the kind in India since independence until the Covid-19 pandemic halted them for all practical purposes.53 The civil society has also mobilised against the CAA-NRIC and led the discourse by educating and rallying people.54 Assam also witnessed a large scale mobilisation against the CAA. Assam-based protestors saw in the CAA the nullification of the Assam Accord. They have expressed a growing distrust with the new citizenship law since they consider it antithetical to the preservation of their linguistic, ethnic and cultural identity.55 Since April 2020, several young anti-CAA protest leaders inside and outside Assam have been detained under stringent laws.56 Conclusion We have argued that despite the state’s framing of the CAA as purely a policy of granting citizenship, it entrenches and aggravates citizenship denial under the existing Indian law. Operating simultaneously with Assam’s NRC and the proposed NRIC, it threatens citizenship revocation for vulnerable groups, especially Muslims. This arbitrary and discriminatory system threatens to subject innumerable people to arcane legal procedures that will compromise the security of citizenship status. From the standpoint of the Indian Constitution, these developments radically diverge from inclusive and secular grounds of citizenship. Moreover, the absence of any progressive refugee policy, or laws securing the rights and entitlements of undocumented immigrants endanger the social and economic well-being of those vulnerable to these procedures. The public justifications and characterisation of these procedures in India resonate with the national security rhetoric often invoked in the West for denationalisation. Racial, ethnic and religious minorities 49 India Today (19 January 2020), Bengaluru Police demolishes makeshift houses of migrants as CAA-NRC debate rages on. https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/bengaluru-police-demolishes-makeshift-houses-of-migrants-as-caa-nrc-debaterages-on-1638322-2020-01-19. (consulted 22 June 2020) 50 The New Indian Express (5 March 2020), No detention centre coming up in Maharashtra: Minister Anil Deshmukh. https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2020/mar/05/no-detention-centre-coming-up-in-maharashtra-minister-anildeshmukh-2112750.html. (consulted 22 June 2020) 51 The Times of India (24 December 2019), Karnataka opens its first detention centre for illegal immigrants. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/karnataka-opens-its-1st-detention-centre-for-illegalimmigrants/articleshow/72946908.cms. (consulted 22 June 2020) 52 LiveLaw (7 June 2020), Keep Illegal Migrants In Foreigners Detention Centres Even After Grant Of Bail: Karnataka HC Issues Guidelines [Read Order]. https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/keep-illegal-migrants-in-foreigners-detention-centreseven-after-grant-of-bail-karnataka-hc-157961. (consulted 23 June 2020) 53 BBC (24 March 2020), Shaheen Bagh: Coronavirus clears long-running India citizenship protest. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-52015464. (consulted 22 June 2020) The Wire (31 December 2019), Civil Society, Political Groups Come Together to Protest Against CAA. https://thewire.in/rights/civil-society-political-groups-come-together-to-protest-against-caa. (consulted 22 June 2020) 54 55 56 34 Sarma, C.K. & O. B. Hazarika (2020), ‘Anti-CAA Protests and State Response in Assam: Identity Issues Challenge Hindutva-based Politics’, EPW Engage 14(55). Scroll (30 May 2020), Delhi violence: Pinjra Tod member Natasha Narwal booked under UAPA. https://scroll.in/latest/963353/delhi-violence-pinjra-tod-member-natasha-narwal-booked-under-uapa. (consulted 23 June 2020) Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Working Papers