processes, over two million people are currently at risk of statelessness in Assam. The NRC was created in 1951 on the basis of the 1951 census, and between 2013 and 2019 the NRC in Assam was updated for the first time, ostensibly to establish a decisive record of who is a citizen and who is a foreigner, or “illegal migrant”. The NRC process has been heavily criticised, including due to onerous documentation requirements and reverification processes, which have had particularly negative impacts on the most marginalised (see Issue I). In August 2019, the final NRC Assam list was published, excluding 1,906,657 persons, the majority of whom are reportedly Hindu and Muslim Bengali speakers. While those excluded have the right to appeal, the appeals process has not begun, leaving many in a state of extended precarity. Also particular to the citizenship regime in Assam are quasi-judicial bodies set up under the Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 1964, to identify foreigners in the state. Declared foreigners (DFNs) are subject to detention and deportation to Bangladesh, which does not recognise them as its citizens, leaving them effectively stateless (see Issue II). 13. While the NRC process remains unique to Assam, the Union Government and highranking officials have previously expressed intentions to introduce a nation-wide NRC process. Although there do not appear to be any plans to begin this process, these calls are reflective of a wider majoritarian politicisation of citizenship under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party since its election in 2014. This politicisation aligns with a vision of India as a nation-state of and for Hindus above all, in particular, Muslims. This was most clear with the introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA 2019), which was met with legal challenges and country-wide protests, which were violently repressed by the state. The CAA 2019 stipulates that “persons belonging to minority communities, namely, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan...shall not be treated as illegal migrants for the purposes of this Act”. CAA 2019 Section 6 relaxes residency requirements for naturalisation and creates a separate pathway to citizenship for such persons. The CAA 2019 follows the Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 and the Passports (Entry into India) Amendment Rules of 2015, which exempt the same minority groups from proceedings under the Foreigners Act, 1946, and prosecution for immigration offences. In May 2021 the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) passed an order under Section 16 of the CA 1955 which empowers the Union Government to delegate powers under the Act and introduced a specific procedure for naturalisation and registration for citizenship for the populations stipulated in the CAA 2019 who are resident in specified districts in five states.13 Ultimately, these changes have created a preferential pathway to citizenship for the specified populations by (I) exempting them from the definition of the term “illegal migrant” and prosecution for immigration offences, and (II) creating an expedited route to citizenship. 14. When considered together, these amendments have resulted in discriminatory access to citizenship in India under the guise of protecting minority rights. While the stated purpose of the CAA 2019 has been to protect persecuted religious minorities in South Asia, it remains unavailable to key persecuted groups including Ahmadis in Pakistan, Sri Lankan Tamils, and Rohingyas from Myanmar. Thousands of the latter two groups 13 Ministry of Home Affairs, Foreigners Division, Order, S.O. 2069(E), https://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2021/227219.pdf , Introduces a procedure for specified persons in certain districts in the states of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan. 4