14. The CAA provides a back-door through which members of the majority religious group - Hindu’s – who were arbitrarily deprived of nationality through the NRC can re-establish their citizenship. Affected Muslims have no such recourse. 15. In defending the clear discriminatory intent behind the CAA, BJP officials have stated that “there is a fundamental difference between a refugee and an infiltrator.”21 Those excluded under the NRC, who find themselves outside the scope of the CAA must appeal to Foreigner’s Tribunals, which have a track record of arbitrary and discriminatory decision-making. Those who lose their appeals are subjected to detention.22 16. Many Rohingya have sought refuge in India. However, the above described developments have undermined their protection, as they are increasingly subject to detention, deportation, hate speech, violence and xenophobia. 17. This politico-legal landscape has heightened violence and hatred against Muslims in Assam and India as a whole. Anti-Muslim pogroms took hold of the capital New Delhi in February 2020. Following protests over the Citizenship Amendment Act, the pogroms in predominantly Muslim areas resulted in Muslims being attacked and their property destroyed. Fifty-two people were killed and over 200 were injured. The state response was slow and weak. Leading government ministers instigating the pogroms through hate speech and BJP officials described the protestors as “traitors”.23 Gender discrimination 18. In far too many countries, gender discrimination in nationality and family laws not only undermines women’s status as equal citizens and their equality within the family, but also facilitates and perpetuates discrimination on the basis of religion. The intersection of sex and religious discrimination exacerbates the harmful impact of these discriminatory laws and practices. 19. Nationality laws in twenty-five countries24 deny women the equal right to confer nationality on their children. If such children cannot acquire their father’s nationality, they may be rendered stateless. 20. In many countries with such gender-discriminatory nationality laws (Bahrain, Brunei, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia ,Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, and Syria) family laws also deny women the right to freely choose a spouse on the basis of religion, with Muslim women prohibited from marrying non-Muslims. Married couples of “banned” interfaith unions cannot acquire the marriage certificates required to secure birth certificates establishing their child’s legal link to the father. Children born of these unions are often rendered stateless, lacking the ability to acquire their father’s nationality due to the “illegitimate” marriage 21 Human Rights Watch, India: Citizenship Bill Discriminates Against Muslims, Dec. 2019. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/9/17/20861427/india-assam-citizenship-muslim-detention-camps 23 Shoot the Traitors, Human Rights Watch, Apr. 2020. 24 The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Brunei, Burundi, Eswatini, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Togo, United Arab Emirates, see also: https://equalnationalityrights.org/the-issue/the-problem 22