2021 STATELESSNESS AND THE CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT, 2019 177 category of illegal migrants.142 Post the 2004 Amendment, persons born on or after January 26, 1950 but before July 1, 1987 are citizens by the simple fact of birth in India.143 Next, persons born in India on or after July 1, 1987 but before January 1, 2004 are citizens if either of their parents was an Indian citizen at the time of their birth.144 Finally, persons born on or after January 1, 2004 are citizens only if neither of their parents is an illegal migrant at the time of their birth.145 Furthermore, the 1955 Act now also disqualifies persons who fall under the category of illegal migrant from obtaining citizenship by naturalisation or registration.146 To identify and deport such illegal migrants, the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003 (“2003 Rules”) were amended to initiate the preparation of an NRC.147 The bleak future that may lie ahead with the country-wide implementation of the 2003 Rules appears to be foreshadowed by the Assam NRC exercise. Since the publication of the Assam NRC’s final list, the first formal exercise of this nature,148 it has been heavily criticised by domestic and international commentators for rendering 19 million persons stateless.149 Further, the numerous egregious errors resulting in 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 2004 Amendment, s 2. 1955 Act, s 3 (1)(a). 1955 Act, s 3 (1)(b). 1955 Act, s 3 (1)(c). 1955 Act, s 3, s 5, s 6. Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules 2003; Ministry of Home Affairs, Notification S.O. 2753(E) 31 July 2019; 1955 Act, s 3, s 14A; Nizamuddin Siddiqui, ‘Why Citizenship Matters? Some Relevant Observations on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and the proposed National Register for Citizens in India’ [2019] SSRN <https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3702897> accessed 28 July 2021. The Assam NRC found 3,11,21,004 persons eligible for inclusion in the final list, whereas 19,06,657 were excluded as in BBC, ‘Assam NRC: What next for 1.9 Million “Stateless” Indians?’ (BBC, 31 August 2019) <https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-49520593> accessed 28 July 2021. Amnesty International India (n 118); NALSAR University of Law and others, The Courts and the Constitution, 2020: Past, Present and Future Directions (2020) <https://lawandotherthings.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Citizenship-Final.pdf> accessed 28 July 2021; Raunak Sood, ‘An Analysis of the NRC Controversy in Assam: Migration and Citizenship in India’ (Oxford Human Rights Hub, 14 December 2018) https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/an-analysis-of-the-nrc-controversy-in-assam-migration-and-citizenship-in-india/ accessed 28 July 2021; CJP Team, ‘Why the CAA+NPR+NRC is a Toxic Cocktail for Everyone’ (Citizens for Peace and Justice, 27 January 2020) <https://cjp.org.in/why-the-caanprnrc-is-a-toxic-cocktailfor-everyone/> accessed 28 July 2021; Harsh Mander and Mohsin Alam Bhat, ‘This Land is Mine’ (Heinrich Böll India, 31 January 2020) <https://in.boell.org/en/2020/01/31/land-mine> accessed 28 July 2021; Sangeeta Barooah, ‘Women Without Parents: An NRC Ground Report’ (The Wire, 13 September 2019) <https://thewire.in/rights/women-without-parents-an-nrcground-report> accessed 28 July 2021; Parichay Blog, ‘Interview with Swati Bidhan Baruah’ (Parichay, 5 October 2020) <https://parichayblog.org/2020/10/05/interview-with-swati-bidhanbaruah/> accessed 28 July 2021; Renuka Viswanathan, ‘Why Women are at Greater Risk with NPR/NRC’ (The Citizen, 23 February 2020) <https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/ NewsDetail/index/7/18360/Why-Women-Are-At-Greater-Risk-With-NPRNRC> accessed 28 July 2021.