Migrants, Refugees and the Stateless in India Notably, contrary to public expectations, the final NRC list reportedly has more Hindus on it than Muslims.54 State and central governments—both under the Hindu nationalist BJP— sought a potential workaround for all non-Muslims excluded from the Assam NRC list. As the Indian Home Minister said: I want to assure all Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christian refugees that you will not be forced to leave India by the Centre. Don’t believe rumours. Before NRC, we will bring the Citizenship Amendment Bill, which will ensure these people get Indian citizenship.55 The bill the Home Minister was referring to, and was signed into law on 12 December 2019, has redefined the ‘illegal immigrant’ category on religious lines, by excluding all Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist and Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, from its purview. All are thus made eligible for naturalisation. Muslims, however, will continue to be covered under the ‘illegal migrant’ category. Over the past months, there has been a clamour by BJP-ruled states across the country to implement NRC-like exercises of their own. The central government’s first policy statement after returning to power in May 2019 included a promise to implement the NRC as a priority in other areas in India ‘affected by infiltration’.56 In July 2019, an official notification laid the ground for a two-step process to prepare a National Register of Indian Citizens. Information sourced through Right to Information (RTI) applications reveals over-nrc-grips-west-bengal-two-more-commit-suicide/articleshow/71281560. cms 54 Anupam Bordoloi, ‘Even Hindus are “Illegal Immigrants” in Assam’s Ambitious National Register of Citizens! BJP on Backfoot?’ Outlook India, September 2016, 2019, https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/indianews-even-hindus-are-illegal-immigrants-in-assams-ambitious-national-registerof-citizens-bjp-on-backfoot/302099. 55 ‘Will Throw out Intruders: Amit Shah's Big NRC Push in West Bengal.’ India Today, October 1, 2019, https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/amit-shah-nrcspeech-kolkata-bjp-elections-citizenship-illegal-immigrants-1605194-2019-10-01. 56 ‘NRC to Be Implemented on Priority in Areas Affected by Infiltration: President,’ The Hindu Business Line, June 20, 2019, https://www. thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/nrc-to-be-implemented-on-priority-inareas-affected-by-infiltration-president/article28085910.ece. 59