South Asia State of Minorities Report 2019 the construction of massive detention centres in anticipation. Related to the NRC exercise was the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in December 2019, which eases the path to Indian citizenship for all non-Muslims fleeing religious persecution in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The passing of the CAA sparked protests in India’s north-eastern states, where the BJP is accused of communalising an ethno-linguistic issue, and in Muslim universities and elsewhere across the country, with the police response being violent, particularly in Muslim dominated institutions and localities. The CAA has been challenged in India’s Supreme Court (SC) on its constitutionality. But, recent SC judgements on minority rights raises serious questions about its willingness to defend India’s founding principle of secularism. Elsewhere in India, the violent targeting of minorities, religious or otherwise, has continued. The victims are usually Dalits or Muslims, often the poorest and most vulnerable among them. While there are some figures available, the real number of atrocities is believed to be much higher. The perpetrators are usually radical Hindus, and with the BJP in power, they operate with impunity. The official response from the state has been denial, with the National Crime Records Bureau’s 2017 report released in October 2019 refusing to divulge any data about mob lynching. Nepal There are 6,470 Bhutanese and 12,540 Tibetan refugees in Nepal recorded by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. While more than 100,000 Bhutanese refugees have been resettled in third countries, those remaining in Nepal are in limbo with humanitarian agencies ending their decades-long support at the end of 2019. Tibetan refugees reported harassment from the police before the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2019, with the arrest of a number of Free-Tibet campaigners and human rights activists from Kathmandu. The celebrations of the 84th birthday of the Dalai Lama was banned for Tibetans living in Nepal, in a reversal from the previous years. The Constitution of Nepal 2015 defines the country as secular. Yet, there are inherent contradictions as laws that disadvantage certain xlviii