A. T HE R IGHT TO NAT IONALIT Y FOR EV E RY INDIV IDUAL that was not voluntarily requested by the individual’.38 This covers loss of nationality as a consequence of operation of the law, acts by the administrative authorities, and also informal acts where authorities ceased to consider a person as a national.39 The Assam NRC excluded people who allegedly could not adequately ‘prove’ their citizenship. The government has represented the NRC as a citizenship determination process whereby it is merely undertaking a sovereign exercise by singling out non-citizens from citizens.40 However, along with the FTs, the NRC in Assam is causing a serious threat of citizenship deprivation. The NRC process lacked sufficient safeguards and placed additional burdens on certain communities [↘]. Similarly, there is ample evidence showing that the working of FTs infringes several due process rights [↘]. These processes have put millions of citizens in Assam in a precarious position. If not ceased immediately, these processes together have a potential of arbitrarily depriving individuals of their Indian nationality, thereby leaving them at the brink of statelessness. This section looks at these citizenship deprivation processes in Assam, i.e. the NRC and the FT mechanisms. It explores the procedural and substantive aspects of the right against arbitrary deprivation of nationality with reference to India’s treaty obligations and customary international law on statelessness. The procedural aspects of the right, i.e. due process requirements, and procedural standards in international law on nationality are discussed here. This section also delves into the substantive elements of the right, i.e. racial and ethnic discrimination, and the duty to avoid statelessness. 38 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, ‘Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure’ (2020) art 2.2.1 <https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES.pdf> accessed 7 April 2020.   39 ibid art 2.2.2. Art 2.2.2: ‘Deprivation of nationality also covers situations where there is no formal act by a State but where the practice of its competent authorities clearly shows that they have ceased to consider a person as a national, including where authorities persistently refuse to issue or renew documents, or in cases of confiscation of identity documents and/or expulsion from the territory coupled with a statement by authorities that a person is not considered a national’. 40 Samanwaya Rautray, ‘NRC must to identify non-citizens: Govt to SC’ The Economic Times (17 March 2020) <https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nrc-must-to-identify-noncitizens-govt-to-sc/articleshow/74680527.cms> accessed 23 July 2020. chapter i • status 51 SECTION I.A.3 see Section I.A.3.3 (Chapter I), pg 60 see Sections I.A.3.1 and I.A.3.2 (Chapter I), pg 52, pg 56