2021 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 3(1) makes tracing their parental lineage more difficult.!2* Being largely illiterate, they also did not possess state-issued educational documents that could have been used to prove their citizenship. !25 Thus, the rigid bureaucratic regime of the NRC served to disadvantage those who were most vulnerable. After a series of delays, the final VRC was released on 31 August 2019. The outcomes of the NRC process are well known — 1.9 million people have been left off the list.!2° Most of the people excluded are from the most vulnerable socioeconomic and religious groups of society and have suffered the brunt of the failure to present documentary evidence.!2”7 They now await an ambiguous fate since the entire appeals process has not begun. The next step in their journey will bring them face-to-face with the Foreigners Tribunal (‘FT’). D Women and the FT Process Foreigners Tribunals are instrumental in determining the status of a person as a foreigner or a citizen. The FT is a quasi-judicial body and was set up by an executive order in 1964. It operates on the principle outlined in India’s Foreigners Act, imposing the burden of proof on the person suspected of being a foreigner. !28 They have the power to determine their own procedure and are expected to operate as civil courts.!29 The FT process begins with a reference made by the police or the election authorities identifying a person as a suspect. That person is then served a notice and must defend their case before the Tribunal. Two prongs may be used to prove cases before the FTs — documentary evidence and oral depositions by witnesses. There is no appeals process and any challenges to the orders of the FT must be made before the High Court. !3° Once a person is declared as a foreigner, they face the prospect of detention in one of the state’s six detention centres, living in deplorable conditions without basic rights. !*! The FT system has been extensively critiqued. First, they are created not by legislative process, but through executive order. 32 Appointments to the tribunal are made by the executive, which is indicative of the latter’s influence, with no clear definitions on who can be a member; often persons without experience in adjudication are elected to these bodies with inadequate training. !33 Second, the FT members receive incentives based on how many persons they declare as 124 Siddique (n 115) 26. 125" ibid. 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 Helen Regan and Manveena Suri, ‘1.9 Million Excluded from Indian Citizenship List in Assam’, CNN (online, 31 August 2019) <https:/(www.cnn.com/2019/08/30/asia/assamnational-register-india-intl-hnk/index.html>. Puja Changoiwala, ‘India’s Muslims Are Terrified of Being Deported’, Foreign Policy (online, 21 February 2020) <https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/02/2 1/india-muslims-deportedterrified-citizenship-amendment-act-caa/>. Foreigners Act, 1946 (n 77), 8 9. Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 (India) GSR 1401 of 1964, s 4. ‘Interview with Aman Wadud’, Parichay — The Blog (Blog Post, 5 October 2020) <https://parichayblog. org/2020/10/05/interview-with-aman-wadud/> (“Interview with Aman Wadud’). ‘Harsh Mander’s Full Report to NHRC’, Deccan Herald (online, 13 October 2018) <https://www.deccanherald.com/national/top-national-stories/harsh-manders-full-reportnhre-678127.html>. Talha Abdul Rahman, ‘Identifying the “Outsider”: An Assessment of Foreigner Tribunals in the Indian State of Assam’ (2020) 2(1) Statelessness & Citizenship Review 112, 123. ibid 126-29. 250