Chakrabarty: Citizenship Deprivation as an Act of Persecution: Case Study of t But in March 2020, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) convened a hearing where it was noted that the Act’s effect – intended or unintended – could be the disenfranchisement of Indian Muslims.11 Throughout the hearing, experts continued to draw parallels between the CAA and the Citizenship Act of Myanmar that has seen the ethnic cleansing of minority groups like the Rohingyas.12 Since then, discussions have largely revolved around how the Act, seen alongside the National Population Register (NPR) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) - both of which arise from the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules of 2003 - are mere hoodwinks for the larger statelessness project that the current populist regime has in its mind in an effort to create a ‘Hindu state’, tending to the Hindu majority. 13 The NRC is supposed to be a definitive list of who belongs to India, drawn from the larger NPR. The NPR is a dataset of ‘usual residents’ (at the local, sub-district, district, state and national levels), composed of persons who have resided in an area for 6 months or more or who intend on doing so.14 The pilot project was supposed to commence in April 2020, but has since been deferred. Amidst fears of inadequate documentation to prove citizenship, the Union Home Minister claimed that the government would “throw away all infiltrators”, but no “Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian or Buddhist” need worry – clearly excluding the State’s 200 million Muslim population.15 Another Parliamentarian justified the exclusionary exercise under the CAA, claiming that Muslims are “not equal” to Hindus.16 In the background of increased dehumanization, hate speeches, and physical violence against the Indian Muslim community, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, “Legislation Factsheet India: The Citizenship (Amendment) Act India” (February 2020), online (pdf): <https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2020%20Legislation%20Factsheet%20-%20India_0_0.pdf>. 12 “United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing: Citizenship Laws and Religious Freedom”, Atlantic Council (4 March 2020), online: <https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/commentary/eventrecap/united-states-commission-on-international-religious-freedom-hearing-citizenship-laws-and-religiousfreedom/>; European Parliament, “Motion for a Resolution on India’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019”, Plenary Sitting (2020), B9-0079/2020, online(pdf): <https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-20200079_EN.html>. 13 Uday Chandra, “The Making of a Hindu India”, Al Jazeera (24 August 2020), online: <https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/making-hindu-india-200820104806024.html>. 14 Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules (2003), [India]Central Government Act, rule 2(l). 15 “Will throw out each infiltrator one by one, says Amit Shah”, Hindu BusinessLine (1 October 2019), online: <https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/will-throw-out-each-infiltrator-one-by-one-says-amitshah/article29567841.ece>. 16 Vice News, “Interview of Subramaniam Swamy to Isobel Yeung” (1 April 2020), online: Twitter <https://twitter.com/i/status/1245413627504414720> 11 Published by Osgoode Digital Commons, 2021 3