ISAS Working Papers

The release of the final draft of the National Register of Citizenship for the Indian state of Assam has created anxiety among four million people whose names are not in the final draft. It is not clear what will happen to those whose names may not appear in the final list, which will follow this draft. Where will they go? The Bangladeshi government has repeatedly maintained that there are no “illegal” Bangladeshi citizens living in India. After the release of the final draft, to allay the fears of those whose names are not in the draft list that they may be stripped of Indian citizenship status, the Indian government and its institutions have maintained that, for now, they are not going to take any such steps.