16, Jul 2019 | CJP Team

Over 500 of CJP’s volunteers have been working tirelessly across 18 of the worst affected districts of Assam, helping people navigate the difficult and often incomprehensible NRC process. We are also helping those whose citizenship is being questioned before Foreigners’ Tribunals.

This is significant in light of the recent submission of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) before the Parliament, where it admitted that over 60,000 people have been declared foreigner ex parte!

Apart from our already exhaustive work in Assam, we are also in the process of training paralegals in Assam who will aid people being unfairly stripped of their citizenship and identities. The hasty and often irresponsible decisions taken by Foreigners Tribunals are already responsible for the despair and unfair exclusion of many Indians. Thousands of families have been torn apart because within the same family some are registered as citizens and some declared foreigners!

The process has been overwhelmingly biased against the poor, who often don’t have any documents given how most acceptable documents are available only to the privileged. Uneducated married women are the worst affected. Many people have allegedly committed suicide due to fear, stress or helplessness.

We are gearing up to fight for Indian citizens in Foreigners’ Tribunals and higher courts, even after the NRC is published. Join our efforts in Assam. Please donate now to help Indians in Assam.

Related:

Citizens for Assam: A Quest for Hope and Justice

CJP Impact: Our appeals help ensure hearings and due process in Assam

Assam Detention Camps: 70 year old woman might not live long enough to be released