Date : 22 Aug, 2018     Time : 1530-1700 hrs

On 30 July 2018, the government of Assam released the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a Supreme Court-sanctioned database of ‘genuine’ Indian citizens living in Assam. The list has generated concerns about statelessness and human rights violations. The NRC, however, is one component of Assam’s complex citizenship determination framework, which also comprises of Foreigner Tribunals and the Election Commission’s Doubtful-Voter (D-Voter) system. This discussion aims to understand the significance and consequences of the NRC in the broader context of longstanding administrative-judicial processes and identity politics in Assam.

Significance of the NRC and other processes in tackling illegal immigration in Assam
Rajat Sethi | Advisor to the Chief Minister of Manipur; and Senior Fellow, India Foundation

Identity and citizenship in Assam: Are current processes constructive policy solutions?
Angshuman Choudhury | Researcher and Coordinator, South East Asia Research Programme, IPCS

About the Speakers

Rajat Sethi currently serves as advisor to the Chief Minister of Manipur, Biren Singh, and is a Senior Fellow at India Foundation. He was one of the key strategists for the Bharatiya Janata Party’s successful election campaigns in India’s Northeast, including in the 2016 Assam legislative assembly polls. Later, with his wife and political commentator, Shubhrastha, he co-authored The Last Battle of Saraighat, a political memoir of the BJP’s rise in the Northeast. Rajat is an alumus of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management, and Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur.

Angshuman Choudhury is a Researcher with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies (IPCS) and coordinates its South East Asia Research Programme (SEARP). His research currently focuses on the ethnic armed conflict in Myanmar, insurgencies in India’s Northeast, and militant networks in Bangladesh. He has by-lines in various national and international publications, including Asia Times, The Diplomat, Tea Circle Oxford, South Asia Journal, Outlook India, Firstpost, Scroll.in, WION, and The Citizen, and has been invited to present at conferences and briefings in India and abroad. Angshuman is an alumnus of the School of Government and International Affairs at Durham University.