Developments involving
Muslim populations in India have echoes of the fate that's
recently befallen Islamic minorities elsewhere in the region. There
are now fears that a new humanitarian crisis could unfold in India,
similar to those involving the Uyghurs and the Rohingyas.
Following its return to office last May, the Hindu nationalist
BJP government published an updated version of the National
Register of Citizens
in August. It's a census that was created in 1951 in the
north-eastern state of Assam to track illegal immigrants. And
it's the first
time it's been updated.
The BJP distanced itself from the register, after the 1.9
million mainly Bengali people left off it were found to be not just
Muslims. Indeed, a sizable number of those unable to provide
documents revealing they've been in the country since
Bangladeshi independence in 1971 are Hindus.
