Some four million people have effectively lost their citizenship in India’s north-eastern state of Assam.
They were left off a list of proven citizens, which was created as part of a government drive to identify illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
Here’s what led to that controversial move, and what might happen next.
How did the list come about?
Fears over illegal migration from Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, have long been alive in Assam.
The state’s very first list of citizens – formally known as the National Register of Citizens, or NRC – was published in 1951, just four years after the partition of India, when millions of people had crossed into India from East Bengal, which had become a part of Pakistan.
The list was drawn up in response to nationalist groups in Assam who were afraid of an influx of Muslim immigrants changing the state’s Hindu-majority demographics.
But the problem re-emerged in the 1970s. After Bangladesh declared independence and broke away from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, sparking a bitter war, millions again fled to neighbouring India. And many of the refugees settled in Assam.
By 1979, a movement against illegal immigrants led by the All Assam Students Union (AASU) took hold. The agitation turned violent in 1983 when mobs killed more than 2,000 suspected immigrants, most of whom were Muslims.
AASU and some other regional groups eventually signed an agreement in 1985 with the federal government led by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
It said that anyone who could not prove that they were living in Assam by 24 March 1971 would be expelled from electoral rolls and considered illegal immigrants.
But the accord was never implemented.
So why is it being updated after all these years?
In 2009, a man named Aabhijeet Sharma petitioned the Supreme Court, asking that the NRC be updated. In 2014, the court instructed the federal government to do so by 31 January 2016.
However given the magnitude of the exercise – which involved the verification of documents belonging to more than 32 million people – the first draft of the NRC was only published in December 2017.
The second draft was published on 30 July.
Who is on the list?
The NRC contains the names of people who have been able to prove that they arrived in Assam on or before 24 March 1971.Everyone in the state had to submit documents to prove their claim to citizenship, including land and tenancy records, voter IDs or passports.
Those who were born after 1971 were asked to submit documents that proved that their parents or grandparents had settled in India before the cut-off date.
Around four million people did not make the list. Their names could be deleted from electoral rolls as they are not considered legitimate citizens.
What has the reaction been?
It has been mixed.
Many Hindus across the country have hailed it as a bold move and praised the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for implementing it when other state governments did not have the “guts” to do so.
Some feel that it is a political masterstroke ahead of upcoming national elections in 2019.
But opposition parties have roundly denounced the move and criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for separating families and effectively making millions of people stateless overnight.
Rahul Gandhi, leader of the main opposition Congress party, said the list had created “massive insecurity” among people.