UN watchdog questions India on discrimination of Bengali Muslims in Assam

ISLAMABAD: A UN watchdog on racial discrimination has renewed scrutiny of India’s treatment of Bengali-speaking Muslims in the Indian state of Assam, a long-running controversy rooted in citizenship verification and identity politics in India’s northeast.

The dispute centres on Assam’s National Register of Citizens process, which has disproportionately targeted Bengali-speaking Muslims, leaving many at risk of exclusion, statelessness, or prolonged legal uncertainty.

The Chair of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Michal Balcerzak, in a Jan. 19 letter addressed to India’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi, said CERD was following up on its earlier communication of May 12, 2025, on the same issue.

According to the letter, CERD acknowledged India’s response and noted India’s position on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules 2024, including the claim that the framework does not deprive eligible foreigners of the right to apply for citizenship through registration or naturalization.

However, CERD said it regrets a lack of information on key allegations previously raised. These include claims of racial discrimination against Bengali-speaking Muslims during the NRC update and exclusion from the final list due to procedural irregularities, difficulty obtaining required documents, and stricter verification standards applied to people classified as “non-original inhabitants,” a term the committee said lacks a clear definition.

The committee also cited allegations of systematic forced evictions without adequate housing or compensation, along with reports of rising hate speech and incitement to violence, and allegations of excessive use of force by law enforcement, causing recurrent killings and injuries, plus violent attacks by civilians or organized groups in mid-2024.

CERD called on India to take “all necessary measures” to protect the community’s rights and asked India to provide detailed information during its upcoming periodic reporting, including steps to prevent discriminatory nationality deprivation, halt forced evictions, combat hate speech online and offline, and investigate alleged lethal use of force.