Elham Asaad Buaras
A UN racial discrimination watchdog has urged India to suspend its National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, warning that Bengali-speaking Muslims face “systematic and structural racial discrimination” and could be at risk of arbitrary loss of citizenship.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) also raised concerns over the treatment of Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims, racial profiling, hate speech and violence, and the reported impact of electoral-roll revisions on Muslim voters.
India rejected the findings as “politically motivated” and “highly malicious”.
CERD issued its concluding observations on August 25, following its review of India in Geneva on August 11 and 12. The review covered India’s combined 20th and 21st periodic reports under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) and was the committee’s first assessment of India since 2007.
The committee expressed particular concern over the NRC in Assam, saying Bengali-speaking Muslims continued to face “systematic and structural racial discrimination”. It warned that difficulties proving ancestry and accessing effective remedies could result in arbitrary loss of citizenship, with women and children particularly vulnerable because they may struggle to obtain family and birth records.
CERD recommended suspending the NRC and reviewing India’s citizenship laws, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), to ensure they comply with the convention. It also urged India to ratify the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
The NRC was introduced in Assam to determine whether individuals or their ancestors were present in the state before March 24, 1971, the cut-off date linked to the creation of Bangladesh. About 1.9 million people were excluded from the final register published in August 2019, although exclusion did not automatically mean a person had been declared a foreign national.
CERD also called for a review of the CAA, enacted in December 2019. The law provides a pathway to Indian citizenship for eligible Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India by December 31, 2014. Muslims are excluded from the provision.
The committee separately raised concerns over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and its reported impact on Muslim voters.
It said approximately 52 million names had allegedly been removed from electoral rolls across 12 states and Union territories, including about 9.1 million in West Bengal ahead of the state’s April 2026 assembly election. Bengali-speaking Muslim voters were reportedly disproportionately affected in West Bengal and Assam.
CERD did not conclude that all those whose names were removed had permanently lost their voting rights. Instead, it recommended a review of the SIR process to protect the electoral participation of ethnic and religious minorities, along with an independent investigation into reported irregularities.
The committee also criticised statements by senior officials in Assam and West Bengal that it said conflated Indian Muslim citizens with foreign nationals. It called for safeguards against discriminatory treatment and urged public officials not to use the electoral-roll process to spread racist rhetoric.
CERD raised further concerns over the treatment of Rohingya refugees, Bengali-speaking Muslims, migrants and asylum seekers, including reports of racial profiling during police stops and identity checks, arbitrary arrests, detention without due process, torture and other ill-treatment.
It cited reports that law-enforcement operations targeting Rohingya and Bengali-speaking Muslims had increased following a Home Ministry order issued on August 8, 2017, concerning Rohingya described as illegal migrants.
The committee also referred to reports of increased hate crimes against Muslim asylum seekers following the April 22, 2025 attack in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.
It expressed concern over reports of forcible returns of people lacking international protection, warning that such actions could violate the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to places where they face serious risks. India was urged to ensure access to international protection and refrain from collective expulsions.
CERD also raised concerns over conditions at the Matia Transit Camp in Assam, where migrants and people suspected of being foreign nationals have been detained.
More broadly, the committee cited reports of hate crimes and hate speech targeting ethnic and religious minorities, including statements attributed to politicians. It also raised allegations of racially motivated violence, excessive force, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary and prolonged detention, torture, ill-treatment and sexual violence by law-enforcement officials against ethnic and ethno-religious groups, Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, Scheduled Castes and non-citizens.
It called on India to investigate and prosecute those responsible for hate crimes and hate speech and to take measures to prevent vigilante violence.
CERD separately highlighted the position of Muslim and Christian Dalits, expressing concern that members of historically disadvantaged caste communities who belong to those religions remain excluded from certain Scheduled Caste protections, affirmative-action benefits and related constitutional safeguards. It also cited reports of forced reconversion campaigns and violence against Christian and Muslim members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
India rejected the committee’s findings on August 26, a day after the observations were published.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had participated in the Geneva review in a “spirit of constructive engagement” but rejected what he described as “sweeping generalisations” and “unsubstantiated allegations”.
“India rejects any politically motivated highly malicious references in the report with all the contempt that it deserves,” Jaiswal said.
The government said India’s constitutional framework, legal protections and commitment to pluralism demonstrated its opposition to racial discrimination. Jaiswal said its “commitment to combating racial discrimination remains unwavering” and that New Delhi would respond through established UN procedures.
India’s Permanent Mission in Geneva said the review was the country’s 11th periodic assessment under ICERD and covered reports submitted in 2023.
CERD’s concluding observations are recommendations issued by an independent UN treaty body monitoring implementation of the racial discrimination convention, rather than a court judgment. The committee has asked India to report on selected recommendations within two years, with its next periodic report due in January.
