Kalpana, Archana, Ramani, and Dilip Biswas, at home in their village in Mayong. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Muslims serve an Iftar meal in Gauhati, Assam's capital, during Ramadan. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Gauhati. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Kalpana and Archana walk with a friend in their village in Mayong. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
- Significantly more Muslims were being tried, and a much greater proportion were declared foreigners as compared to Hindus.
- Names in Assam don’t reliably indicate ethnicity. But in addition to lawyers and tribunal members attesting to the focus on Bengalis, every one of the 113 people we found from those judgements were Bengali. Kamrup, meanwhile, is home to many Assamese speakers as well.
- Three-quarters of the orders were issued without the accused present, known as an ex-parte judgement. In one tribunal, this was the case in every judgment.
- The police investigations that form the basis of the complaint often appeared botched, superficial and biased.
- Some individuals who had managed to prove they were Indians received fresh summonses from the same tribunal.
NRC officials in the Mirza block of Kamrup check documents during family hearings for inclusion in the citizens' registry. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
A Muslim man walks along the Brahamaputra river in Assam's Barpeta district. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
People wait outside the Hajo Foreigners Tribunal. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Inside the tribunals
A village headman's documentation of residents' life events. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Ayesha puts on a headscarf at home. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Safiran Begum's husband was detained after being declared a foreigner. She speaks to Ayesha, her neighbor. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Rehat Ali was detained for three years after being declared a foreigner, but was freed in May after the Guwahati High Court overturned the ruling. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
A woman waits inside the Hajo Foreigners Tribunal, where she was trying to prove her citizenship. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Living in fear
A boat en route to Jatradia Char, a river island on the Brahamaputra. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
The Brahmaputra river at sunset. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Fatima prays before eating an Iftar meal. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Ful Bashi Das won her case in the Foreigners' Tribunal. On her farmland in Sorbhog, Barpeta, she holds the documents she used to prove her citizenship. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
An uncertain future
Lilima Begum holds an old picture taken with her husband, Asmot Ali. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Monima and Lilima Begum, their children, and the Ali brothers' mother. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Children play at the edges of the Brahmaputra river. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.
Ashrab Ali's wife at his funeral with the documents Ali used to try to prove his citizenship. Photo by Sahiba Chawdhary.