Report Launch | ‘Unmaking Citizens’ by NLSIU & Queen Mary University of London
Teen Murti Bhavan, New Delhi
Open to the public | RSVP here
Saturday, July 26, 2025, 5:00 pm
The National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru and Queen Mary University of London is launching a report on the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam titled ‘Unmaking Citizens’ on July 26, 2025. The launch is taking place from 5 pm to 7 pm at Teen Murti Bhavan, Teen Murti Marg, New Delhi (in-person event only).
The report is authored by Mohsin Alam Bhat (Queen Mary University of London), and researchers Arushi Gupta, and Shardul Gopujkar, with the support of researchers and law students from NLSIU.
Speakers
- Hon’ble Mr Justice Madan Lokur (Retired), former Judge, Supreme Court of India
- Dr. Usha Ramanathan, Human Rights Activist and Independent Researcher
- Mr. HRA Choudhary, Senior Advocate, Gauhati High Court
- Dr. Mohsin Alam Bhat, Assistant Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London
- Ms. Darshana Mitra, Assistant Professor of Law and Director-Clinics, NLSIU
About the Report
Based on 1,193 High Court cases, landmark Supreme Court rulings, and in-depth field interviews, the Unmaking Citizens report offers the most comprehensive study yet of Assam’s Foreigners Tribunals. It reveals a legal system in deep crisis: over 165,000 people have already been declared “foreigners,” with 85,000+ cases pending and more than 1 million NRC appeals potentially headed to these opaque tribunals. The report documents widespread arbitrariness in decision-making, including the wholesale rejection of documentary and oral evidence, and the absence of legal norms to protect individuals from wrongful targeting. These are not isolated failures—they reflect an institutionalised machinery of exclusion, with severe regional and national implications.