-The Indian Express UN Human Rights office: "Although India's broader naturalization laws remain in place, these amendments will have a discriminatory effect on people's access to nationality." Amid protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Human Rights office at the United Nations has expressed concern over the new law saying that it is “fundamentally discriminatory in nature”. “We are concerned that the new #CitizenshipAmendmentAct is fundamentally discriminatory in nature. Goal of protecting persecuted...

-The Indian Express The CAB-NRC poses the gravest threat to India’s secular democratic constitution since India became a republic, and must be fought with a nation-wide civil disobedience movement. The contours of this struggle need to be worked out by We the People. Despite being under constant siege, the edifice of India’s Constitution has endured so far. The onslaught has intensified since the expanded mandate to the Narendra Modi government in May. However,...

-Press release by National Alliance of Peoples' Movements  dated 28 November, 2019 In yet another of its egregious legislative misadventures, the BJP Government with support from some other parties, passed the regressive 'Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)' Bill, in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, despite wide-spread opposition by members of the transgender, intersex and gender non-confirming communities, seeking referral of the Bill to a Select Committee. We have all been witness to...

-Scroll.in A poorly-functioning justice system costs India 9% of its GDP each year, according to one estimate. A new report paints a grim picture of the state of India’s justice system. Called the India Justice Report 2019, it ranks states by their performance in four aspects: police, the state judiciary, prisons and legal aid. The report is an initiative of Tata Trusts, a philanthropic organisation, undertaken in partnership with several civil society organisations...

-The Indian Express The fate of close to two million people excluded from the NRC in Assam rests with the Foreigners Tribunals. The constitutionality and conduct of these quasi-judicial bodies are questionable Over 1.9 million people have been excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The herculean executive exercise, mandated and closely monitored by the Supreme Court, has incurred a staggering expenditure of over Rs 1,200 crore...