 And I will be presenting a brief on the dangers of the population register or any. Specifically, I'll be arguing that the actual population register as a result towards the district citizens in the case of ASAN. Now, I want to understand the differences between NPR and RC in the case of India, or India National Register of Indian Citizens. Compared to what we saw in ASAN, we need to understand what the process in ASAN really was. In 2013, onward, the Supreme Court updated both the National Register of Citizens in the case of ASAN. What did the process look like? Basically, there was an NPRC coordinator, which was an office, a department of government functionalities, and all of them collected documents and proofs of citizenship from all the residents of ASAN. In short, all the residents of ASAN had to submit a list of documents. These are documents for all the residents of the state. In fact, the list was created, verified by the Supreme Court, and ultimately it was what was presented to the public in ASAN. Everybody had to submit these documents. The NPRC coordinator verified these documents, studied these documents to see if the documents stood as proof of citizenship in the case of ASAN. Now, of course, many people have expressed doubts, concerns, complaints against the process of NPRC in the case of ASAN. They have argued that it was a discriminatory process, it was an efficient data of certain communities with disadvantage. But one thing which comes out from the NPRC process in ASAN is it was a single process, a single set of standards applied to everybody in the whole state. And the process, compared to the postpartum federal process, because the NPRC coordinator and his office were essentially given clear procedures and rules to apply these standards to everybody in the state. Now let's come to NPR, a national population register. The first thing we need to clarify is NPR is not census. Census happens and is conducted by the census officials under this act, all the census act. The data which is collected is confidential, and of course it is used for social planning, for expenditure, for a range of purposes, for distribution of public wealth and to do planning. But when it comes to NPR, it doesn't happen under the census act. NPR happens under the Citizenship Act and rules. Therefore NPR is fundamentally directed with the citizenship process, not in what way. The Citizenship Act in India was changed in 2003 and a certain provision for Section 14A was introduced. Under 14A, the government was allowed to create a national register of Indian citizens, and if it wants to issue multi-purpose national identity cards. The rest of the process is not given under the act, it is actually given under the rules. Now rules are something which the government of India, not the parliament, but the government of India meets in order to achieve the purposes of the act. And this is where the national population register is found. Basically, along the 2003 Citizenship Rules, the government of India decided in 2003 that there is a particular way in which the national register of Indian citizens can be created. The first step to create the national register of Indian citizens is national population register. Basically the census officials have been given an additional rule under the Citizenship Act. The census officials will go and make a comprehensive list of all the residents living in the country. Certain information will be collected from them and the list will be prepared. Now already the NPR manual which is what census officials will be following has been issued and one of the things which the NPR process will collect is the date of birth of people, the place of birth, the nationality of course including the place of birth of their parents. It is very clear that the NPR process is meant to collect information to verify the citizenship of the residents of the country. Alright, let's go to the next step. What are these rules and magic? Once the national population register is prepared, the government officials, in fact the junior local registered government officials will decide who in this list who is part of the NPR is to be considered what the rule is called doubtful citizens. The rules say nothing about who will be counted as a doubtful citizen. It would really be anybody provided that the local government official is convinced that this is a person who does not seem to be an Indian citizen. After that the government officials will ask this person who is they who be considered to be a doubtful citizen to produce documents to prove that they are citizens. It could really be anybody. So, first of all, let's go to the next step. After the draft NRC is created through this NPR group this particular list will be publicized. Basically, the government will invite public objections against people who have been included in the draft of NRC. Anybody can raise objections against anybody. Basically saying that we believe that this person is not an Indian citizen. What type of objections can be made? What type of objections can be accepted? The rules tell us absolutely nothing about it. What we have in this process under the 2003 rules that start with the NPR and then move on to the finalization of NRC is an absolutely arbitrary process when local government officials are being asked to decide who is a citizen. Who is a doubtful citizen? Who can be asked to produce documents? What kind of documents would be good enough to prove that somebody is a citizen? Remember that this process is not being given to court of law. This process is being given to ordinary government local officials without any safeguards, without any safeguards particularly against targeting or against abuse or misuse of the law. Now, the difference between the NRC in Assam and the NRC through the NPR group are more or less clear. In the NRC in Assam, for better or for worse, whatever our problems with that process may have been, there is a single standard which is applied to everybody. In the NPR group through the creation of NRC, there are no such standards. Everybody is not equal. In fact, local government officials can ask anybody to prove that they are citizens. People can be targeted, people can victimize. The body is that if local government officials are given certain aims, certain number of people that they need to identify as foreigners, there will be even more reason for them to victimize the NRC. Especially people who are from weak perceptions, minorities of all kinds can be the receiving end of this complete arbitrary discussion at the hands of the officials. Another important thing is that something like citizenship of a person cannot be left to ordinary government officials. In fact, it should not be left to the government at all. If there is any doubt about somebody's citizenship, there should be judicial process. It's a question of evidence and question of rights, especially with something like citizenship, which is nothing but right to have other rights. It is the very foundation of a person's civic identity. And that can be left to the government. It has to be decided if at all, by courts of law. But what we have in the shape of the National Population Register leading up to the National Register of Indian Citizens is complete executive government discretion at the local level to ask anybody at any time to produce documents and then make up their minds about whether a person is a citizen, a doubtful citizen or a follower. That, unfortunately, is what the 2003 rules provide and that will lead to, I believe, abuse of law and victimization of people. Thank you.