On Monday, the Indian government announced a decision that may render millions of people stateless. When the authorities published the final draft of the National Register of Citizens for the state of Assam, situated in the country's north-east, they left an estimated four million people off the list, meaning that their proof of citizenship was rejected by the government as it updated the state's rolls.

Assam is on the front line of India's battle over illegal immigration, with politicians grandstanding over the threat of "infiltrators" from neighbouring Bangladesh.