national security issues leaking into ration card administration

I'm really interested in how national security issues are related to citizenship rights.  But as far as my fieldwork goes, I've taken care not to research the topic directly because its sensitive and the Indian government prefers that researchers do not broach it.  Every once in a while though, the topic comes up, unsolicitied, in my conversations and interviews about ration cards.

Rations aren't technically a right of citizenship, because by law, you don't have to be Indian to get a ration card.  But in practice, one of the concerns that rationing officers and government officials are rumored to have is that Bangladeshis are applying for and getting ration cards, and using them as an inroad to establishing an Indian identity and possibily providing an avenue for extremist groups to embed themselves in Indian society.  Or, to put it more directly, that terrorists are getting ration cards.  This is hearsay, because no government official has actually said this to me.  NGO workers say that it is often the stated basis on which applications for ration cards are denied, even if the real reason for the denial may be that the officer is angling for a bribe.

As Ms. Joshi (the director of Apnalaya, an NGO that works with these issues) says, it is an obstructionist tactic for rationing officers to put the burden of proof of citizenship on the applicant.  This is a real problem for poor people who do not have birth certificates.  They might have an election card or various bills as proof of identification and address, but if a rationing officer tells them, "prove to me that you're not Bangladeshi," they really have no way of doing so.  

My interviewees also often mention national security issues when I ask them to speculate on why their applications for ration cards haven't come through, which to me seems like an indication that they perceive (rightly or not) that the government may be treating them like outsiders.  I'd like to craft interview questions that can better get at this issue, but the topic makes people uncomfortable, so for now, I'm leaving it out.

I got a chance to ask the rationing controller of Maharashtra about this issue, sort of.  Today I had a second meeting with him.  He is a very welcoming person... he told his PA (personal assistant) to allow me to have full access to his office, and he encouraged me to ask him anything at all.  So I asked about the citizenship requirement.  I thought the answer he gave was quite interesting.  He didn't really say anything directly at all... but the exchange we had seems to imply that while there is no legal citizenship requirement, given that ration cards are used as proofs of residence in practice, in practice it makes sense to restrict them to citizens.  But maybe I'm reading too much into his words... he did choose them very carefully:

Rameez:  Does someone have to be an Indian citizen for getting a ration card?  Like, I'm a U.S. citizen, if I come to live here, can I get one?

Mr. Kerure:  Basically, food security-- the right to food-- is different, and citizenship is different.

Rameez:  So someone from outside can get [a ration card]?

Mr. Kerure:  That is to say, right to food is not restricted to a person of any origin.  But if you think of citizenship, then you should be Indian.  Because after all, the ration card is not [supposed to be used as a] proof of residence, as I already told you.

Rameez:  But because it is being used as that...

Mr. Kerure:  Yes, used.

Rameez:  then citizenship ka requirement hai?  (Then the citizenship requirement is there?)

Mr. Kerure:  Yes.