Guwahati: With hardly a week for the final publication of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, another bizarre case of an in-service Indian soldier and his wife being declared as a non-citizen by a foreigners’ tribunal (FT) has come to the fore in Assam.
As per reports, an assistant sub-inspector of the Border Security Forces (BSF), identified as Muzibur Rahman, who is currently posted along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab, and his wife, Jargin Begum, were declared foreigners by the FT in eastern Assam’s Jorhat district in a recent hearing.
Rahman and his wife, who are natives of Islampur in Merapani area of Golaghat district in Assam, were declared foreigners in the month of December last year but were apprised of it only in July this year. This was apparently because the FT notices were sent to the wrong address.
Rahman’s family came to know about the developments only in July this year after their village head informed that they were summoned for hearings at the Jorhat Circuit House on July 29.
However, Rahman, who was in service along the Indo-Pak border in Punjab could not make it to the hearings in such a short notice on the mentioned date. So he was represented by his father and brother-in-law. He came to know about the development much later.
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Interestingly, the rest of the family members of Rahman, including his father Bapdhan Ali and everyone else’s names have appeared in the draft NRC published in June last year.
Earlier this year, an Army veteran, identified as Mohammed Sanaullah, was sent to a detention camp in Assam’s Goalpara district after being declared a ‘non-citizen’ by a Foreigners’ Tribunal. Later the family of the retired honorary lieutenant of the Indian Army moved the Gauhati High Court after which bail was granted to him. He was released from the detention centre in June and is currently fighting for his case.
On August 19, the Assam government had decided to make arrangements to provide legal aid to the needy people whose names will be excluded from the final NRC to be published on August 31 this year as directed by the Supreme Court of India.
However, the powerful All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Friday said that the government’s decision to provide legal help to those who will be excluded from the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) is against the interest of indigenous people and will encourage the illegal immigrants in state.
