A Legal Cell of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind in Assam was formed with the objective to help people in Assam on the NRC (National Register of Citizens) issue and also to help and provide legal assistance for about one lakh people marked as D-voters. All those marked as D-voters are required to present the necessary papers in the Foreigners’ Tribunals. Most of the people here are illiterate and poor and are not completely aware of the process to be followed. Also 48000 people were declared foreigners and according to the police they were termed as untraced declared foreigners. Of them those who were found were sent to detention camps. In some cases children were left and parents were sent to detention camps. Under these circumstances, the Jamaat decided to form this Legal Cell in October 2017 to help the needy and provide guidance and assistance for all those in need. During the process, many cases of human rights violation were found; torture and lynching were also taking place. People were afraid and some FIRs were also filed by some including human rights activist Akhil Gogoi.
I am not satisfied with the NRC process. It is possible there may be some infiltrators but their numbers are not very large. We cannot say for sure there are no infiltrators at all; but they are not Muslims. Bengali Muslims did not come here; and even if they came, they were in very small numbers. Non-Muslims have come here in large numbers. The crux of the problem was that the Assam Movement led by AASU turned against Muslims and because of that Muslims had to face violence in many parts of the state; the Nellie massacre is still fresh in our memory. In the NRC draft released on July 31 there may be only 30 per cent Muslims and the rest could be non-Muslims. And these non-Muslims are also citizens of Assam and India; they comprise Nepali, Bodo, Rabha, Mishing, Rajbanshi, Dimasa and many other tribes from the state and from other places as well. Even some native tribes of Assam are also in the list of 40 lakh as declared by the NRC. They all are not Bangladeshis.
Also family members of some renowned people like former President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, many government officials, teachers, politicians, army men and even police officers have found their names missing which are quite strange and it reveals that something went wrong during the process.
During the Assam agitation it was claimed that there could be 70 to 80 lakh Bangladeshis. Now they have identified 40 lakh to satisfy the people of Assam and all those who were associated with the Assam agitation. An impression was created by the BJP and RSS that a large number of Muslims may not find their names but on the contrary only 30 per cent Muslims are there in the declared 40 lakh. We believe that there was something wrong in the process and the guidelines of the Supreme Court was not followed in letter and spirit. The Supreme Court had permitted the state to accept the copy from Panchayat as a valid paper which was either not accepted, or if accepted only with additional papers attached to it. At one place even panchayat secretary was present in person and he himself said to the concerned officials that the paper was issued by him and they are known to him; even then they did not accept that paper as a valid document. Some got rejected for spelling mistakes, age difference because people who are not educated filled approximate age, title difference and many more only because of minor differences.
Initially it was said that in Assam the situation could turn the way the refugees in Myanmar were treated and the plan was going on in that direction. There was fear, distress and anxiety among the people here. Because of some statements tension was very high before the declaration of the NRC second draft. Our legal cell coordinated with many organisations, small and big, and created a minority forum. We together travelled to villages to console people, build their confidence and guided them as what to do and what not to do and how to react under what situation. We asked them to remain calm and not get provoked. They should have patience. We are happy that people have shown maturity and have remained patient against any kind of provocation.
The fact-finding team of the United Against Hate visited the state and its coverage in the national and even international media helped to put some kind of pressure here. The letter from UN Human Rights department to the Government of India was also very important. Because of the outrage and media attention the officials in Assam were forced to change their plan as it is believed. The Government of India and the Assam Government have made adequate security arrangements to prevent any problem in the state.
The statements made by Union Home Ministry, Chief Minister of Assam and the Supreme Court that NRC is not final draft and nobody will be sent to detention camps and they would be given time to prove their citizenship have helped calm down the situation in the state which was very tense. But the anxiety is still there that the time given to prove their citizenship once again is very less. They should have been provided with at least six months to do so.
Let me add that there was a provision for all those who were living close to the river and had lost everything in flood or because of erosion could prove themselves through any witness, panchayat, or senior citizens who can identify any individual that he knew him and his presence before 1971 then it would be accepted but that did not happen. This process totally failed. It was followed probably in one district and not in other places.
I believe that if the process is followed in a better way this time then it is expected that around 25 lakh people would be again declared as citizens and 10 lakh people could be with refugee status certificate. All these refuges will stay even if their names are not in the list. Of the remaining 5 lakh, only two lakh could be Muslims who may not figure in the list because of no documents or because of minor problems.
In Assam the NRC Rule 4A was followed whereas in all other parts of the country NRC Rule 4 was followed for the upgradation of the citizens. I would like to demand that the process of identification followed in the rest of the country should also be followed in Assam. In Rule 4 NRC officials visit each household to ascertain citizenship of the individual whereas in Rule 4A the onus to prove his citizenship lies with the individual which is very difficult.
Now the workload will be less and therefore we demand identification process to be conducted under the NRC Rule 4 in order to bring more transparency and to ensure that no legal citizen is declared as foreigner. Another important issue: all those who are fighting their case in Foreigners’ Tribunals and NRC have to bear double burden; so if they are found to be legal at one place (i.e. Tribunal), they should be exempted from the NRC process and vice-versa. For under the present circumstances they have to fight two cases simultaneously to prove their citizenship. People are poor and such lengthy process which is time taking and requires more money is very difficult for the people.
People should not be afraid, should not be provoked and misguided and have patience. People should go to the NRC centres and first they should try to find out on which ground their citizenship was rejected and try to get those papers and submit them before 28 September to reclaim their citizenship. I would like to appeal to all social, religious and human rights organisations to try to help and guide the people who are mostly not educated to complete the process in time. All people should try to maintain peace. People should remain alert and should not be provoked with hateful and provocative statements.
[As told to Mohd Naushad Khan]