The Lesser Hindus of India and The Detention camps of the Indian State

Coauthored by Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, and Dikgaj

Introduction

A human tragedy of gargantuan proportions is being enacted in India as we write, under the watch of the Indian state. Several residents of Assam are being tagged as foreigners, despite having documents to prove their citizenship, and are being held in detention camps across Assam, under utterly inhuman conditions [12]. Till July 2019 there were a total of 1,145 detainees at six detention centres located in Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Tezpur, Jorhat, Silchar and Dibrugarh [87], of whom 335 have remained lodged for more than three years [25]. These six detention centers are currently part of various jails of Assam. There is a seventh large detention centre coming up at Matia, in Goalpara district [87].

The Assam Accord (1985), a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement in New Delhi on 15 August 1985, specifies that all those whose ancestors arrived into India from outside after the cut-off date of 24 March 1971 would be considered foreigners. The process of weeding out the illegal immigrants, began in 1997, under the AGP government, when the election commission began a massive drive to eliminate the doubtful voters [88]. Since that time, various Assam governments have been following the practice of sending D-voter or doubtful voter notices to those who are suspected of being Foreigners. Those labelled D-voters need to prove in Foreigners Tribunal that they or their ancestors were residents of India before the cut-off date. Unlike criminal statutes the burden of proof is on the D-voters rather than on the prosecution, which renders the process biased against those on trial from the start.A new dimension to this problem was added when Justice BK Sarma of the Gauhati High Court passed a judgement in 2004 allowing those accused of being foreigners to be imprisoned in detention camps till their cases were disposed of [88]. Thus, the detention centres were created based on this judgement and they are operating from the district jails of the above mentioned districts. Currently, once the Foreigners Tribunals pronounce a D-voter a foreigner, he is immediately sent to a detention camp. They remain there while higher courts examine their cases, should these cases are approached on their behalf.

Hindu Bengali organizations estimate that 60-70% of the inmates of the detention camps are Hindu Bengalis [13]. On 18 October, 2019, All Assam Bengali students and youth Federation has said that a lion share of those held in detention camps are Hindu Bengalis [58].
On October 2, 2019, in Barak valley, Congress claimed that 70% of those in detention camp are Hindu Bengalis [40]. On October, 20, 2019, former Congress minister, Rakibul Hussein, said that majority of the inmates of the detention camps are Hindus [90]. Most of the names being reported in the human stories about the inmates of the detention camp are also those of the Hindu Bengalis. As an example, three of the four names of the detainees provided in the BBC report on Assam’s detention camp are of Hindu Bengalis [12]. These suggest that Hindu Bengalis are being targeted selectively and disproportionately, particularly considering that they comprise only 10.73% of the Assam populace. The rest of the names that are emerging from the detention camps are those of Muslims. Now, assuming that the detention camps consist of only Hindu Bengalis and Muslims, Muslims would comprise only 30% of the detention camps. Overall, Muslims comprise 34.2% of Assam, that is 3 times as many as the Hindu Bengali percentage, and Bengali speaking Muslims comprise of 18.1% of Assam, that is close to 1.7 times as many as the Hindu Bengalis. Thus, Hindu Bengalis are certainly significantly more over-represented than the Muslims, or even the Bengali Muslims in the detention camps. This is remarkable since the current ruling dispensation in center and Assam, namely BJP-RSS, have been repeatedly implicitly suggesting that the detention camps are intended to confine illegal Muslim infiltrators from Bangladesh. In addition, clearly significant sections of other segments of the populace, such as tribals, Hindi-speakers, Hindu Assamese-speakers, Gurkhas do not have their citizenship proofs in place. Yet, we are barely coming across names from those ethnicities as inmates of the detention camps. Note many Gurkhas have arrived from Nepal, and therefore are foreigners, and Gurkhas comprise 1.91% of Assam. A ground report in a Firstpost article on 9 August, 2018, documents the selective targeting of the Hindu Bengalis for slapping D-voter notices: “ Over 90 percent of the population in Mohankhal [in Assam] and surrounding villages belongs to the Hindu community and most of them claim to have voted for BJP for decades. They are now angry and disappointed due to the harassment caused by D-voter notices they receive so often. Locals claim that more than 50 families in that village and nearby areas have been slapped with D-voters notice by the Foreigners Tribunal in recent years and a section of local police is allegedly trying to take advantage of the situation’’ [24]. On 18 October, 2019, All Assam Bengali Students and Youth Federation has said that every month the BJP-RSS administration has been sending D-voter notices, selectively targeting Hindu Bengalis, and getting them declared foreigners in Foreigner Tribunals through one-sided judgments [58]. The Federation also claims that during the AGP rule in 1997-98, many were classified as D-voter just based on their last names. Their cases have been removed from IMDT Tribunal to Foreigners Tribunal. Afterwards the number of those tagged as D-voters have decreased a bit, but the process continues [63]. All Assam Bengali youth and student federation has documented how the bureaucracy has been systematically going about labeling Hindu Bengalis as D-voters for several decades, which we describe in Section A. Thus, for all practical purposes Hindu Bengalis are the “criminal tribes’’ of the Indian state (the British had coined this terminology to characterize some tribes as criminals by birth).

Last and most significant is that Hindu Bengalis who have been confined to the detention camps are by and large descendants of refugees, who had to flee to India to escape religious persecution in East Pakistan and Bangladesh. They are being persecuted based on their ethno-religious identity yet again in the land they trusted as their safe haven. We can only imagine that they may be reminded of the plight of Sita, so movingly portrayed by Krittibas Ojha, in his Bengali rendition of Ramayana. Sita had spurned Rabana’s advances while living in his captivity, waiting for her husband, Ram, to rescue her. But, after the rescue, Ram broke her heart, by asking her to appear in an Agnipariksha (trial by fire) to prove her chastity. She emerged from the trial with flying colors, and the couple reconciled. But, when she became pregnant by her husband, her husband’s subjects started questioning her chastity yet again, and she was exiled to a forest. There, living with sage Balmiki, she gave birth to the couple’s twins. She was subsequently recalled by her husband, and asked to appear in yet another Agnipariksha in front of all to dispel the lingering rumors. It was the second demand for the Agnipariksha that finally broke her – she saw no haven other than the depths of mother Earth, in which she then sought her final rest. Analogous to Sita, the Hindu Bengalis resisted the British invaders while living under their control, leading the freedom fight against them, and in the process producing an overwhelming majority of martyrs and prisoners of the dreaded Cellular jail in the Kalapaani exile. Then, they were passed on to a Muslim-majority state, through partition of India which they had not wanted. Under the new state, they suffered religious persecution in the land they had forever inhabited lived, the East Bengal, both under Pakistan and Bangladesh regimes. That was their first Agnipariksha. Those who could emerge from that trial, fled to India, the land many Hindus consider their last refuge. Then began their second Agnipariksha, persecution in their promised land, of which the detention camps are but a sordid chapter. Will this finally break them? That only time will tell, but for now, we proceed to document through facts of the persecution of the Hindu Bengalis in the detention camps of Assam and the immediate fallout of the same.

We first provide a profile of a Hindu Bengali inmate of the detention camp extracted from the examples we came across in a large number of media reports and facts of how the process of commitment to detention centers is executed (Section A). Second, we describe the living-conditions of the inmates of the detention centers, constructed from specific examples we obtained in English and Bangla media, both national and international, and from statements given by governmental representatives and various human-rights bodies (Section B). Third, we document how confinement of an individual in a detention center destroys his or her entire family, in every possible way (Section C). Fourth, we document the cynical politics played using Hindu Bengalis of Assam as pawns, with reference to the detention centers, by various political parties, specifically the BJP-RSS, whom the Hindu Bengalis trusted whole-heartedly and voted overwhelmingly. We argue that this can only be explained through the observance that BJP-RSS pursues an ethno-linguistic peck-order among the Hindus which relegates the Hindu Bengalis to the very bottom, despite their stated advocacy of Hindu unity and their seemingly pro-Hindu discourse (Section D). Finally, we describe how the terror of detention camps have been generating mass-hysteria, among those who receive D-voter notices, and those who face the prospect of the same because of lack of citizenship documents on legitimate grounds. We document how many are driven to suicide on that count. We also how D-voter and Foreigner-notices are being systematically utilized as means of judicial persecution of Hindu Bengalis, by even subjecting those who have earlier proved their citizenship in various governmental fora to the same (Section E).

Section A: A profile of a Hindu Bengali inmate of the detention camp

An examination of the profile of the Hindu Bengali inmates of the detention centers reveal that most of them have legacy predating the cut-off date of 24 March 1971, and are mostly dirt-poor, under-privileged villagers and have limited education (some are from lower middle class). On 6 November, 2019, Former Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi, has said that most of the inmates of the detention camps are Indians [114]. All Assam Bengali youth and student federation has claimed that at least 60% of those in the detention centers have appropriate documents, but the concerned individuals could not fight in higher courts due to ignorance or poverty [63]. On 8 November, 2019, a delegation of the All India Congress Committee, consisting of Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh, Assam state Congress president and Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora, Lok Sabha MP Manik Tagore, former Union ministers Mukul Wasnik and Jitendra Singh, MLAs Kamalakshya Dey Purkayastha and Rajdeep Goala, former state ministers Ajit Singh and Siddique Ahmed and other lawyers visited a detention centre at Silchar. They found 48 genuine Indian citizens who did not have ‘proper’ papers, and 23 foreigners [116]. Thus, they found 67.6% of the inmates to be Indian citizens. The inmates include octogenarians, women, children and sick. As per Shantanu Mukherjee of the All Assam Bengali Hindu Association (AABHA) even the Hindu Bengalis with pacemakers have been kept in detention centres[26]. Kamal Chakraborty, a human rights activist who has been trying to provide legal help to those deemed D-voters and confined in detention camps, says “Most of these detainees are marginalised people — rickshaw pullers, domestic helps, daily wage labourers, farm hands…. Usually unlettered, neither can they appeal nor do they have proper documents to prove citizenship” [25]. Many reports also indicate that the show-cause notice of D-voter issued by Foreigners Tribunal were delivered by the Border police after a period of 3-4 months to enable an ex-parte judgment declaring the persons to be foreigners. This phenomenon has been noted by the Adviser of the All BTC Bengali Youth Students Federation(AABYSF), Shyamal Sarkar, after the suicide of a suspected D-voter, Dipak Debnath [61]. Hindu Bengali activists protesting at Jantar mantar have got a list of about 600-700 people in a village in Assam on whom D-voter, PFT cases have been slapped, but the concerned individuals have no knowledge thereof. In many instances, multiple cases have been slapped on the same individual on the same ground, those being targeted are poor farmers, without requisite education to know how to respond [60]. All Assam Bengali youth and student federation has documented how the Hindu Bengalis are being systematically labeled as D-voters for several decades by the bureaucracy. The district administration send the border police a list of names actual citizens. The border police slaps cases on them in foreigners’ tribunals. In many cases the notices for these cases are not sent to the targets by the border police or the concerned administration, and the notices remain with them. After “sending’’ or rather collecting three such notices, the targets are declared D-voters directly, the targets do not get the opportunity to go to the courts because they do not receive the notices, and the targets are too poor to pursue such cases legally [62]. Swapan Das, a resident of Assam, says that the Bengalis of Assam are living under duress, as the only goal of the NRC and Foreigners Tribunal seem to be to proclaim them foreigners [120]. On 18 April, 2019, The Wire reported, “Nearly 30% of the detainees in detention centres as on 4 February 2018 were declared foreigners in proceedings in ex-parte proceedings or proceedings in their absence. Many such persons fail to appear before the Tribunal because notice was not served on them properly. They invariably find out about the loss of their citizenship only when the police reach their doorstep to arrest them and take them into custody.’’ [95]. Also, sometimes the recipients are unable to attend the Tribunal because of poverty; some others attend but are only able to recruit lawyers who extract their last cent but do not fight their cases. Many of the inmates are women with no certificates to prove birth, educational qualification or marital status [48]. Many Hindu Bengalis had lost their documents due to ethnic violence against them in the past – namely the ULFA terrorists had repeatedly burnt down their villages [60]. Many of the inmates have lost property and other identity documents in the frequent floods that plague Assam [48]. Some of the inmates had spent time simply because of routine errors and discrepancies between several various governmental records, and mistaken identity, but the government did not provide any compensation after the same were established. Referring to The Wire, 18, April, 2019, “The person accused of being a foreigner has to disprove that he is a foreigner unlike criminal statutes where the burden of proof is one the prosecution. Lawyers working on cases before Foreigners Tribunals in Assam say that as a result of the reversal of burden of proof, investigations have become shoddy and lackadaisical. Once a person’s case is before the Foreigners Tribunal, they end up in a confusing labyrinth of documents and legal processes. The documents needed to prove citizenship need to be original or certified copies. Certified copies are issued by government offices and the process of getting them can take months. Clerical errors such as varying spellings in different documents or contradictions between answers given in cross-examinations and what is written in the documents are treated with suspicion. The process is biased and is divorced from the reality of documents in India.’’ [95]. Many say that the judges of the Foreigners Tribunals ask for bribes to deliver favorable judgments, or sometimes direct those under trial to the lawyers of their choice. But hiring such lawyers does not guarantee relief. As soon as the under-trial exhausts all his savings, his fate is sealed too [120]. An earlier IMDT act, which the Congress Government in Assam followed required that the prosecution had to prove that an individual was a foreigner, before he could be labeled as such. This act was repealed due to a legal battle launched by Sarbananda Sonowal, who is the current BJP-RSS chief minister [115]. Once police secures ex-parte or 1-sided judgments from the Foreigners Tribunal, they arrest the victims from their homes, or even send for them on some false pretexts; once they get hold of the victims they transport them to the detention centers.

We reproduce some of the harrowing tales reported in various media outlets. In 2010, brothers Sukumar and Dilip Biswas, (latter 47 years of age), were sent to the Goalpara detention camp while Dilip’s wife, Rumani, 40, and two minor daughters, Kalpana and Archana, then 8-10 and 2, were sent to the Kokrajhar camp. They were released after 9 years. Dilip Biswas used to be a vendor from Murkata village in Morigaon district [25] [121]. In early 2011, despite submitting copies of his 1964 voter identity card and ration card, among other documents, Debendra Sarkar, 70, of Dalimbari village in Nagaon district, was declared a D-voter. He was released from the Goalpara detention camp in 2015. His wife was long dead and one of his sons was about to appear for his tenth-standard school-leaving examination when he was arrested. Two of his sons work as masons, while another is a farmer [25]. BBC reports the case of Ajit Das, 33 years of age. Das says that his parents arrived from Bangladesh in the 1960s and they died a few years ago. He says he was born in India but a special court classified him as a “doubtful Indian citizen”, though his documents did not prove it. He was then sent to a prison cell with inmates who “were serving time for murder or rape” and he was moved to a detention camp in Silchar after he complained [12] [21]. These violations occurred under Congress in power in center and in power in Assam.

The current prime minister Modi had promised in 2014 in his Silchar election rally to close down all the detention camps for Hindu migrants if he came to power. He won the national level elections in May 2014 [23]. But, 50 year old Shanti Sarkar of Nagarjhar village of Manikpur Mahakuma was sent to the Bongaigaon detention center in 2014. There are land documents dated 1958 in the name of her father Praneshwar Das who used to live in the Khoirabari village of Mongoldoi. Shanti has been in the detention center for 6 years [103]. But, Suchandra Goswami, a part-time music instructor, did not receive any respite. She received a legal notice in 2011 to prove her citizenship. She did not respond since her first name was mis-spelt. She was arrested in 2015, and incarcerated for three days in a regular prison before she was able to secure bail [12][21]]106]. Her husband Gouranga Goswami is a teacher [106]. She is the only victim we could find who belongs to the educated middle class; we notice that she had to stay in the camp for only three days as opposed to those from the poor who had to spend months and years.

We now list some examples of victims of detention camps who have been sent to the detention camps around the time or after BJP-RSS assumed power in Assam on 24 May, 2016. From this date, BJP-RSS has been in power both in center and in Assam.

First, consider the case of a Dalit Hindu Bengali, Ratan Chandra Biswas (52), a resident of Gerukabari Village under Manikpur Police Station of Bongaigaon District, around 170 km from Guwahati, a father of five (two sons and three daughters). He had a school leaving certificate certifying that he born on July 27, 1969. He says, “I have studied up to class six [before dropping out due to financial crisis]. My grandfather’s name is in the 1966 Voters list. There is a small piece of land in my father’s name. Though I am an Indian Citizen, I have been forced inside a detention camp for the last 2 years and five months.’’ His wife Kalpana Biswas (42) says, “My grandfather-in-law had a citizenship certificate and was enrolled in the 1959 voter list. My father-in-law had land documents of 1960’’ . On November 7, 2008, the day of their first daughter’s marriage, two policemen delivered a notice at his home, asking him to appear before the Foreigners’ Tribunal to prove his Indian nationality. Unbeknownest to him, the police had registered a case six years back (I/C Ref. No.52/2002) . Kalpana Biswas says “Similar notices were served to several people in our village during that time. No one has any clue how the cases were registered”. She is categorical that no enquiry was conducted and no policemen had visited their home before 2008, which is in contravention of established procedure. Through a local Panchayat member, he communicated to the local Police Station, and paid Rs 500 for the favour, anxious to get to the bottom of the obviously false allegation. The Panchayat member did not act, and another notice was served to appear before the tribunal. This time he engaged a lawyer from the Bongaigaon Bar Association to fight his case in the tribunal. But the lawyer simply continued to extract money from the poor man, but did not fight the case in the tribunal. After three months he was picked up from his bed, and arrested on the wee hours of May 16, 2016, and sent to the Goalpara Detention Camp. His sons now work as barbers to earn a livelihood [27], [31].
In 1958 Rabi Dey came to Maldah from Chattogram. In 1964 his parents were murdered in Bangladesh. Then he brought his two brothers and a sister to Maldah. One of his brothers still lives in Bangladesh. His sister lives in Maldah. He settled in Jagrotopara village of Krishnai, Barpeta and started a garment shop there. The shop was burnt down thrice. He was tried on the charge of being a foreigner in foreigner’s tribunal. Hard of hearing, he could not correctly answer the questions there. He was arrested. In July 2018 he has received bail. The police requested media not to release his name on the pretext of his social security. But he has asked that his name be published as police wants to conceal their wrongdoing [34].
Madhubala Mondal, a 59 year old who had lost her husband 22 years back, used to be the sole breadwinner for her household, which consist of her deaf-and-dumb daughter, Pholmala, abandoned by her husband 8 years back, and grand-daughter Jayanti, 12 years. They lived in a rickety hut. In 2016, the border branch of the Assam Police was supposed to arrest Madhumala Das – an alleged foreigner residing in Chirang district’s No.1 Bishnupur village. Das had died by then, and the visiting police personnel picked up Madhubala Mondal instead.The illiterate and extremely poor woman could not challenge the police when they hauled her away. After confinement in the Kokrajhar detention centre for over three years, she was released on 26-27 June, 2019. The family has now made it to the final draft version of the National Register of Citizens, NRC [25] [28], [29]. The NRC authorities include only those whose pre-24 March legacy they are satisfied with based on the documentations the individuals provide. A local activist, Ajoy Kumar Roy, stepped up on their behalf; without him they had no hope as they were illiterate and poor. Roy says, “I gave all the proof to the SP of police and told him ‘for once come to the village and investigate the truth‘’’ [28] [29]A tearful Madhubala says “This wrong detention has ruined my family, my health. How will I survive now that I can’t even work? I need compensation from the government. They can’t compensate the trauma and detention. They told me I am Bangladeshi and will be sent to Bangladesh. I told them I will die as a proud Indian“. The family has made it the draft version of the NRC [28], [29].
Parbati Das was charged of being a foreigner in September 2005 at the Foreigners’ Tribunal at Dhubri. Her case was transferred to another Foreigners Tribunal in May 2008 to Bongaigaon. She missed the first few hearings, but attended the hearings on July 2, 2008 and submitted her documents, which included a copy of her father Sharat Chandra Das’ ration card from 1949, a copy of her father’s name in the electoral rolls of 1970, and a link certificate from Gaon Panchayat secretary (Gaon Burah certificate). She missed a few other subsequent hearings. There was a discrepancy in her grandfather’s name on two different documents. The Tribunal ruled that the Gaon Burah certificates as unreliable and that they do not establish her as Sharat Chandra Das’ daughter. She was declared a foreigner and sent to the Kokrajhar detention camp where she had spent 2 years and 8 months as of June 2019. Aged and frail, her health has been deteriorating. Her son, Biswanath Das, who drives an e-rickshaw is under significant duress, and appeals “I don’t want her to die in captivity. I want her to be comfortable and loved amidst her family, in her home” [9].
A Rajbangshi, Nikhil Barman, had been confined in Goalpara detention camp since 2016 [117].
A farmer from Mohankhal village in Sonai area of Cachar district, Kumud Ram Das, 64, was arrested in December 2016 after being declared a “foreigner” [19], [25]. He was arrested based on a notice that had the name of one Kumud Chandra Roy as a D-voter; the notice was allegedly changed to Kumud Das by the officials who served the notice to his family . His name is enlisted in the 1971 and 1989 voter lists, and he had regularly cast his vote till the 2016 Assam Assembly polls [19].He was released on bail after spending over two years in the detention camp in Silchar Central Jail [25]. After his release he lamented that “ I am not the person the foreigners tribunal officials are looking for. But still I was arrested and sent to the camp. It feels good to be back to my family but I am not relieved as my case is still pending in the high court” [19]. Because of his “foreigner” tag, he was not allowed to exercise his franchise in Lok Sabha 2019 elections [19].
On 31 December, 2016, Nanibala Debnath, 38, mother of four, including a 8 year old, was carrying food for her husband, the priest of a nearby temple, when Dhemaji police arrested her and took her to Tezpur Central Jail as a doubtful (D) voter. She claims to have documents to prove her legacy dating back to 1966, but she was confined at the detention camp for over a year till the administration declared her a citizen of India. Before that her repeated attempts to show all documents to officials of the foreigners tribunal proved futile. She received no compensation from the government for her wrongful detention [25].
Falu Das was the son of Bhulu Rajbangshi. Bhulu Rajbanshi’s name appears in 1951 Assam NRC, and in voter lists of 1966, 1970, 1971. He used to live in the Chatemari village of Barakhetri of lower Assam with his wife Karpula, sons Bhagaban, Duryodhan and their families in lower Assam. Bhagaban has 2 daughters, Duryodhan 2 daughters and 1 son. It was a family of 11. His four daughters Alo, Anamika, Malati, Koushalya have been married and lived elsewhere. He earned his livelihood by fishing and selling his catch in local markets. Since there was no Bangla school in his neighborhood, his sons have studied in Assamese. His family is Assamese for all practical purposes and is Hindu Bengali only in name. On 29 July 2017 Nalbari Foreigner’s Tribunal declared him a foreigner (case number 37/2017), as his last name is not the same as his father’s, and his father’s name has different spellings in different voter lists. Affidavit to the end that he was Bhulu’s son despite different last names, had not been filed in the Foreigner’s Tribunal. Subsequently he was sent to Goalpara detention camp. He was 72 then. The Guahati High Court refused to give him bail [104][105][106] .
64-65 year old Dulal Chandra Pal was born in Assam. He was a potter by profession. He could not study beyond class seven. He used to live in the Alisinga village of Dhekiyajuli of Shonitpur district of Assam, along with his wife Belurani, and 3 sons, Ashok, Ashis and Rohit, and a daughter who had passed away. Dulal used to get by by selling his pots in the local markets and also by tilling land in agricultural seasons. In 1993 he received a D-voter notice. In 2015 the case against him started. Dulal’s mother Gyanadarani Pal had land documents dated 16 September, 1965, registered in her name in 1965. There is an Indira Abas Government home constructed there too. Dulal’s father Rajendra Chandra Pal had two brothers, Manindrachandra and Harendrachandra, who have been declared Indian citizens based on the same legacy documents. Dulal submitted certified copy of his land documents from 1965. But since he could not give the original, he was declared foreigner in 2017 by the Foreigner’s Tribunal. He was mentally ill too. On 11 October, 2017, two plain clothed men came in bike and asked Dulal to accompany them as there was a notice in his name. His son, Ashok, was not allowed to accompany him. He was just told that they were going to Dhekiajuli Dak Bungalow, where he could meet them. Ashok went to the said address and found no one there. That night a villager informed them that Dulal was detained in the Tejpur detention camp. Ashok used to work in a factory in Mumbai which has closed down. Even in their dire financial conditions, Ashok hired a lawyer and went to High Court by selling off a part of their land. He also got a certified copy of their land documents. The family spent nearly Rs. 1.5 lakh on his case. The lawyer didn’t or couldn’t get the case listed in High Court. Ashok says, “for 2 years, where have we not gone? But we don’t have money, we are poor people, where will we get justice ?” Meanwhile, Dulal Pal’s siblings and their families have been included in the NRC final list issued on 31 August, 2019 (as per Dulal’s nephew Sadhan Pal) [3] [35] [43] [44] [45] [46] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59].
67-68 year old Amrit Das used to live with his wife in Ward Number 10 of Barpeta Road, under Barpeta District. He was a father of two daughters and two sons. He used to run a small portable snack shop which he would set roadside, and make and sell potato chops. He would carry his collapsible wooden contraption upon four rickshaw wheels to the roadside, leaving home early every morning. On May 20th, 2017, he was declared a foreigner through an ex-parte judgment by Foreigners Tribunal No. 9 in the District and subsequently promptly lodged in the Goalpara Detention Camp. On March 12, 2019, the Gauhati High Court upheld the Foreigners Tribunal order when his family challenged it (some of the media reports quote his son Krishna Das as claiming that the case was still being heard in the High Court at the time of the reports). The High Court order said, “If Birendra Chandra Das, son of Lalit, age 26 years of voter list of 1965 of Barpeta Road Town is claimed to be the father of the petitioner, in such a situation, the age of Birendra Chandra Das would have been 13 years in 1952 when the petitioner was born…” The Senior Advocate of Gauhati High Court, who defended Das said, “The name of Birendra Das, father of Amrit Das was available in the voters list of 1961 onwards. The name of Amrit Das is available even in the present voters list. All their documents are correct as per court. But, problem is that as per voters list of 1961 and present voters list of 2016 or 2019, age difference between father and son is only 13 years… Due to lack of awareness and sometime due to negligence of government officials, there are numerous discrepancies in the voters list, especially with respect to spelling of names, titles, age etc. I had tried my level best to convince the fact before the court, but I failed. It is a regular happening in Assam and needs special attention to save hundreds of distressed people..” Amrit Das’ son Krishna Das also said that “My father first voted in 1961, and we got our legacy data for National Register of Citizens (NRC) on the basis of the government records of his father Birendra Chandra Das. But the police sent my father a notice after which the Foreigners’ Tribunal declared him a foreigner”. Krishna Das also said that Birendra Chandra Das’s name appears on the NRC of 1951 as a 36-year-old man. But a contradiction appears in the name of Birendra Chandra’s father — while The HC order quotes the 1965 voters list to say Birendra’s father was Lalit, the 1951 NRC document states that Birendra was the son of “Bihamur”. Krishna Das said that his great-grandfather’s name was “Bishambar” [48] [91] [92] [93] [94].
Maynarani Sinha was originally from Cachar District, Shealtek, Phulbari village. She was born in 1961, and has a primary school certificate from Kalinagar lower primary school. She moved to Langting, Badarpur after marrying Hari Sinha. She has a son, Dibakar Sinha, and a daughter. Her husband has died. She has a voter identity card in her name. She used to run a small restaurant. In 2017 the border police of Dima Hasao consumed food in their restaurant and did not pay for their meal. When she asked for money, police slapped a case on her in Foreigner Tribunal. She was declared a foreigner in a 1-sided judgment. As of November, 2019, she has been in detention camp for 2 years 1 month. Her mother Belarani Das and her other family members have been included in the NRC final list showing that she has been a citizen of India all along [111].
Chandrani (Chhanda) Pal, mother of two boys and one girl, has been lodged for 28 months at a detention camp in Tezpur, after being declared as a ‘foreigner’ by a Foreigner’s Tribunal. She was born on 31 December, 1982, is the daughter of Late Devendra (Sukumar) Pal. She hails from Lumding, and is married to Dulal Pal of Doboka area of Hojai for more than a decade. Dulal Pal was a hawker. The couple has a son and a daughter, Dishanu and Abhinanda. Her name was moved to the voter list of the place in which her in laws live after her marriage, but she was listed in Ward number 7, though all her in laws are listed in ward Number 6. She had documents of her parents property of the year 1935 and a document of her father’s jewellery shop in the year 1945. Assam government had renewed the license for this shop in 1966 and 1967. Her six siblings have been deemed Indian citizens based on these documents. But, a D-voter notice was issued in her name in 2015. The case was tried in Shankardebnagar Foreigner Tribunal of Hojjai. On 26 July, 2017, she was proclaimed a foreigner, because her documents could not be verified. She been confined in Tejpur detention camp ever since. Her family could not get relief from Gauhati High Court, or Supreme Court [17], [18] [120].
55-56 year old Naresh Koch, of the Koch-Rajbangshi community, is from Mornoi in Goalpara (near Sainik school). His family migrated from Bangladesh in 1964. They first settled in Meghalaya and then moved to Tinikunia para village in Assam. His grandfather Hiralal Koch’s name is in the 1971 voter list. He and his only son work as daily wage laborers. He had voted in every election till 2018. On June 1 2017, Foreigners Tribunal No. 5 of Goalpara declared him foreigner, Ex parte, after he failed to appear fourth consecutive times. His family says that they were not aware of any legal proceedings against him. Due to poverty, they could not appeal in higher courts. He was sent to a detention camp on March 7, 2018, after being whisked off from the market [122], [123], [124], [125], [126].
Krishna Sarkar (64) is originally from Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal, and migrated to Assam in mid 1980s and started working as a daily-wage labourer and later opened a tea stall. He has pre-1971 land, educational and 40 year old bank loan documents from West Bengal. His wife works as a housemaid. The couple lived in a rented house in the Serabbhati area of Guwahati city with their 10 year old daughter. From 2016, the border police from the nearby Paltan Bazaar police station frequently visited his rented house. He was also summoned to the police station without any reason, where he was bullied for being an alleged illegal immigrant. He says “I could hardly manage my livelihood and the frequent visit to police station severely affected by business and made me worried about everything. Gradually the police atrocity increased when they demand rupees 40,000, otherwise they threatened to make me Bangladeshi”. One day police forcefully took his fingerprints on a plain paper. Scared, his wife took rupees four thousand advance and paid one of the police officer named Dilip. On October 30, 2018, he was declared a foreigner and ordered to be kept in detention until he is to be deported to Bangladesh. He was suffering from asthma, diabetes and cardiac diseases. During the 150 km trip from Guwahati to Goalpara, his health condition worsened, and he was admitted in the Goalpara Civil Hospital. In hospital, he was hand-cuffed to his bed as though he was a dreaded criminal. Sobbing, he said on the hospital bed, “I have been an alien in my own country and at this age I am being treated as a criminal, what is my fault? I want answer from the government?” After much outrage on social media, he has been relieved of their handcuffs [31].
Subroto Dey used to run a shop on Krishnai National Highway. His name appeared as Subodh Dey in his voter card. He received a doubtful voter notice. A lawyer charged Rs. 75000 but didn’t present him in 8 hearings. When it became clear that he would be arrested, the lawyer advised him to abscond, which he complied with in 2011. He was arrested on 27 March, 2018 and sent to a detention center [34].
Chandradhar Das, who can barely walk without support, and is 102 years of age, was also sent to a camp. Das was a resident of Borai Basti in Barak valley’s Cachar district and possessed a citizenship card of 1966. His daughter Minoti Roy said, “My father was put in detention camp [on March 31, 2018] after he failed to appear with his documents before the tribunal when he was served with the notice to prove his citizenship [on January 2, 2018]. He was already sick and do not remember properly where he kept his relevant documents. Is it possible for a 102 years old person who is suffering from different ailments to remember everything? ‘’ [20]. Human rights activist Kamal Chakraborty who pursued Das’ case sayd, “The order passed on him was ex parte [without hearing his account because he failed to appear before the tribunal], when fact is that this particular tribunal (FT-6) did not have a government pleader for months” [48]. He survived the camp with the help of others in the camp. He resolves:”I won’t die before I prove my Indian citizenship” [12].
Sulekha Das, born and brought up in India, has been confined in the Silchar detention camp since April 2018 until at least April, 2019. Before that she used to live in a village called Thaligram, which is 30Km from Silchar [48].
Painter Shibu Shil had received a D-voter notice, but did not pay any heed, as before 2014 then Congress chief minister Tarun Gogoi had assured that everyone who appeared in voter list would receive citizenship. Also, before the elections in 2014 and 2016, the BJP leaders had promised that all Hindu Bengalis would be given citizenship. He was summoned in a Foreigners Tribunal and submitted all his proofs. He did not have funds at his disposal however. He was sent to a detention camp. He has received bail, but the case is continuing. The legal expenses have rendered him broke. Survival itself is a challenge for him [120].
Alorani has been confined in the Kokrajhar detention camp despite having a pacemaker [63].
A sobbing poor octogenarian Hindu Bengali lady Annabala Roy may be seen dragged to a detention camp in Assam [14].

It has been reported in various media outlets that people are not being committed to the detention centers since the publication of the draft NRC in July 2018. The following examples refute such propaganda.

On 21 September, 2016, Foreigners Tribunal 2 at Abhaypuri declared Hareshwar Das of Bonaigaon district, Abhaypuri area a foreigner, despite having all documents establishing his citizenship. His family appeared in High Court, which upheld the Foreigner Tribunal judgment on 11 February, 2019. He has been in Goalpara detention camp ever since. His wife Kamalabala Das has got the High Court order stayed in Supreme Court. On 14 June, 2019, she appealed at the Abhaypuri Tribunal again, but failed to obtain any reprieve for her husband. On 31 August, 2019, his mother Padmarani Das has been included in the NRC final list, which clearly shows that he can not be a foreigner [47] [63].
Jaydeb Ghosh, a small businessman [111], is the son of late Birendra Ghosh of Badarpur town. He has bank account, voter card, is in voter list. He had received D-voter notices once or twice, but he could not respond as his wife was sick and he was poor. On May 1 2019, Border branch police called him to the police station, telling him that his NRC papers have arrived. Upon arrival he was informed that the tribunal has declared him a foreigner and he would have to spend the rest of his life in a detention camp. He was taken to the Silchar detention camp, where has been confined for the last 3 months [7] (Another report says that they had not received any summons to the Foreigner tribunal and did not know that the case was being tried there. Jaydeb was taken to the camp on May 16, 2019. The reports otherwise agree [50]) [50].
Dolly Roy, a middle-aged resident of Golaghat town, claims to have documents to prove that her legacy data dates back to 1952. The names of her parents were registered in the voters’ list. Also her siblings have made it to the NRC final draft list. She could not appear before the Jorhat Foreigners’ Tribunal on three occasions, because of her poor health. On 11 June, 2019, she has been sent to the Jorhat detention center [49].
Late August 2019, Bijaybhushan Das (70+) and widow Sabitri Dey (50+) of Bokajan Mahakuma have been sent to Jorhat detention camp. They have 1937 passbook from post office [36].

Section B: Life in the detention camps of Assam

We now dwell on how the inmates are treated in the detention camps of Assam. The detention camps are worse than jails as the authorities apply the Assam Jail Manual to them, but deny them the benefits, like parole, waged work etc., that the inmates get under the jail rules [20]. The detention camps do not provide adequate food or medicine, people can not even sleep there [7]. Jail inmates earn Rs 55 and Rs 75 a day respectively for unskilled and skilled labour but detention camp inmates are not allowed to work [19]. In a letter on March 7, 2012, the Ministry of Home Affairs asked the state government to separate the detention centres from jail premises, and provide minimum facilities like drinking water, beds, sufficient sanitary toilets and a well-trained staff to ensure the dignity of detainees. Human rights groups report that successive Assam governments have ignored the letter, and even the mentally challenged detainees face physical abuses inside the detention centre [31]. Twenty-five declared foreigners have already died in these detention camps – seven detainees each have died in 2019 and 2018, six in 2017, four in 2016 and one in 2011, as per the state’s parliamentary affairs minister, Chandra Mohan Patowary [25]. All of these (except the one in 2011) had occurred with BJP-RSS in power in center and in Assam. 12 of these 25 are Hindus [1]. Congress MLA Kamalakshya Dey Purakayashta has claimed that all of these are Hindu Bengalis [105]. The human rights groups and other sources provide higher figures. By 8 April, 2019, 43 have died in the detention center as per a human rights group [91]. On 20 October, 2019, Congress MLA of Silchar, Kamalakshya Dey Purakayashta have estimated that 55 Hindu Bengalis have died in the detention camps. 10 have died in the detention camps in 2019 itself [117]. On 20 October, 2019, Congress MLA of Silchar, Kamalakshya De Purakayashta have estimated that 55 Hindu Bengalis have died in the detention camps. On the same day, former Congress minister, Rakibul Hussein, has stated that the majority of those who have died in the detention camps are Hindus [90]. On 22 October, 2019, local Bangla newspaper, Dainik Prantojyoti has reported that multiple dead bodies have existed in Guwahati Medical College for long, which are believed to be those of the Bengali inmates who died in the detention centers, or those who died due to heart attack or depression resulting from exclusion in NRC [99]. On 19 October, 2019 the All Bengali Student and youth federation had informed the chief minister of Assam that 50-60 inmates are seriously ill at various detention camps in Assam. They had demanded that a medical team be formed to check the health of the inmates. The chief minister had promised to take action. But he had not acted in a month [119]. On 25 and 26 October, Bengali youth and student Federation have warned that 10-12 inmates could die in the next few days in the detention camps, and 20-25 in the next month, unless the healths of the inmates are examined and treatments administered [104][105]. On 16 November, 2019, they again warned that 4-5 more would die in the next few days [119]. By the end of September, 2019, 44 have committed suicide in the existing detention camps, per the estimates of Assam Pradesh Congress [4]. A human right activist, Kamal Chakraborty, who has been providing legal aid to the inmates of the detention center, says “If you visit any of these jails in Silchar, Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and Tezpur, you will hear the wails of hapless inmates” [48]. On 8 November, 2019, Congress Rajyasabha MP, Jairam Ramesh, described the detention camps as an execution ground for humanity [115]. He also tweeted that the visit was a “very depressing and sobering experience’’ [116]. Supreme Court has ordered that those confined for more than 3 years need to be released in parole. All Assam Bengali youth and student federation provide the statistics that 150 in Tejpur Detention Camp alone fit that criteria, 70 of them have applied for parole, but Assam Home Ministry has ignored their applications [63]. Former Congress MP Sushmita Dev mention that more than 80 are in the Tejpur detention camp have been confined for more than three years [104]. On November 3, 2019, as per the President of the Bengali student and youth federation, Deepak Dey, 305 have been jailed for more than 3 years in 6 detention centers. 140 of these have applied for parole. 60 applications have been returned because of some errors in the first round. 24 applications have been returned because of errors and lack of documentation after review [112]. In a public observance of Goddess Kali, which Hindu Bengalis refer to as “Kali Pujo’’ the Silchar Satsang Ashram Road Kalipuja Committee have announced that it would depict the conditions of Tejpur, Goalpara and Silchar detention centers and the existential crisis of the persecuted Bengalis through a live sound and light show performed by the theater artists in Silchar and a thematic decoration of the Pandal [99]. Former inmate of a detention camp Suchandra Goswami has inaugurated the worship [106]. Post extended media, social media and public outrage, on the detention camps, it has been reported on 4 November, 2019, that Assam Government has accepted 56 applications of those confined in detention centers for more than 3 years for release on parole. They may be released in the next few days [112].

We now reproduce the experiences of some of the inmates in the detention centers, which reveal that they are provided inadequate food, and extremely stressful and unsanitary living conditions. Oftentimes, both sexes are forced to share the same room, and large numbers are packed in rooms of small sizes. This leads to deterioration of health of the inmates, and even those who had no ailments before die in a short time. A 60-year-old who was recently released from the Goalpara detention camp, “The way we were kept in large numbers in small rooms broke my health…. Inmates fall sick there very often because of bad food and poor sanitation. They only make news when they die.’’ [117]. The sick are not always given medical treatment, and have even been chained to hospital beds, even when sent to hospitals. Family members are provided limited access to the inmates. And, the inmates are denied parole even under exigent family circumstances; circumstances of far lower gravity have qualified hardened criminals for parole in India.

Ajit Das fears he may never recover from the three months he spent in the detention camp. His health deteriorated there. In Mr. Das’ words, “I lost 5kg in three months. The food was awful and often half-cooked”. The BBC report on him states that “He says the camp was a large but cramped room in a red building that houses a prison. All the detention camps in Assam are located within a prison compound….Mr Das recalls at least 35 people eating and sleeping in the single room that was the Silchar camp. And they all used one toilet which had no locks – they waited for 30 minutes every morning for their turn. He was woken up each morning at 05:00 (23:30 GMT) by a thunderous shout. He had to be ready within the hour or he would miss the daily cup of tea served with two biscuits. Everyone was then ushered out of the room to spend the day out in the open ground surrounded by 40ft (12m) high brick walls. Lunch comprised of rice, pulses and a vegetable, while dinner was hurriedly served before 17:00. They had to return indoors by 18:00, after which the doors would be locked.’’ [12].
A former inmate, Debendra Sarkar’s youngest son, Harimohan Sarkar, states that “there were no basic amenities at the camp” [25].
On 23 October, 2019, Shanti Sarkar’s only son Kamini Sarkar, succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 36. She was released on parole to see her son one last time, but she was taken back to the detention center right after the conclusion of the last rites [103]. In contrast, on July 5, 2019, Nalini Sriharan, who has been convicted in the assassination case of former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, has been released on a month’s parole to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding [64]. Siddharth Vashisht alias Manu Sharma, who is undergoing life imprisonment, for murdering Jessica Lal, murder case, was granted 30 days parole in December, 2014, to enable him to appear in a post-graduation examination [65].
Suchandra Goswami and her husband Gouranga Goswami remain shattered till date due to the conditions she experienced in her 3 day stint in the detention camp four years back [106].
Nikhil Barman has been confined in the Goalpara detention camp since 2016. He was sick for a while and did not get any treatment. On 4 November, 2019, he was hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. On 16 November, 2019, he died at the age of 64-66 [117] [119].
After his release Kumud Ram Das said that at the detention camp he had to share a 30ftx40ft room with 40 other inmates, including women: “It was so crowded that I couldn’t even stretch my legs while sleeping. We were served tea and roti at 6am, rice and some vegetables around noon and another meal at 5pm. We had nothing to do all day. We were not allowed to work like prisoners” . He was given only a bed-sheet and a mosquito net at the camp. He was allowed to meet his family and lawyers once or twice a month only after obtaining the jail superintendent’s permission [19].
Rumani Biswas said, “I used to feed my daughters from my meal at the camp. There wasn’t sufficient food for all of us. …My daughters were raised alongside prisoners. The rooms were crowded and there wasn’t enough bedding for all of us, especially during winter. My husband was in the Goalpara camp. It was difficult spending each day at the camp and very difficult for me to raise my children on my own in that environment” [19].
Ratan Chandra Biswas had no health complaints, when he was detained, but his condition however started deteriorating in the camp. He says, “Even cattle wouldn’t have such poor quality food which are served to us. I couldn’t have it, starved and thus the stomach problem started.” Finally after prolonged illnesses he was admitted to the Goalpara Civil Hospital. During his treatment, he had been chained to the bed with handcuffs. The organization who has reported his plight had found him trembling and emaciated [27][31]. After outrage in Social media, he has been moved to the camp. His health is deteriorating there, he is barely eating because of the ulcers in his stomach [5].
Madhubala Mondal describes her life in the detention camp as: “Life inside detention centre is terrible. There are hundreds of people. What we got there was inhuman. I had left all hopes of my release and thought how will by daughter and granddaughter survive without me…They gave us vegetables, sometimes with rice and dal, all half-cooked. There are so many people, young and old like me, who are Indian. I saw two people die there waiting for release“.
In the detention camp, Falu Das used to cry in his dark compartment, helpless. His eye sight had weakened in the process. His family found it unbearable to see him suffer like that. On 11 October he was admitted in Goalpara civil hospital, and moved to Guahati Medical College Hospital on 13 October. He died there on 23 October, 2019. The authorities claim that he had succumbed to Tuberculosis. Since Tuberculosis is treatable these days, his family is inferring that he was denied adequate treatment. The doctors used to give him injections, but did not administer any medicine or saline. His family had repeatedly objected to the negligence shown to him, which had all been ignored. His family has refused to accept his body in protest [104] [105].
Without informing his family, Dulal Chandra Pal was sent from Tejpur detention camp to Tejpur mental hospital. His sons say they were not allowed to meet him in the detention camp or in the mental hospital. After a lot of effort they could eventually meet him, and brought him his new clothes in the Durga Puja, most important religious worship of the Hindu Bengalis. But the police never informed them of any illness he may have had. Yet, shortly after, on 28 September, 2019, he was moved to Guahati medical college hospital as his kidneys were damaged due to diabetes. His son Ashish Pal says that he never had diabetes before. His family alleges that he fell sick due to sustained emotional and physical torture. The National President of the All Bengali youth and student association, Chandan Chattopadhyay, says that he was tortured. On 12 October, 2019, his family was informed that he was in critical condition in the Guahati hospital. When they visited the hospital, they found him on floor with his food also served on a floor and a cat sitting next to him eating his rice from the floor. After his family objected, he was put on a bed in the medicine department. In his deathbed, he told his family that the authorities were trying to kill him. He died on 13 October. The administration came to his family with a piece of paper on which it was written in English that this was the corpse of declared foreigner Dulal Chandra Pal. Dulal’s family refused to accept his body. During his lifetime, police insulted him labeling as a Bangladeshi, sent him to jail, killed him by neglecting his health, but after his death police wants his funeral to be done as an Indian in Assam. They ought to send his corpse to his actual address in Bangladesh. His son Ashish says that they would accept his body only after the administration declares him an Indian. His family is clear that they want his citizenship status to be restored, and do not want money or jobs. Dulal Chandra Pal’s incident had shaken the Bengali society in Shonitpur. They are deeply resentful of the treatment they are receiving. Several hundreds protested the death of Dulal Pal in the roads near his village. Finally, the district magistrate Manabendra Pal promised a proper investigation. Regardless, he remains in the morgue for 8 days now, till 21 October, 2019. His sons have not performed his last rites, neither have they consumed any food other than fruits. No meal has been prepared in their kitchen for three days since he died. On 16 October, 2019, Shonitpur DC threatened them towards accepting Dulal’s dead body. On the same day, Dulal Chandra Pal’s wife has been hospitalized in the local Jangalpatti Government hospital as she has fallen ill due to depression and stress. All Bengali youth and student association has filed a petition in the national human rights commission. A nationwide agitation by Bengalis would start should they not respond. This Bengali organization has demanded Rs. 1 crore compensation for the family, and a letter of apology from the Assam government to his family. To assuage the family, on 19 October, 2019, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal have proposed to attend the Shraddha of Dulal Chandra Pal and send BJP-RSS MLA Shiladitya Deb to attend his funeral. He has also verbally promised that the Government will facilitate his family’s application to Supreme Court to declare him as an Indian citizen. Two BJP-RSS ministers from Assam, Parimal Shukla Baidya and Ranjit Dutta, visited Dulal Chandra Pal’s family on 20 October, 2019 to persuade them to accept his body. Finally, on 21 October, 2019, the family accepted his body, but refused to sign the document of receipt that described him as a foreigner. The hospital report had earlier mentioned Dulal Chandra Pal as a citizen of Bangladesh, Dhaka, but due to the dogged resolve shown by the family, when they released his body, the report mentioned him as a resident of Alisinga village of Shonitpur District. Spontaneously, about thousand people joined his funeral procession in the 12 km stretch from Sirajuli to Dhekiajuli. People chanted slogans demanding that D-voter terror and the persecution of the inmates at the detention camps be stopped. BJP-RSS MLA from Hojai, Shiladitya Deb, and President of Bengali student and youth Federation, Dipak De, received his body from the hospital. His entire village paid their last respects to him once his body arrived at his home. Shiladitya Deb, another BJP-RSS MLA, Ganesh Kumar Limbu, Dhekiajuli Circle Officer, Sabyasachi Kashyap, attended his funeral, where the rites were performed by his eldest son, Ashish Pal. He got his identity back in death. [3] [35] [43] [44] [45] [46] [54] [55] [56] [57] [58] [59] [63] [90] [98] [99] [101] [102]. His son Ashok hopes that their father is the last death in the detention camp [108]. Assam chief minister did not eventually attend his Shraddha [118].
Amrit Das had started feeling pain in his chest after he was lodged in Goalpara Detention Camp. He had complained of uneasiness on April 6th, 2019. On April 7, 2019, he died at the age of 70. His family members contend that he died without treatment after developing asthma due to the unhygienic conditions and sleeping on the cold floor of the jail, though the jail authorities claim that he was taken to a hospital after he complained of unease and he died there. His son Krishna Das says that Amrit Das did not have any illness before his confinement [48] [91] [92] [93].
Dibakar Sinha, son of detention center inmate Maynarani Sinha says that the detention center does not provide regular meals nor medicine. The inmates share space with hardened criminals [111].
On December 22, 2019, Naresh Koch, suffered a massive stroke, while cleaning the toilet in the camp and fell unconscious. On January 3, 2020, he died in the Guahati Medical College Hospital [122], [123], [124], [125], [126].
On 26 May, 2019 Subroto Dey died of heart attack in his detention center [34]. Wire reports that in May 2018, 38-year-old Subrata De died in Goalpara detention centre [95]. The first Subroto Dey would be older than 38 years, an given the discrepancy in the year of death, the two could be different. Note that both the first and last names are common among Hindu Bengalis.
Sulekha Das gets to meet her daughter Baby Das for only 30 minutes every week, and that too, through a peephole. When Baby visits, an armed guard leads Sulekha, to the closed gate and towards the peephole. The mother-daughter duo weep silently until the prison guard separates them after a mere 30 minutes [48].
On 31 August, 2019, Hareshwar Das’ mother was included in NRC final list, but she died on 3 September, 2019. Hareshwar appealed for a parole of 15 days to perform his mother’s last rites. But the border police first directed him to Foreigners Tribunal, then to the High Court. The family could not manage to do so. So, Hareshwar could not even see his mother one last time, let alone perform her last rites [63]. In contrast, on July 5, 2019, Nalini Sriharan, who has been convicted in the assassination case of former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, has been released on a month’s parole to make arrangements for her daughter’s wedding [64]. Siddharth Vashisht alias Manu Sharma, who is undergoing life imprisonment, for murdering Jessica Lal, murder case, was granted 30 days parole in December, 2014, to enable him to appear in a post-graduation examination [65].

Section C: How entire families are destroyed through detention camps

Entire families are financially, emotionally, socially and legally ruined when a member is sent to a detention camp. The financial ruin is brought on by the legal expenses they incur to try and rescue their loved ones. The emotional ruin is brought on by the guilt associated with inability to rescue their family members and the pain of separation from them. They are also often ostracized socially because of fear of guilt by association. Finally, in many cases, foreigner label (implied by D-voter notices, foreigner declarations by Foreigner Tribunals, confinement in detention centers) on individuals are used to deny citizenship status to their family members. This is legal ruin. We present some of the many heartbreaking tales of human misery.

The daughters of Dilip Biswas had to forfeit their education because they were sent to the detention camp [25]. His wife Rumani Biswas says, “There was no arrangement for education at the camp for my elder daughter, who was then in Class III, because of her foreigner tag. So she could not continue her education. The tag might become a hindrance to her marriage too. I was pregnant with my younger one when our case was referred to the tribunal. So she was not tagged a foreigner and could join the school on the jail premises. She studies in class VI now. My daughters face an uncertain future.” Kalpana lived in the detention camp from 8 years of age to 17 years. She had forgotten Bangla alphabets by the time she got out [121]. The family had to suffer ostracism by neighbours even after being released from camps, and had to depend on social organisations and support from good Samaritans, as finding work was difficult [19].
Debendra Sarkar’s family had to sell three bighas of land, mortgage their house and arrange for nearly Rs 1 lakh to bail him out. They had to pay the local sentry to get permission to even meet him [25].
Shanti Sarkar’s family members including her only son Kamini Sarkar were excluded from the NRC final list. Kamini was shattered at the repeated misfortunes of his family. He succumbed to heart attack on 23 October, 2019 at the age of 36, leaving behind his pregnant wife, whom he married a year back [103].
During his time in the camp, Ajit Das lost his job and his wife spent a large part of their savings to visit him regularly. Although the citizenship of his wife has not been questioned, their two children have been found to be illegal citizens. The couple have hired a lawyer to challenge the government’s decision which is costing them a lot of money [12].
Ratan Chandra Biswas’ family is broke due to the expenses they incurred in trying to prove his citizenship. His wife laments, “We mortgaged land, sold out cattle and other household items, including jewellery to manage over one lakh rupees to prove his citizenship the course of last seven years. Now we are bankrupt” [27], [31]. After he was sent to the detention center, his family moved to Goalpara, where the detention center is located, from Bongaigaon. But still each trip to the detention center costs the family Rs. 1000. They usually visit him once or twice every month, but the last time they could see him this year was in July [5].
While Madhubala Mondal was in the camp, her granddaughter Jayanti dropped out of school. Their neighbor, Basanti Mondal, says “We got her admitted once again. The daughter is already deaf and dumb, and she also went into a trauma. She used to roam around the village looking for her mother. I used to get hold of both the daughter and granddaughter and feed them” [28][29].
Parbati Das’ son, Biswanath Das, who drives an e-rickshaw has spent Rs 70,000/- on lawyers and another Rs 1,00,000/- on travel to and from the Foreigners’ Tribunal and the Gauhati High Court. He can barely make ends meet [9].
After Kumud Ram Das’ arrest as a D-voter, the Foreigners Tribunal sent a notice to 10 other members of his family as they were suspected of being ‘Doubtful or D-voters’. His 19-year-old daily-wage labourer son, Kishan Das, absconded, due to the fear of being arrested and imprisoned [24]. Kishan used to be the sole breadwinner of the family, and earned Rs 180 a day [19]. The Das family spent over Rs 2 lakh to re-establish his identity as an Indian citizen, which consumed all their savings. They had to sell their land, cattle and crops, even mortgaged their trees and took a bank loan of Rs 50,000 [25]; the lawyer charged them more than Rs. 50000 [24]. Kumud Ram’s wife Kamakhya Das, 48, did not even have the money to visit her husband in Silchar. While he was in jail, she said “I am happy that my husband is getting food at least twice a day in the jail which we are not able to have at home. This was never a situation in our house…I had to sell the two cows that we had at a really low price because my husband’s freedom is more important to me…We are not criminals. We voted every time. The leaders even came to our doorsteps during political campaigns but now, no one is coming out to help me in this situation,” [24]. She also said, “We had no money to buy groceries after my husband was arrested….We also have to pay the loan instalment of Rs 580 per week. Meeting my husband at the camp was also expensive as the guards used to charge anything between Rs 50 and Rs 100 to let us meet him for a few minutes” [19]. The fear about detention as D-voters in her village, Mohankhal, is so complete, that no one in the village visits them or invites them on any occasion either [24]. Firstpost article states, “Though they [the villagers] sympathise with her and praise her strength, everybody is afraid to express it openly’’ [24]. Even after Kumud Ram’s release, Kamakhya Devi, still lives in fear that he will again be relegated to a camp [25]. Kumud Ram Das’ family experienced ostracism by neighbours after being released from camps. Struggling to resume work, they mostly depend on social organisations and support from good Samaritans [19]. They have now been included in the NRC [25].
Nanibala Debnath’s family had to pay over Rs 1 lakh on her case, for which they had to sell four bighas of land. Her husband, Samiran Debnath, 50, died last month. She still has to repay over Rs 30,000 of debt. She earns around Rs 2,500 as a domestic help [25]. When she was sent to a detention camp, hundreds of activists protested the injustice against Nanibala and against the detention of several genuine Indian citizens under the banner of Nikhil Bharat Udbastu Samanway Samiti. The protest rally was attacked by the supporters of the All Assam Students Union, who started started pelting stones. It led to a clash and police arrested the protestors. Two childhood friends — Sanjay Das, 37, a pharmacy owner in Silapathar, and Subhas Biswas, 39, who works in restaurant in south India — were arrested in this protest, and were jailed from March 2017 till July 2018 [25].
After Falu was sent to detention camp, his wife, Karpula, had to sell their house to provide for the legal expenses for fighting his case in High Court, and to feed themselves. His sons have been working as daily wage laborers ever since their father was taken away. They had to spend Rs. 1 lakh in the Foreigner Tribunal itself. They are now destitutes, and lacks funds to even cremate their father. Due to lack of education Karpula does not even know the price they received for their home. Only 3 of 15 members of Falu’s family have been included in NRC, his wife is one of the inclusions. However Falu’s offsprings have been excluded. His family has refused to accept his body in protest, and demand that they be included in NRC first. Given how poor they are, they are demanding financial assistance [104][105][107]. On 28 October, 2019, Falu Das’ family accepted his dead body, after verbal assurances of assistance from local MLA, Narayan Deka, as they were too poor to resist the government for long [109].
Dulal Chandra Pal’s sons have been excluded from the NRC final list, though his widow is included [108].
After the Foreigner’s Tribunal declared Amrit Das a foreigner, his wife and two daughters could not make it to the NRC draft list. Of meagre means, the court expenses have taken a huge toll on them [91] [92] [93].
To rescue Maynarani Das from detention camp, her children sold off their lands, their cattles etc. They have also been fleeced by a class of middlemen. They are broke today [111].
Chandrani Pal’s daughter was only one year old, and son was seven years old,when she had to go to the detention camp. At present whenever anyone visits their house, the children hide themselves in fear of police [17], [18]. Her children are growing up without maternal care, and her daughter could not be admitted to a school [120].
Subroto Dey’s son could not appear in higher secondary examination. The family has very little hope of being included in NRC final list. But his wife Kamini says they have run out of money for further legal battle [34].
Sulekha Das’ 25 year old daughter Baby Das says that their whole family has been shattered. Every week Baby Das commutes to the Silchar detention camp from her village, Thaligram, which is 30 Km away. After meeting her mother through a peephole, for a mere 30 minutes, Baby visits a lawyer in the city to check on the status of her mother’s case, which was pending in Gauhati High Court, as of April 2019 [48].
Hareshwar Das’s mother Padmarani Das died knowing that her only son has been confined in a detention camp [47].
Jaydeb Ghosh’s eldest son Jayanto had stopped eating after his father was taken to the detention camp. He has passed away after a fever of 3 days [7] [50]. Another account says that his son had died of cancer shortly before he was taken away to a detention camp [111]. Jaydeb’s wife, Archana, and younger son, has been excluded from NRC final list [50]. Archana says that, “My husband is rotting in jail. What will I do outside? I have lost the will to live. I think of committing suicide. But I am not able to do so thinking of my only solace, my youngest son. What if he has to spend the rest of his life in prison like his father? I am not able to sleep at night. If police comes, I will remove him.” . She called after the journalist, “write that BJP has shattered my happy family’’ [50].

Given how entire families of the victims of detention camp are ruined in every possible way, the total count of victims of detention camp would easily be 4-5 times the number of the victims. Thus, we are overall talking of 5000 victims of detention camps, of which 65-70% are Hindu Bengalis.

Section D: How BJP-RSS has cynically exploited the emotions of Hindu Bengalis over detention camps

First, as is clear from the documentations that we have provided that the Hindu Bengalis were being discriminated against, and even persecuted, in Assam, from at least the days of the Assam agitation in early 1980s. This phenomenon continued during the AGP rule and the Congress rule until May, 2016. BJP-RSS had promised to eliminate this discrimination and persecution. Thus, the Hindu Bengalis of Assam had constituted long-standing vote banks of BJP-RSS, in fact much older vote banks than the Hindu Assamese. Indian Express writes that “The community forms a major voter base of the BJP ‘’ [16]. Ajit Bhuyan, a Guwahati-based journalist and political commentator, has said that Bengali Hindus, “have been voting for the ruling party.” [26]. Though BJP-RSS had supported Assam’s anti-foreigner agitation, most BJP candidates had lost their electoral deposits in the 1985 assembly polls. Wire notes, “The party’s maiden entry into the Assam assembly in 1991 banked on the Hindu Bengali voter base. The support was also because of the BJP/RSS’s established stand that Bengali Hindus migrating from East Pakistan/Bangladesh are “refugees” and only the Muslims are “infiltrators”.’’ [26]. On 1 October, 2019, RSS mouthpiece Organizer has noted, “All along for more than 4 decades, RSS has been actively working in the Barak valley region and the adjoining areas of Tripura with the prant being managed from Silchar. This presence has been a great security for the people of the region… The RSS has always had a very good influence on the people of the Barak valley and based on its influence, the political growth of the BJP has happened in the region. The first two members of parliament from the whole of north east region won from both the seats of the valley, Silchar and Karimganj way back in 1991. Even during the recent Lok Sabha elections in May 2019, both these seats were wrested back by the BJP once again based on the ground work and goodwill of the RSS in the valley. Even in 2016 Assembly elections, unknown faces became MLAs of the BJP with the goodwill of the RSS cadres there in Barak valley’’ [42]. Bengali newspaper from Silchar, Dainik Jugasankha, has stated in a front page article on 11 September, 2019, “ they [Bengali Hindus] are one of the bases of BJP‘’ [41]. Congress MP from Nagaon, Pradyut Bordoloi, has also characterized the Hindu bengalis as the vote bank of the BJP-RSS [26]. Amrit Lal from the Sara Asam Bengali Jatiya Parishad had mentioned, “They [The Bengali Hindu community in Assam] have been supporting the BJP and Narendra Modi.” [26].

During the campaign leading up to the 2014 elections, on February 22, 2014, the current prime minister Modi had himself promised that should he come to power he would close all detention camps for Hindu migrants, and advocated the removal of the “D” tag against 1.43 lakh voters [23] [48]. He won the central level polls in May 2014, with an absolute majority, and his party secured an absolute majority in the Assam legislative assembly in May 2016. And, during the BJP-RSS regime in center and in the state of Assam, the persecution of Hindu Bengalis multiplied manifold, and more Hindus were imprisoned in the same detention camps. Sadhan Purkayastha, a social activist and former Congress leader who had won a municipality seat from Silchar, said “Narendra Modi promised to abolish detention camps if his party comes in power. They captured both, Delhi and Dispur, but people’s sufferings continue. If we check ground reality, we will see that harassment in the name of ‘D-Voter’ in Assam has increased almost three times after BJP came in power’’ [24]. On 18 April, 2019, The Wire, states, “The process of declaring people as foreigners has accelerated since 2015 when 64 new Tribunals were set up. Out of a total of 468,934 referrals to the Tribunals between 1985 and 2016, 80,194 people were declared foreigners. This figure increased drastically in 2017, reaching 13,434 in just eleven months, averaging nearly 1221 every month. The pressure is not just on Tribunal members, it is alleged to also be on the Border Police to find suspected foreigners. This has resulted in systematic abuse of individuals suspected to be illegal migrants, spreading panic and uncertainty.’’ [95]. A Firstpost report on 9 August, 2018 states that “ During his campaign for Lok Sabha elections in Cachar, Modi had promised to destroy each detention camp here and protect Hindus from this harassment — if he became a prime minister. Locals now claim that most of the notices in the area were served after 2016 — the year BJP formed the government in Assam.’’ [24]. Some Bengali Hindu leaders from the Barak valley in Assam said “People voted for the [BJP] party [based on Modi’s promise to close down the detention centers]. Instead, ten more are going to be made under his government” [26]. After BJP-RSS won the polls in Assam in 2016, they appointed Sarbananda Sonowal as the Chief Minister. Earlier, Sonowal had got the IMDT act repealed in court, which used to place the burden of proof for establishing an individual as a foreigner on the prosecution [115]. Now that burden of proof is on those suspected to be foreigner. Not unexpectedly then the number of individuals sent to the detention camps increased drastically during the BJP-RSS rule in center and state. On 18 October, 2019, All Assam Bengali Students and Youth Federation has said that every month the BJP-RSS administration has been sending D-voter notices, selectively targeting Hindu Bengalis, and getting them declared foreigners in Foreigner Tribunals through one-sided judgments [58]. Joydeep Biswas, political scientist and associate professor at Cachar College under Assam University says that the process of identification of D-voters and ex-parte labelling of a person as a foreigner has been fast-tracked ever since the BJP-led government came to power in Assam, and there is hardly any investigation before marking anyone a foreigner [48]. Archana Ghosh, whose husband Jaydeb Ghosh is currently held in Silchar detention camp, says that in the run up to the 2019 LS polls, BJP-RSS leaders said that once Modi becomes prime minister every one will be included in the NRC and there is nothing to worry. But, Modi and BJP did not honor their promise [50]. Former Deputy Mayor of Lumding, Tapas Das says that both BJP and Congress have deceived the Hindu Bengalis (in context of the confinement of Shibu Shil in a detention camp) [120]. No political leaders from BJP-RSS has ever visited the detention centers either [8], though they have time to participate in various religious festivities, including Durga Puja. In October 2019, for example, BJP-RSS minister of finance, Himanta Biswa Sarma visited 40-45 Durga Puja pandals in Silchar [52]. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other BJP-RSS leaders visited the area in which Dulal Chandra Pal’s family live, for their election campaign, but did not visit the bereaved family, for a while [3]. Only after the family persisted with its resolve of not accepting his dead body until the government declares him an Indian citizen, did 2 BJP-RSS ministers of Assam visit them (on 20 October, 2019) [90]. In a flagrant disregard of the sufferings and human rights violations, of the Hindu Bengalis, in the detention camps, by 18 October, 2019, the BJP-RSS home ministry in center, led by Amit Shah, has already issued circulars to all state governments to construct detention centers [100].

On October 15, 2019, Himanta Biswa Sharma has promised that no Hindu will be in a detention camp in 2 months, that is, after Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) is passed [53]. The CAB promise eligibility for (but no guarantee of) citizenship six years after arrival to non-Muslim refugees who flee to India to escape religious persecution in neighboring Muslim-majority countries. BJP-RSS had got the CAB passed in Lok Sabha in early 2019 where they held majority, but did not place it in Rajya Sabha, in effect killing the bill. Congress and other opposition parties had opposed the CAB in Lok Sabha. Implicit in Mr. Sarma’s statement is the claim that Hindu Bengalis find themselves in detention camps because BJP-RSS was not allowed by Congress and other opposition parties to pass the CAB. We now show that even sans the CAB the existing laws enable the BJP-RSS Government of Assam, of which Mr. Sarma is a part, to release all Hindus, at least those with ancestry in East Pakistan or Bangladesh, from the detention camps right away, and no new legislation is required for that. First, as noted, bulk of the inmates of the detention camps have legacy pre-dating 24 March 1971, the cut-off date for identifying foreigners set by the Assam accord, and hence should not have been classified as foreigners in the first place. Next, article 2 of 1950 immigration expulsion act in Assam provides for security of all those who arrive in India due to religious persecution abroad. Assam state BJP has appealed to Shah to activate it in Assam [41] (implying that it has not been activated). In addition, two gazette notifications have been issued by the Union Home Ministry on September 7, 2015 and July 2016, which allow Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Christians who are victims of religious persecution in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan to live in India without any valid documents [2] [30] [42]. The BJP-RSS Government in Assam has not activated these notifications yet [2], [30], though the TMC Government in West Bengal has activated these [6]. On 1 October, 2019, RSS mouthpiece, Organizer wrote, “Also the past experience around the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) that was premised as an enabling provision to allow application for Indian citizenship to people belonging to the six minorities communities- Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians, Jains and Parsis from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh had created some doubts. On the basis of the two notifications of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the union government issued in September 2015 and July 2016, these people were no more considered illegal in the context of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920. However these notifications were yet to be accepted and notified further by the [Assam] state government.’’ [42]. Bengali Federation has asked why the Assam government is not executing the 7 September 2015 notification of the central government, since the same party is in power in the center and the state [51]. General Secretary of the North East Linguistic and Ethnic Coordination Committee (NELECC), advocate Santanu Naik asks, “ If the twin notifications could become effective in Gujarat, Punjab and Rajasthan, why not in Assam…This could give protection to the Hindu Bengalis and save them from the extreme harassment’’ [30]. If these were activated, Hindus would not be taken to detention camps [2]. NELECC had demanded that the notifications be given immediate effect and implemented by September 22, 2019 in Assam [30]. When RSS head Mohan Bhagwat was informed that the notifications have not been activated, during his visit to Silchar late September, 2019, he said that he did not know and that he would take steps to redress. He did not disclose what steps he would take. People were surprised that he did not know [2]. Incidentally, NELECC is close to RSS. Majority of NELECC leaders are closely connected to RSS, and NELECC representatives were accorded the privilege to meet Mohan Bhagwat and president of the women wing of RSS, Shanta Kumar [39]. Such high office-bearers of RSS grant audiences to only those within the fold, other than to celebrities or dignitaries. Also, in a large protest meet convened by NELECC on Hindu exclusion through NRC on 24 September in Silchar, senior RSS functionaries of the region were present throughout [38]. On 1 October, 2019, RSS mouthpiece, Organizer, describes this protest as “..widely protested just a few days across the Barak valley by North Eastern Linguistic and Ethnic Coordination Committee (NELECC) most of whose keys members were active RSS workers in Barak valley.’’ [42]. Apart from the gazette notifications, there is nothing preventing the BJP from releasing the Hindus and other persecuted communities from detention camps using the legislative route in Assam [where the BJP has a complete majority]. Further, the BJP administration could refuse to imprison the Hindus on operational and/or humanitarian grounds, just as it has refused to execute the warrant on the Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari [89], despite judicial orders to do so [89].

It is therefore clear that BJP-RSS has been selectively targeting the Hindu Bengalis for ethno-religious persecution. And, this enhanced persecution of a loyal, long-standing vote-bank by BJP-RSS may only be explained by their observance of a ethno-linguistic peck-order among the Hindus, in which the Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati speakers are at the top (Marwaris are included in the top echelon as they list their language as Hindi), and the Bengalis at the bottom, various South Indian ethnicities like the Malayalis, Tamizh, Telugus, Kannadigas being somewhere in the middle but fairly low down. We had documented the virulent hatred of BJP-RSS against the ethnicities lower down the peck order [86]. The peck order is clearly purely racist or ethno-linguist, and has no correlation with how communities vote per se. The Firstpost report on 9 August, 2018, also reemphasizes, through the experiences of an area and a specific individual, how the Hindu Bengalis who have voted for BJP-RSS for long are at the receiving end of their discrimination: “ Over 90 percent of the population in Mohankhal [in Assam] and surrounding villages belongs to the Hindu community and most of them claim to have voted for BJP for decades. They are now angry and disappointed due to the harassment caused by D-voter notices they receive so often. Locals claim that more than 50 families in that village and nearby areas have been slapped with D-voters notice by the Foreigners Tribunal in recent years and a section of local police is allegedly trying to take advantage of the situation. Prabodh Ranjan Das, 60, who is one of the few educated people in the locality, is also a suspected D-voter. He has a school leaving certificate of 1970 and land documents of his father which go back to 1954. He says he is not afraid and even challenges the police to arrest him if they have the courage. “It is alright that I was served a notice from the tribunal as I have the necessary documents to prove my Indian citizenship. But police came to my house when I was not at home and asked my wife about me. When she said she didn’t know where I was—which is the truth—they used cuss words against her. We are poor people but our pride more important than the nation or a government,” Prabodh says indignantly. Prabodh Ranjan Das shows his school leaving certificate from 1970. “I am ready to give my life for this. Narendra Modi is not just the Prime Minister but like a god to common Hindu people like me. I know he is doing it for the betterment of our country but our sufferings are now exceeding a certain limit. I wanted to commit suicide after my wife was insulted by police” , he reveals’’ [24]. Thus, the pro-Hindu discourse of BJP-RSS, and its calls of Hindu unity constitute a cover for furthering their ethno-linguistic peck-order.

Section E: Terror of the Detention Camps of Assam

The terror of detention camps is so severe that till date 60 have committed suicide in Assam due to exclusion from NRC, at the prospect of facing the detention camps, most of whom are Hindus. The victims of the suicides are again the poor and the uneducated, and goes without saying that such suicides have ruined entire families. For example, Arjun Namasudra of Cachar district was served a D-voter notice seven years back, and he had committed suicide. His mother, wife, and children have now been listed in the final NRC list, which implies that he was an Indian citizen all along [67]. Yet another victim, Nitai Dutta, was terrified when police visited his home alleging that he was a foreigner. He committed suicide by hanging in 2016. His wife Shakti’s eyesight is defective. Their daughter Pia Dutta was at 9th standard. She gave up her education, and stepped up to the role of breadwinner of her family. Stitching a dozen bags fetches her Rs. 8. Shakti laments that she has no more strength (“Shakti’’) to fight [34]. In late October, 2018, Dipak Debnath, 49 years, an inhabitant of Ulubari (Ghagra) village under Harisinga Police Station in Udalguri district committed suicide by hanging, after being served with D-voter notice even after his name being listed in final draft NRC (which implies that the Government of India has accepted that he had legacy predating 24 March 1971); his name was also listed in 1971 electoral rolls. He had been running from pillar to post to prove his citizenship and was under acute mental trauma. Locals gathered in large number following the incident and raised slogans against the state and central government [97].

On 18-7-2019, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in Loksabha that 57 people in Assam have committed suicide because of exclusion from NRC, ironically majority of them are Hindus [11]. The news and pictures of Goalpara detention camp are scaring many Bengalis since they comprise of the majority of the inmates [37]. On Junary 3, 2019, Rajya Sabha MP Javed Khan had noted in his dissent note submitted to the JPC that “25 Bengali Hindus have committed suicides in the last six months due to citizenship related harassment.’’ p. 90, [8].

Some have committed suicide at the prospect of their near and dear ones being sent away to the camps. Preetibhushan Dutta was included in NRC first draft, but his wife Namita whose family lived in Tripura was excluded. Preetibhushan used to repeatedly tell his wife “you would be taken to Bangladesh. I wouldn’t be able to see you if you are taken to detention camp ‘’. He committed suicide out of anxiety before the final NRC list was published [32]. Namita remains excluded from the final draft. But she isn’t concerned any more as the couple has no offsprings and her life had centered around her husband. She does not care any more about confinement in detention camp [33].

Some Hindu Bengalis are relocating from Assam to West Bengal out of fear of the detention camps in Assam. Ratan Ghosh of Maligaon says despite visiting the NRC office many times, his wife Madhavi and daughter-in-law Poulomi were excluded from the NRC final list published on 31 August, 2019. The excluded would have to prove their citizenship in Foreigners Tribunal, failing which they would be confined in detention camps. Poulomi’s parents took her and her 5 year old daughter Teesta to their home in Shiliguri to escape the detention camps. The Ghosh family is conserving their financial resources to fight the legal battle ahead. So they did not dare to buy any new dresses for Teesta this puja, though last puja she got 4 dresses as part of their customary puja shopping. Teesta told her grandfather and father that she has many new dresses, so rather than buying her new dress, they should save money to rescue her mother and grandmother from the NRC ashur [37]. Arati Gop has not been included in NRC, but her husband and daughter Manoj and Luna Gop have been included. Arati’s family has resided in Cochbihar for long. Her father Satish Chandra Ghosh had joined as a teacher in a primary school in 1967. Her brother teaches in a high school in Tufanganj. She married Manoj Gop in 1991 and moved to Barpeta road of Assam. She submitted legacy documents from before 1971. Now, fearing that she might be sent off to a detention camp, the family has relocated to Baxirhat of Cochbihar. The pictures of the detention camp they saw on TV have terrified them [22]. 80 year old Krishna Chanda, nee Krishna Ghosh, was born in Kolkata. She went to school in Kolkata and graduated from Calcutta University in 1962. She moved to Assam in April 1971, after marrying Paritosh Chanda of Assam. She worked as a school teacher there, and has now retired, and receives pension from Assam Government. She has a PAN card and an Adhar card. Now, she has been excluded from the NRC final list, though her 86 year old husband, and Kolkata-based IT professional son, Nilanjan Chanda have been included. She says that, “We have submitted all the proper documents. …At this age, if my name is not in the NRC, what will happen to me? I’ll be put in a detention camp.’’ Together with her husband, she has moved to Kolkata, and the medical treatment of the octogenarian couple have been halted because of the predicament they have been subjected to [113].

Given the terror of the detention camps, the D-voter notices have now become instruments of persecuting Hindu Bengalis through judicial means. Multiple foreigner cases are often slapped on the same individuals, especially those who do not have the financial means and the knowhow to fight those legally. As of April, 2019, an estimated 70,000 people have been issued the Declared Foreigner notice, but remain outside as detention camps do not have enough space. Kamal Chakraborty says, “These people lead a life of panic and often live under cover, waiting like sacrificial lambs” [48]. The government of India is building large detention camps to hold at least 3000 detainees; the first such is underway near Goalpara, and nine others have been planned [15]. Construction of detention camp has also started in Goa, and one is planned in Maharashtra [10]. The Firstpost report on 9 August, 2018, that we cited earlier, states “ Over 90 percent of the population in Mohankhal [in Assam] and surrounding villages belongs to the Hindu community…. They are now angry and disappointed due to the harassment caused by D-voter notices they receive so often. Locals claim that more than 50 families in that village and nearby areas have been slapped with D-voters notice by the Foreigners Tribunal in recent years and a section of local police is allegedly trying to take advantage of the situation. Prabodh Ranjan Das, 60, who is one of the few educated people in the locality, is also a suspected D-voter. He has a school leaving certificate of 1970 and land documents of his father which go back to 1954. He says he is not afraid and even challenges the police to arrest him if they have the courage. “It is alright that I was served a notice from the tribunal as I have the necessary documents to prove my Indian citizenship. But police came to my house when I was not at home and asked my wife about me. When she said she didn’t know where I was—which is the truth—they used cuss words against her. We are poor people but our pride more important than the nation or a government,” Prabodh says indignantly. Prabodh Ranjan Das shows his school leaving certificate from 1970. “…I wanted to commit suicide after my wife was insulted by police” , he reveals’’ [24].

Sabitri Biswas’ name is missing from the final NRC list, though her daughter and grandchildren have made it. In 2017 Sabitri Biswas was served a D-voter notice in 2017. She says “If the government is not convinced, if this country is not willing to accept us, then shoot us and give us relief from this continuing humiliation. It seems as if they don’t want us to prove our identity”. Her daughter and grandchildren have been included in the final NRC list published on August 31, 2019, indicating that India accepts them as citizens who have legacy predating 24 March, 1971 [67].

Even the Hindus included included in the draft or final NRC list, that is those whose legacy predating 24 March, 1971 have been accepted by the Government of India, continue to be targeted with foreigner notices. Recall the example of Dipak Debnath, 49 years, an inhabitant of Ulubari (Ghagra) village under Harisinga Police Station in Udalguri district committed who received a D-voter notice even after his name being listed in final draft NRC (first paragraph of this Section). We provide some other examples below.

78 in Katigora have received foreigner tribunals’ notices in the first two weeks of September, 2019, 52 of them have received these notices for the first time. Daily-wage laborer Shyamendra Das (45), his wife, his son and three daughters, of Kalain chali village, had all been included in the final NRC list. But he has received foreigners’ notice from border police. His late father Nagendra Das’ name figured in the 1965 voter list. Shyamendra went to meet the border police at the Katigora police station to find out about the notice, they advised him to go to the Foreigners’ Tribunal. He sobbed disconsolately describing his experience to the media – he is extremely poor, and doesn’t even have the reserves to provide for his family’s food even for a day if he does not go to work. He is worried sick as to how he can attend the Foreigners’ Tribunal, and is losing his mind. Ramendra Baishnab, Rajbihari Baishnab of Mougram of Kalain, Padmalal Ray of Baroitoli second part village are in the same predicament [72]. Shyamal Das, his wife Soma Das, son Sumit Das and daughter Sagarika Das of Katigora were included in the NRC final list. But Shyamal Das has suddenly received a doubtful foreigner notice. Shyamal Das’ father Charitramohan Das’s name can be found in 1965 voter list, electoral number, 121, serial number, 22. Charitramohan’s legacy code is 30140089869. Shyamal was born and raised in Katigora. He works in a gym in Shilchar at a monthly salary of Rs. 4000. His wife Soma works as a domestic help at different homes. They live at a dilapidated mud-house in Siddhipur. Shyamal is in poor health and can not undertake heavy workload; the couple is getting by somehow. Shyamal is under severe stress about how he can fight the foreigner tag [73].
Majority of those who have been included in NRC are receiving D-voter notices in various areas of Badarpur [68]. Babul Chandra Das, Swapnarani Das, their two sons and one daughter have all been included in NRC. But still foreigner’s tribunal has handed over a D-voter notice to Swapnarani Das. Swapna’s father, Manturam Das, lived in the Jagannathpur village of Badarpur in Karimganj distrct. Swapna used her grandmother Gouribala Das’ legacy data [73]. About 100 notices have been sent recently to various residents of Badarpur. Following the pattern reported earlier, some notices are being sent to unknown places 1 km away, some notices are being pasted at the walls of a wrong house. Kajaolrani Ghosh is one of the recipients. Border police is delivering these notices. All members of the family of one of the recipients have been included in the NRC. His father’s name is in the 1965 voter list. Sobbing, he said that he would not be able to eat if he does not go to work on even one day, he is at his wit’s end to think how he would go to the foreigner’s tribunals [68].
Sandhya Ray of Jharapara in Bonaigaon has been included in NRC final list. But on 10 September, 2019, she received a D-voter notice issued on August 17 [71]. All 5 members of her family, including her husband Ratan Ray, were included in NRC, some even in the draft NRC [74].
52 year old Malatibala Das has been living in Katirail village, Katogora Tehsil, Cachar district, with her husband Gouranga Chandra Das and daily-wage laborer son Shatrughna. Gouranga used to till some one’s land. His health does not permit any longer. They used to struggle with poverty but get by. They were however at peace, until the foreigner-hunt in Assam destroyed them financially and emotionally. She had received her first foreigner notice in 2017, followed by two other notices in 2019. Three cases have been slapped on her, and one case on her husband. She says that she has the documents that would show that in 1967 her parents used to get ration from the refugee camps, and in 1975 Government gave them land. Her son and her lawyer Kajal Chanda both say that they have her father’s 1964-1965 refugee registration card. She has also voted regularly since 1997. Based on these they had been included in the NRC final list. Even after that they have received the notices. Police has informed them that since they have received notice, they have to go to the Tribunal, hire a lawyer and plead their case. They are spending all their resources in trying to prove that she is an Indian. But her case is getting held up due to lack of government pleaders. Her kidney disease was diagnosed a few months back. Both her kidneys are damaged. Silchar Medical College had advised that she be taken to another hospital. Her son took her to Guwahati Medical College. The doctors said there was no way other than kidney transplant or regular Dialysis. She urgently needs a kidney transplant. They could not afford this. She stays on bed all day, but attends the hearings in the Foreigners Tribunal, which is 40 Km away from her home, leaning on her husband and son for support. She juggles her visits to the Foreigners Tribunal with frequent visits to hospitals. In her death-bed Malatibala prays that “God, please see that I can die as an Indian’’ . She says “I can tolerate physical pain. But I can not tolerate the pain emanating from the suspicion [of Government] that I am a foreigner’’. Her son is dejected and not sure that his mother will be able to attend the hearings for long. She stops him, saying in faint voice, “before I die I would want to know that I am Indian” [43] [67] [85]. She sobbed when Congress leader from Silchar, Sushmita Dev met her [44].
Manoranjan Das have been living in Kalain for 36 years. Before that he lived in Karbi Along. He is a daily wage laborer by profession and has no savings. He and his entire family has suddenly received D-voter notices. They have been asked to appear in Silchar Foreigner Tribunal number 4 by 22 November, 2019. He is shattered since he does not even have resources to go to Silchar let alone fight a case there [110].

Some who had successfully removed the D-voter stigma by fighting in courts are getting notices for the same again [72]. For example, 60-65 year old rickshaw driver Bhakta Das had proved his citizenship in 2011 after receiving a foreigner tribunal notice in 2009. Subsequently, he received a letter from the court stating that he was an Indian citizen. He has got another notice in 2017. Using his savings, he attended the hearings. Even after he produced the letter he received from the court in 2011, he has been asked to prove his citizenship in Guwahati High Court. This will cost him more than 1 lakh rupees. His wife, Sumita Das (55) has also received a foreigner notice and is facing trial at Foreigners Tribunal Court-IV in Silchar [43] [67]. D-voter notices are being served regularly, and mostly the dirt-poor are getting them [73], again following the pattern mentioned before.

Assam home commissioner Ashutosh Agnihotri has said that if any one has received a D-voter notice in the past, the case will continue even if the individual is included in NRC. They will have to attend court hearings as before. Sending D-voter notices may continue [71]. Also, the final NRC list has been published only in Assamese. Thus many of the Bengali names that have been included have been misspelt [70] [69], creating ripe grounds for legal complications in future leading possibly to D-voter notices to many of those included.

Many of the residents of Assam did not have documents to prove their domicile prior to 1971. This is particularly true for the refugees who arrived from East Bengal and Bangladesh. A BJP leader in Assam says that the refugees who arrived to India from East Pakistan had always thought that they came to their own place. So they accorded lower priority to getting their documents in order, given the existence struggle that confronted them in their new domicile [83]. For example, Manoranjan Nandi had received bronze paper as a freedom fighter. In 1949 he moved to Shillong from Srihatta in East Pakistan along with his parents and sister Aparna. Aparna, now Chowdhury, has been excluded from the NRC final list. Their home had collapsed in the 60s. They lost all the legacy documents of Aparna. Aparna had applied with her Pan card and Adhar card. They are terrified at the prospect of running to courts and ending up at the detention centers [84].

Many poor people in West Bengal either do not have documents predating 1971, or have lost their documents in natural calamities. Hearing the stories of detention camps from Assam, they are terrified of losing their citizenship status and of being confined in detention camps. For example, many small villages used to be on the bank of river Padma in the Bangladesh border regions of West Bengal. The homes there would be regularly washed away. So the villagers have no documents. In the last 20 years Padma has moved away closer to Bangladesh, so the villagers were happy and thanking Ma Durga. Now they are terrified at the prospect of NRC and being sent to the detention camps. There is terror all along the Domkal border [82]. Nitai Mondal left Durgapur village in Rajshahi in 1971. They named the place they settled in West Bengal as Durgapur. He lost his home thrice due to crumpling of soil as a result of flow of water in the adjoining Padma. The village is now called Char Durgapur, Durgapur shore. His sons are running to local BDO office and land reform office to gather documents to prove their citizenship. He was sad before the arrival of Durga Puja, the most important religious worship of Hindu Bengalis. Wiping off his tears, Nitai Mondal asks, which is his country then ? His birth-country (Bangladesh) had no place for him. He came to India. He is now hearing that if documents are not in place they would have to return. He is old. He might not live long. He will go to jail if necessary. What about his sons? They have been born in India. Let them not feel the pain of losing their country. Let them live in India. This is his only prayer to Goddess Durga [81]. In Nabadwip, octogenarian Chapala Saha is used to waking up early dawn during the Puja days. She used to collect lotuses. This year even before the arrival of Puja she is waking up midnight. She is whispering, “is the border slip still there ?” She is frequently waking up with a start and alerting her son, “Babu, please carefully preserve the border slip these days.” 86 year old Chapala Debi has heard that all those who arrived the year after Jai Bangla [the year after 1971] would be sent back to Bangladesh. Ever since she heard this she has been trembling. The Puja has lost all significance to her. Lalgopal Pal, on the wrong side of eighties, have been somewhat depressed lately. During nights he is uneasy on his bed. He has pace maker in his heart. His sons are asking him not to worry. But the old man is uttering the same thing, “ at the end would I have to be imprisoned in a camp?” Chapala Debi came to India in 1964. It was the month of Shraban. From the district of Faridpur, Baliakandi police station, Ramdia station she took the train to Kalkhali station. From there in Dhaka Mail she reached the Darshana border of then Pakistan. There was checking there for three hours. After hearing that she wanted to stay in Hindustan permanently, officers handed her over a slip with government seal. It was the permission to stay in India. With the slip in her possession, first she stayed in Naihati, then in Chunchunra. She moved to Nabadwip after a few years. After a lot of struggle, she created a place to stay. At the same abode at Oladebi Tala, she asks, how will the 1971 slip remain ? Then we were somehow trying to survive on bare minimum. Those who are saying to live in this country we have to show evidence from before 1971, or land documents, do they know of the floods during 1978 or 2000 ? Many important documents were lost in water. After all this a slip of paper becomes so valuable !” Then what you will do? With steely eyes she says, “that time we fled to here, this time we will not flee” [80].

Many in West Bengal are queueing up in local administrative offices to collect or update their birth certificates, ration cards, names in voter lists, property documents etc. fearing that NRC would be shortly declared in West Bengal. Mothers are joining long queues physically carrying their children to get Adhar card for their children as they are afraid that their children may be taken away after exclusion from NRC if they don’t have Adhar card. In Krishnanagar, on 26 September, 2019, Archana Gurung carried her 7 year old daughter, Tagari, while waiting in the long queue. Tagari can not stand because of a congenital defect in her spinal cord. Archana had never thought that her physically challenged daughter will need an Adhar card. Now she worries, how her daughter would survive without her if she is taken away to a detention camp. Archana is from redgate in Krishnanagar. Her husband Mohan Gurung had lived in Dogachi of Krishnanagar all her life. His father Nishikanta had migrated from Shiliguri. The Gurung couple’s ten year old son, Suraj, has an Adhar card. Chumki Mondal of Charuitipi, Chapra, also has to carry her 6 year old Ayush after he got tired. Her husband works in a factory in Delhi, where the couple have their Adhar card. After returning home they heard that they would not be able to live in the country without the card. She is wondering how she can live without her son if he is taken away to a camp [79].

Conclusion

While bulk of the inmates of the detention camp and those labelled as D-voters are Hindu Bengalis, quite a few Muslims and Hindus of other ethnicities have been confined there too. For example, in June 2019, 40-year-old Amila Sah from Dholaibeel in Sonitpur district of Assam was sent to a detention center in Assam. The Foreigners Tribunal had declared her a foreigner, though her family members, including her siblings, have been included in the NRC draft list. Her brother Ramesh Gupta says, “We are poor and barely literate, but that doesn’t mean that we are not Indians“. They claim to have roots in Bihar and have been living in Assam since the British era [28]. Shanti Chand was labeled a “Doubtful’’ or D-voter in a Foreigner’s Tribunal in Assam. Her 37-year-old daily-wage laborer son, Binoy Chand, had spent all his money for his mother’s legal battle. Her neighbor, Babul Dey, states “They have land documents of 1960, they have been voting in every election yet the foreigner tribunal adjudged them as doubtful citizen and that why they had no other to go to high court, such legal battle is very difficult for poor people so he came under huge stress,”. Once his mother lost her case in the Foreigner’s Tribunal, Binoy wanted to approach the High Court but did not have money for it. Police state that this had left him extremely upset and mentally disturbed. His body was found hanging from a tree on Sunday. He had a son just about 20 days ago. Shanti Chand states, “He was under stress. We have no money left. We are daily wagers. He even started scolding me in frustration as to how he would fight for me without money in court“. Binoy Chand’s family was among the 1.25 lakh Doubtful or D-voters in Assam, excluded as per the Supreme Court’s order from the draft NRC published on July 30, 2018 [96]. These are the only examples of Hindus of an ethnicity other than Bengali, that we have come across, of being confined to a detention center or having committed suicide on ground of labelling as D-voters of self or immediate family members. We have come across quite a few Muslim names in media, but it is unclear if this is a result of a religious bias against Hindus that is often seen in Indian public discourse. All the Muslims and non-Bengali Hindu individuals in the above category fit the same profile as those of the Hindu Bengalis confined in detention camps or receiving D-voter notices, that is, they are poor and have limited education. But the Hindu Bengalis deserve selective mention because of selective targeting and because of their history of repeated persecution within one generation and of leading contribution in India’s freedom struggle.

References

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[28] Madhumala Das Was The “Foreigner”, Assam Cops Arrested Madhubala Mondal, June 27, 2019, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/mistaken-identity-branded-a-foreigner-assam-woman-freed-after-3-years-2059830

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[31] Handcuffed Like Criminals, Served Unpalatable Food In Detention Centre: Two ‘Declared Foreigners’ in Assam Ask Why They’re Being Mistreated in ‘Own Country’, 9 November, 2018

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[34] Life is les misearables to the victims of NRC – Anandabazar, 30 August, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/national/life-is-les-misearables-to-the-victims-of-nrc-1.1038352

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[51] Dainik Jugasankha, 2 September, 2019

[52] Sushmita Dev distributes sweets, fruits in detention camp; takes a dig at the government – Barak Bulletin, https://www.barakbulletin.com/en_US/sushmita-dev-distributes-sweets-fruits-in-detention-camp-takes-a-dig-at-the-government/

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[56] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar Edition, 17 October, 2019

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[58] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar Edition, 19 October, 2019

[59] Dainik Jugasankha, Kolkata Edition, 19 October, 2019

[60] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbyNQIZzDMc

[61] Man commits suicide after being served D-Voter notice by FT in Udalguri, 29 October, 2018, 29 October, 2018,

https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/assam-news/man-commits-suicide-after-being-served-d-voter-notice-by-ft-in-udalguri/

[62] Dainik Jugasankha, 25 September, 2019, https://dainikjugasankha.in/edition/silchar/?ar_date=25-09-2019&t=25-09-2019

[63] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar Edition, 20 October, 2019

[64] Rajiv Gandhi killer Nalini gets month’s parole to attend daughter’s wedding, 25 June, 2019, https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/250719/rajiv-gandhi-assassination-convict-nalini-released-on-30-day-parole.html

[65] Manu Sharma gets 30-day parole in Jessica Lal case, DECEMBER 27, 2014 00:51 IST, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/manu-sharma-gets-30day-parole/article6728757.ece

[67] Seems they don’t want us to prove our identity’: Same persons get multiple D-voter notices post NRC, Indian Express, October 16, 2019, https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/assam/assam-nrc-persons-get-multiple-d-voter-notices-6070260/

[68] Dainik Prantojyoti, 1 October, 2019 http://dainikprantojyoti.com/01-10-19/epaper.html

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[70] Assam NRC: Final list published in website but lots of mistakes are there – Anandabazar 15 September, 2019,
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[71] NRC’s final list will be published when RGI will publish it – Anandabazar 19 September, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/national/nrc-s-final-list-will-be-published-when-rgi-will-publish-it-1.1047606

[72] Dainik PrantyaJyoti 12 September, 2019 http://dainikprantojyoti.com/12-09-19/epaper.html

[73] Dainik Jugasankha, 25 September, 2019, https://dainikjugasankha.in/edition/silchar/?ar_date=25-09-2019&t=25-09-2019

[74] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 20 September, 2019, https://dainikjugasankha.in/edition/silchar/?ar_date=20-09-2019&t=20-09-2019

[75] Assam NRC: Are India’s ‘unwanted people’ being driven to suicide? 28 June, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-48754802

[76] বাবার পথেই আত্মঘাতী ছেলে, অসমে NRC-র বাঙালি ‘বলি‘ ৪১, 10 June, 2019,

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[77] Assam NRC: Son follows in father’s footsteps, commits suicide, 14 March, 2019, https://www.sabrangindia.in/article/assam-nrc-son-follows-fathers-footsteps-commits-suicide

[78] Death by Citizenship: A loving son, a brave mother, a distraught father – faces of Assam’s tragedy, 16 July, 2019,

https://scroll.in/article/930624/death-by-citizenship-a-loving-son-a-brave-mother-a-distraught-father-faces-of-assams-tragedy

[79] Fear of NRC increasing in Krishnagar, people are desperate for documents – Anandabazar 27 September, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/district/nadia-murshidabad/fear-of-nrc-increasing-in-krishnagar-people-are-desperate-for-documents-1.1051477

[80] People came from East Bengal are anxious about NRC – Anandabazar, Nabadwip 3 October, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/district/nadia-murshidabad/people-came-from-east-bengal-are-anxious-about-nrc-1.1054122

[81] Many people feared of NRC in various villages of Karimpur – Anandabazar 29 September, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/state/many-people-feared-of-nrc-in-various-villages-of-karimpur-1.1052372

[82] NRC fear taking over char Durgapur people mind – Anandabazar 30 September, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/district/nadia-murshidabad/nrc-fear-taking-over-char-durgapur-people-mind-1.1052725

[83] Political patries target nineteen lakh people out of NRC – Anandabazar, 2 September, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/national/political-patries-target-nineteen-lakh-people-out-of-nrc-1.1039744

[84] After Prateek Hajela’s assurance man out of NRC in Assam – Anandabazar 2 September, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/national/after-prateek-hajela-s-assurance-man-out-of-nrc-in-assam-1.1039740

[85] Malatibala of Assam laments that she wants to die as an Indian – Anandabazar 17 October, 2019, https://www.anandabazar.com/national/malatibala-of-assam-laments-that-she-wants-to-die-as-an-indian-1.1059189

[86] Articles on Ethnic Bias in the BJP-RSS ecosystem – by Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh and Dikgaj https://sringeribelur.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/links-to-articles-on-ethnic-bias-in-the-bjp-rss-ecosystem/

[87] Centre funding biggest foreigner detention centre in Assam. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/centre-funding-countrys-biggest-foreigner-detention-centre-in-assam/articleshow/71030108.cms

[88] The Dreaded List of Assam. https://archive.fo/20130217223724/http://easternpanorama.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1583&Itemid=10

[89] Warrant for Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Cops ordered to execute it. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/warrant-for-maulana-syed-ahmed-bukhari-cops-ordered-to-execute-it/970017

[90] Dainik Prantojyoti, 21 October, 2019, http://dainikprantojyoti.com/21-10-19/epaper.html

[91] 70 year Bengali Hindu dies in Goalpara Detention Camp in Assam, 8 April, 2019, https://sabrangindia.in/article/70-year-bengali-hindu-dies-goalpara-detention-camp-assam

[92] Jolt for BJP as man dies in Assam detention camp for foreigners, 7 April, 2019, https://www.thehindu.com/elections/lok-sabha-2019/jolt-for-bjp-as-man-dies-in-assam-detention-camp-for-foreigners/article26763449.ece

[93] Assam: Man dies at detention centre for immigrants, 7 April, 2019, http://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2019/apr/07/assam-man-dies-at-detention-centre-for-immigrants-1961419.html

[94] Assam: Elderly man dies in detention camp for illegal immigrants | North East India News, The Indian Express, 9 April, 2019, https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/assam/assam-elderly-man-dies-in-detention-camp-for-illegal-immigrants-5665924/

[95] The Death of Amrit Das and the Search for Foreigners in Assam, 18 April, 2019,

https://thewire.in/rights/the-death-of-amrit-das-and-the-search-for-foreigners-in-assam

[96] No Money To Fight Mother’s Citizenship Case, Assam Man Commits Suicide https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/assam-nrc-no-money-to-fight-mothers-citizenship-case-baksa-man-commits-suicide-1914571

[97] Man commits suicide after being served D-Voter notice by FT in Udalguri, 29 October, 2018, 29 October, 2018,

https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-east-india-news/assam-news/man-commits-suicide-after-being-served-d-voter-notice-by-ft-in-udalguri/

[98] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 22 October, 2019

[99] Dainik Prantojyoti, 22 October, 2019

[100] Why Amit Shah cannot throw out all illegal immigrants by 2024, 18 October, 2019, https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/why-amit-shah-cannot-throw-out-all-illegal-immigrants-by-2024-1610617-2019-10-18

[101] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 23 October, 2019

[102] Dainik Prantojyoti, 23 October, 2019

[103] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 24 October, 2019

[104] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 26 October, 2019

[105] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 27 October, 2019

[106] Dainik Prantojyoti, 28 October, 2019

[107] Dulal Chandra Paul’s kin firm on shunning ‘foreigner’ body, 27 October, 2019
https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/north-east/dulal-chandra-paul-s-kin-firm-on-
shunning-foreigner-body/cid/1714507

[108] Dulal Chandra Paul’s family finally accepts his body, 23 October, 2019,
https://www.telegraphindia.com/amp/states/north-east/dulal-chandra-pauls-family-
finally-accepts-his-body/cid/1713557?ref=northeast_north-east-
page&__twitter_impression=true

[109] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 29 October, 2019

[110] Dainik Prantojyoti, 2 November, 2019

[111] Dainik Prantojyoti, 3 November, 2019

[112] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 4 November, 2019

[113] NRC Process Harassing for My 80 Year old Mum & She’s still excluded https://www.thequint.com/my-report/nrc-process-harassing-for-80-yr-old-mum-assam

[114] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 7 November, 2019

[115] Dainik Prantojyoti, 8 November, 2019

[116] Satananda Bhattacharjee, Congress team in Silchar camp, November 8, 2019, https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/north-east/congress-team-in-silchar-camp/cid/1717633

[117] “ ‘Foreigner’ dies in detention camp, 10th case in 2019, ‘’ 18 November, 2019,
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/foreigner-dies-in-detention-camp-10th-case-in-2019/articleshow/72117729.cms

[118] Dainik Prantojyoti, 18 November, 2019

[119] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 16 November, 2019

[120] https://m.dailyhunt.in/news/india/bangla/aajkaal-epaper-aajkal/6+mama+masi+bharatiy+tabu+oder+ma+bideshi+jelabandi-newsid-149643058 nrc_article_part1_reference_146

[121] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 1 December, 2019

[122] Assam: Man dies in detention camp after brief illness, 5 January, 2020,

https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/assam/assam-man-dies-in-detention-camp-after-brief-illness-6200069/

[123] Man Lodged In Assam Detention Centre Dies, 29th Death In 3 Years, 5 January, 2020,https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/man-lodged-in-assam-detention-centre-dies-29th-death-in-3-years-2158934

[124] Assam: Man lodged in detention centre dies in hospital, 4 January, 2020,

https://scroll.in/latest/948776/assam-man-lodged-in-detention-centre-dies-in-hospital

[125] Another ‘Foreigner’ Dies in Assam Detention Camp, Kin Allege Police Denied Financial Aid for Last Rites, 5 January, 2020,

https://www.news18.com/news/india/another-foreigner-dies-in-assam-detention-camp-family-alleges-police-denied-financial-aid-for-last-rites-2446207.html

[126] Dainik Jugasankha, Silchar edition, 5 January, 2020