80-yr-old will get citizenship after 10 years. Not sure will be alive, she says

An 80-year-old lady whose name was enrolled in voters’ list of 1970 in Cachar district, has been termed as a streamlined foreigner by foreigners’ tribunal in Assam court on Monday, officials said

An 80-year-old lady whose name was enrolled in voters’ list of 1970 in Cachar district, has been termed as a streamlined foreigner by foreigners’ tribunal in Assam court on Monday, officials said.

Image for representation. (File photo)

The tribunal in Silchar of Cachar district has asked her to register her names along with her late husband and children before the local Foreigners Regional Registration Office within 30 days. Once she registers the names, the entire family will lose their right to vote for the next ten years.

Bhandari Das is a resident of Bholanathpur village under Borkhola constituency in Assam’s Cachar district. Her name appeared in the final list of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) published in August 2019. Foreigners Tribunal Court-III in Cachar district issued a notice against Bhandari Das suspecting her an illegal migrant in 2018. She was asked to appear before the court and prove her identity by producing adequate documents in support of her claim.

According to the office of the Superintendent of Police (Border), Cachar district, a case was registered against Bhandari Das in 2018 alleging her to be a foreigner who came to India after March 25, 1971, from Udhopuz village under Ajmeri police station in Sylhet district of Bangladesh. She could not submit any document of her citizenship in India at that time. Almost a decade later, when she received a notice from Tribunal court, she made a prayer before the court to decide as to whether she is an illegal migrant.

She appeared before the tribunal court several times in the last three years. Along with the certified copy of the 1970 voters’ list where her name appeared, she showed the Relief Eligibility Certificate issued by the Government of India to her in 1967. Though the court admitted that she has been living in India since 1967 but in the final order, the FT-III member (judge) BK Talukder termed her as a “Foreigner Of The Stream 01-01-1966 to 25/03/1971” and asked her to enrol as migrated Bangladeshi to Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO).

In the final order cum opinion, member BK Talukder wrote, “I have gone through the written statement, evidence and documents submitted by the lawyer of Bhandari Das carefully. My considered opinion is that the opposite party is a foreigner of the Stream 01-01-1966 to 25/03/1971. The OP (Bhandari Das) is directed to register her name along with her husband and children before the Foreigners Regional Registration Office, Cachar, Silchar.”

Bhandari Das’s lawyer Tonmoy Purkayastha has informed that a case was registered against her in 2008 but the court issued an order in 2018. The hearing started in 2020 and the final order cum opinion came on October 4 this year. Now the lady has to wait for at least ten more years to get Indian citizenship.

He said, “This judgement was drawn as per provisions of the Assam Accord. Bhandari Das has proven that she has been staying in India since 1967 and the court has agreed that the documents she submitted are authentic. Now after staying in India for more than five decades, she has to register her name as a migrant. We are part of this system and cannot criticise it but in my personal opinion, these people deserve better treatment.”

Clause 5 of Assam Accord says, All persons who come to Assam prior to January 1, 1966, including those amongst them whose names appeared on the electoral rolls used in 1967 elections, shall be regularised as citizens. Foreigners who came to Assam between January 1, 1966, and March 24, 1971, shall be detected in accordance with the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946.

Names of those detected foreigners will be deleted from the electoral rolls in force. Such persons will be required to register themselves before the Registration Officers of the respective districts in accordance with the provisions of the Registration of Foreigners Act and the Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1939.

For this purpose, the Government of India will undertake suitable strengthening of the government machinery. On the expiry of a period of ten years following the date of detection, the names of all such persons that have been deleted from the electoral roll shall be restored.

Bhandari Das submitted documents that show that she was in India in 1967 but her name was not enrolled in the voters’ list of that year. Though the tribunal court asked her to prove her identity, she was not arrested or detained somewhere during the hearings. But in the final order, the court has asked her to enrol the entire family’s name as migrants.

A senior official from the Foreigners Tribunal said that the member (judge) of the FT-III has committed an error by asking Bhandari Das to enrol the names of all her family members at FRRO.

He said, “In the order itself, it is said that the case was between the State of Assam and Bhandari Das. So, how can the judge ask the other family members to declare themselves as migrants? They can have their father’s legacy which is not yet challenged.”

Senior advocate Soumen Choudhary called this an “extended harassment” to the common Indians by Tribunal Court. He said, “It takes years for a person to prove his identity before the court because in many cases the document they submit needs verification. Various government departments delay these verifications which keep the person waiting for long. But after facing all these processes, the Court calls the person streamlined foreigners, which in my opinion, is half citizenship. This seems a joke made by our judicial system. In my opinion, this is just extended harassment for the common people.”

Social activist Kamal Chakraborty informed that there are other people who have received similar orders from Tribunal Court. He said, “It has happened to many people and in some cases, people were responsible because of their ignorance. I know a family who has a land purchasing document of 1964 but they did not submit this before the Court during the hearing. So the court declared them streamlined foreigners. Now they have to appeal again and it may take another episode to solve the issue. We have started educating people regarding the documents they need to submit before such hearings.”

Bhandari Das, however, has expressed a sigh of relief even with this order. Talking to Hindustan Times she said, “My only fear was to die without proving my Indian citizenship. I don’t want to leave a bad legacy for my children. Now, the court has said that if I wait for 10 years, my family and I will be declared permanent Indian citizens. At the age of 80, I am not sure I will live for another 10 years or not but even if I die before that, my children will live a respectful life as genuine Indian citizens.”

Taking about her experience of leaving her house in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) in the mid-1960s and their initial days in India, Bhandari Das said, “I got married in 1961 at our village house in Sylhet district of East Bengal. I was around 13 years old. We were being attacked from various sides because of our religious beliefs. Many of our neighbours left for India because Hindus can be safe in one country, that is India. One morning my husband decided to leave for India as well. It was the toughest time of our life which we never forget. When a few years back an order came from court, I thought before my death I have to go back to Bangladesh again, which I never wanted to.”

Talking about their initial days in India, she said, “After travelling for the entire day from Sylhet, we reached a camp at midnight and did not know what to eat or where to sleep. Things started getting normal slowly and we stayed in the camp for almost 3 years. Finally, we managed to get some work in Bholanathpur village near Silchar town and shifted there. My two kids were born in that village.”

Bhandari Das’s husband Rajendra Das was a farmer, he died in 2009 after struggling with illness for few years. Bhandari Das stays with her son Rajkamal Das and his family. Her daughter is married to a farmer in a nearby village and she has four kids. Rajkamal informed that Bhandari Das has developed a hearing problem with her age. She is a brave lady but the pain of partition remains in her stories.

“I was born in 1971 at Bholanathpur, my younger sister was also born here. Before that our parents went through a pathetic life and they supported each other to survive in the toughest times. We have heard many stories from our father. We are a family of farmers and our father taught us to be ready to face any situation in life. When the case was filed against my mother, our father’s words helped us to be strong. The court has asked my mother to wait for 10 years to get Indian citizenship. We are not afraid or disappointed by this,” said Rajkamal.

Last year, 104-year-old Chandradhar Das died in Cachar district without proving his identity after fighting for more than four years. His only wish was to die as an Indian. The Tribunal Court sent his citizenship card, which was issued in his name in 1964 in Tripura, for verification which never came back.