The National Register of Citizens (NRC) took away farmer Atowar Rahman’s happiness. But he says it gave him something in return — the ability to calculate the number of days before “they” come for him.
Since the final NRC containing the names of 3.11 crore people was released on August 31, Mr. Rahman has been attending meetings by voluntary organisations and lawyers on how to go about challenging the question mark on their citizenship. One of the meetings was at Bhalukabari, about 75 km west of Guwahati.
Mr. Rahman and 11 others of his 14-member family are among the 19.07 lakh people excluded from the final NRC.
“We have been told we have 120 days to file an appeal at the Foreigners’ Tribunal, which will take another 180 days (six months) to decide whether we are Indians or foreigners. Does that mean we have freedom for 296 days with four days already gone?” Mr Rahman, 36, told The Hindu on Wednesday.
“Will they consider a day, as the 120-day period began on a Sunday (September 1)? In that case, we can have 297 days,” he said.
Mr. Rahman said his family’s decision to use their grandmother Sona Banu’s legacy code — on the basis of her name figuring in the 1971 voters’ list — instead of their grandfather Ikram Ali could have proved costly for them. His two sisters used their grandfather’s legacy code based on a land deed of 1962 to be included.
A legacy code is a number given to people figuring in the legacy data comprising a set of documents such as the NRC of 1951 and voters’ lists up to March 1971.
“NRC officials declined to accept our grandfather’s legacy code at the hearing. But other documents establishing his link with grandmother and lineage to us should have sufficed,” Mr. Rahman said during one of the meetings at Bhalukabari.
‘Deadlier than death’
“Get certified copies of voters’ list from the magistrate’s office, get good lawyers, discuss with some educated people willing to help, and most importantly, don’t rush it just because a sword is hanging on your head,” Jahir Abbas, a Guwahati-based lawyer offering help, said in one of the meetings.
“This situation is deadlier than death. So you have to be very careful with your documents and with every step you take,” he added.
At Goroimari village nearby, 52-year-old garment trader Jamaluddin fathomed the importance of not rushing it. All 26 members of his family were excluded because his father’s name appeared as Golamuddin and Gopaluddin in different documents that were considered admissible.
“Filing an appeal now would rob me of more than three months of relative freedom. I think it is better to appeal towards the end of the 120 days,” Mr. Jamaluddin said.
Officials in Assam feel if a majority of the 19.07 lakh people file appeals simultaneously towards the end of the 120-day period, the Foreigners’ Tribunals could be under tremendous pressure to deliver judgement within the stipulated six months.
Depending on the judgement of the Foreigners’ Tribunal concerned, an NRC-excluded person has the option of approaching the Gauhati High Court and then the Supreme Court.
A person failing to prove his or her citizenship after exhausting the legal options faces the prospect of being lodged in a detention camp for foreigners.
