An order by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in central Assam’s Morigaon district has questioned the process of identifying foreigners and ‘D’ (or doubtful voters) who have been struck off the updated National Register of Citizens.
Gautam Soren, member of Foreigners Tribunal 3 (FT3) in Morigaon, highlighted “unfair practices” in the process in his August 27 order while dismissing a case against Amina Khatun and three others (termed opposite parties or OPs) of the district’s Madhya Kalikajari village. He observed that foreigners’ cases “at this juncture have assumed the form of an industry as each and every person involved” with such cases have been “trying to mint money by any means”.
FT3 is one of the 100 Foreigners’ Tribunals functioning in Assam for the process of detecting and deporting illegal migrants. A tribunal member is a judge or an advocate with at least 10 years of practice.
Mr. Soren’s order said the case against the OPs was filed ex-parte – meaning one of the parties involved was not present or not represented – in November 2017 because of “wrong report” by the process server, usually a member of Assam Police’s Border Organisation attached to the police station concerned.
The Border Organisation was set up in 1962 under Prevention of Infiltration of Pakistani (PIP) scheme.
Hung on poles
The order pointed out that the pre-case notice to the OPs was reportedly hung on an electric pole though the “entire village did not have any electricity”. It also rebuked Durllav Chandra Bora, the gaonburah or headman of Kalikajari area, for signing the “wrong report” before it was even prepared, and senior lawyer Najrul Talukdar for voluntarily trying to “support the irregularities of the gaonburah and the process server”.
Mr. Soren’s order observed that the gaonburah knew all the OPs but, as per norm, did not accompany process server Deepak K. Patar for serving the notice, as has been the case for “two and a half years”.
The order referred to similar summons to people to appear for hearing being put up at waiting sheds, on trees or electric poles despite “this Tribunal innumerable times in various foreigners’ cases directing all these persons” not to do so.
Likening the foreigners’ cases to a lucrative “industry”, Mr. Soren said the village heads in connivance with the process server “try to get cases proceeded ex-parte for some extraneous consideration”. He also advised filing of specific damage suits by the OPs against those responsible for their ordeal.
Still a foreigner
Pranjal Kumar Das, Ms. Khatun’s lawyer, said the FT3 case dismissal did not automatically remove the ‘foreigner’s tag from his clients’ names. “We have appealed to the Gauhati High Court for a final word. The case will be listed soon,” he told The Hindu .
Morigaon district’s Deputy Commissioner Hemen Das said the gaonburah responsible for the wrong report in FT3 has been suspended and an enquiry ordered.
According to lawyer-activist Aman Wadud, the Morigaon case is just the tip of the iceberg. “Assam Border police and Election Commission have violated more fundamental rights of citizens than all other agencies put together. They accuse Indian citizens of being illegal immigrants without any investigation whatsoever. These two organisations have destroyed lakhs of families,” he alleged.
Targets set
This happens because the Border Police are given targets to provide foreigners’ cases, he said. A Border Police officer, declining to be quoted, admitted that outposts in the districts are required to provide 20 cases a month while the target for each urban police station is five or six.
“Incentives and promotions based on the number of cases provided are a factor in fieldworkers serving notices to people randomly,” the officer said.
“We have had cases of policemen and their informers targeting poor, illiterate people and demanding money from them, threatening to label them ‘foreigners’ if they do not pay up,” Aurobindo Roy of Silchar-based Unconditional Citizenship Demand Forum said.
Silchar-based lawyer and activist Dharmananda Deb said serving ex-parte notice is a strategy to force people to a Tribunal in order not be declared a foreigner without even being heard.
“In order to procure mandatory certified copies of electoral rolls from election offices, a person served notice engages a lawyer or clerk who charges for himself and for the staff at the election offices. Many Tribunals require about seven to eight certified copies of different electoral rolls to be somewhat satisfied of the person’s claim of citizenship and each one, on an average, costs about Rs. 500-1000,” he said.
“For obtaining certified copy of electoral roll of 1965/1966, one has to submit documents of 1965/1966, which is quite impossible for many OPs. Because of lack of documents, many OPs are declared foreigners or doubtful voters by the Tribunal,” he said.
