A 45-year old woman with family roots in Bihar was sent to a detention centre for foreigners in Assam, despite providing all the necessary documents as proof.
On 15 June, Amila Shah who lives with her husband in Assam’s Dhalaibeel in Sonitpur district, was sent to the Tezpur detention centre after she was asked to appear before a Foreigners’ Tribunal, The Hindu reported.
Speaking to the daily, members of Shah’s family said that their predecessors had come from Bihar before independence and settled down near the Pertubghur Tea Estate east of Jamugurihat.
Shah's father Kesav Prasad Gupta’s name figured in the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC) that is being updated in Assam.
‘All Documents Provided’
Shah's family said that she was summoned to the FT2 in Tezpuron 4 June 2018 where all our papers were submitted.
“Despite providing all documents establishing her citizenship, the Border Police marked her as a suspected foreigner who entered Assam after 24 March 1971,” the member told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, the Opposition including Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the All India United Democratic Front have criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Assam government for unscrupulously putting people behind the bars.
Shah's case comes months after a Kargil war veteran, Mohammed Sanaullah who even received a Presidents' medal, was declared a foreigner by a tribunal in Assam and sent to a detention camp.
NRC in Assam
In July last year, Assam administration released the “complete draft" of NRC; an elaborate list containing names of “Indian citizens.”
Midnight of 24 March 1971, is the cut-off date based on which residents of Assam have to prove their nationality.
The final list is set to release on 31 July this year.
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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