The final draft of the National Register of Citizens, a list of Assam’s Indian citizens, was published on 31 August. The Supreme Court-monitored exercise excluded more than nineteen lakh individuals from the final list. They will now have to prove their Indian citizenship before the state’s Foreigners Tribunals, quasi-judicial bodies that adjudicate on the citizenship of suspected illegal immigrants.
A little over a month before the list was released, Zishaan A Latif, a photographer, traveled through four districts in Assam, documenting the arduous struggle for inclusion in the NRC. Most of the people he met were poor Muslims who did not understand the NRC process and had been excluded from the first two drafts of the list, published in December 2017 and July 2018. In some cases, despite possessing legacy data which proved their Indian ancestry through the accepted pre-1971 documents, they faced the prospect of being sent to detention centres. “Detention camp ke bare mein jab sunta hun toh aise hi aansu nikala ati hai”—Whenever I hear about the detention camp, I start to cry—Mohammad Nawab Ali, a resident of Darrang district, said.
Mohammad Nawob Ali and Mohammad Abdul Ali
Mohammad Nawob Ali resides in Bhagpuri, a Muslim-majority village in Darrang district. Among his extended family, comprising 16 members, Nawob Ali said that 13 were excluded from the first two drafts of the NRC. Nawob Ali, his wife and their younger son were included.
Nawob Ali, who teaches namaz to children, narrated why his family members were not named in those drafts. Mohammad Abdul Ali, Nawob Ali’s 85-year-old father, is a weak and ailing man. According to the son, the villagers used to call his father “Bhaadu Vyapari,” because of which all the government documents reflected the same name. “But in 1960, his full name was not there in the document—it was just ‘Bhaanu.’ In another list, it was ‘Jadoo.’ It was completely different,” he said. “We were so anxious, so we decided to not continue with this name.” The family changed it to Abdul Ali around thirty years ago, through a district magistrate, Nawob Ali said, but as a result, all of his father’s documents show a different name.
The discrepancies seemed to have sealed Abdul Ali’s fate—his name did not figure in the first two drafts of the NRC. According to Nawob Ali, the NRC authorities rejected a document that proved his father’s name had been changed because the family did not publish an advertisement in the newspaper announcing it. Nawob Ali said that though the name lacks the legal sanctity that the NRC authorities demand, his father has the necessary documents, including legacy data under his old name.
“We never thought that if there is an NRC, what will happen, what won’t happen,” Nawob Ali added. Abdul Ali attended a couple of hearings at a Foreigners Tribunal, before he was granted leave in consideration of his deteriorating health. In the final NRC, only six members of the family were included. Abdul Ali was not among them.
“Hamesha darr rehta hai, neend nahi aati hai”—We are always fearful, we can’t get any sleep, Nawob Ali said. “Kya hoga, hamein kahan jana padega”—What will happen, where will we have to go. There is still no certainty about the consequences that those denied Indian citizenship will face. Meanwhile, India’s first detention centre, which can hold up to three thousand individuals, is under construction in Assam’s Goalpara district. “Detention camp ke bare mein jab sunta hun toh aise hi aansu nikala ati hai”—Whenever I hear about the detention camp, I start to cry—Nawob Ali said.
A 54-year-old Muslim woman and her son
In Assam’s Baksa district, a 54-year-old Muslim woman narrated that she was marked a “D-voter”—a “doubtful voter” is suspected of residing in Assam illegally—in 1997, but received her first notice from the Foreigners Tribunal after 19 years, in 2016. According to the woman, she had submitted her father’s legacy data from the 1951 general election, along with other relevant documents, and yet, the tribunal declared her a foreigner in March 2018.
Fearing arrest by Assam’s Border Police, she moved to her daughter’s house, around ten kilometers away from her home, she said. In the last year, she led a largely peripatetic life, with the support of her brothers, often staying at the houses of her children. Her three sons and two daughters were mentioned in an additional draft exclusion list published on 26 June 2019.
Her 29-year-old son said that the family had appealed the tribunal’s decision before the Gauhati High Court, but the case was dismissed on grounds unknown to him. “Kagaz-vagaz kuch dekha nahi, aise hi hum ko bola ki ye aap ka jo case tha, ye dismiss kar diya”—They did not see any documents, they just told me that the case has been dismissed, he said. The legal proceedings had already cost him Rs 30,000. “Bhavishya bohot kharab hai. Aap chahe jitna bhi documents de do, aapko foreigner hi bana deta hai. Aisa hai system”—The future is quite uncertain. No matter how many documents you give, you will be declared a foreigner. This is what our system is like.
Chand Miya
Jakir Akhtar Parvez, an advocate who said he has fought more than a hundred NRC cases, narrated the journey of one of his clients, Chand Miya. In 2013, a case was registered against Miya, a 53-year-old man, in a Foreigners Tribunal. He was suspected to be an illegal immigrant. Next year, the Foreigners Tribunal declared him an Indian. Miya subsequently moved from Gorakhat to Bechimari, both village in Darrang district. This year, he cast his vote in the general elections.
But on 29 March 2019, a Foreigners Tribunal sent him another notice which said that Miya was a suspected illegal immigrant. “He was questioned on his citizenship, that he was a doubtful Indian citizen,” Parvez said. “He might have come from Bangladesh, Nepal or any other country.” He added that superintendent of the Border Police had registered the ongoing case in 1998, but it was only after 21 years that Miya received a notice from the Foreigners Tribunal.
Discussing the role of the Border Police in the NRC process, Parvez said that if they spot any discrepancy in the voter lists and other documents, they are supposed to go to the field, verify the concerned person, and then submit a report. “But they don’t do that. They sit in their office and they make their own judgments,” he said. “In the report, they say that the person was not able to show us proper documents, proper evidence that he is an Indian citizen, and that his neighbor also gave the statement that he is doubtful person. It is a completely fake report.”
Parvez said there is no end to the process. Referring to Miya, he said, “He faced a case previously in 2014, and again he is facing the same case in 2019.” Even if he gets a favourable judgment in 2019, Parvez added, “He can again get notice in 2020, 2021.” He continued, “It’s a land mine, and you never know where’s the mine.”
Miya was not listed as a D-voter, but he may have been excluded from the final NRC because of the ongoing case. “This NRC procedure is to only harass the minority Muslim people,” Miya said. “Even though we submitted all the verified genuine documents, but they don’t accept the documents. They say the documents are fraud.” Miya added, “I am severely depressed and sometimes think that I will end my life.”
Mohammad Kamal Mulla
In 1997, the Border Police registered a case against Mohammad Kamal Mulla, a barber who resides in Darrang district’s Bhagpuri village, accusing him of being an illegal immigrant. But Mulla received a notice from the Foreigners Tribunal summoning him for a hearing only twenty years later, in 2017. He finally won the case in January 2019.
Even after winning the case, Mulla said he is still marked a D-voter. “Officer ghuma raha hai, ghuma raha hai”—The officer makes me run around, Mulla said. “Ham jaate hain, humse chai paani khaate hain, paisa lete hain, lekin abhi bhi “D”nahi katta hai”—I go to the office, they take bribes from us, they take our money, but still the “D” has not been struck off.
Mulla said that the problem has arisen due to the variations of his name in Assam’s voter lists. “One name was ‘Kamaluddin,’ after that there was another name ‘Kamal Mulla,’ and one is just ‘Kamal,’ no ‘Mulla.’ They have given me three names.” He said that he has tried to change his name, but the election officers dismiss and threaten him. He said he had requested a high-ranking officer multiple times. But he recalled that the officer often replied, “It will not happen. Go away from here, or I will call the police, we’ll put you into jail. Run away.”
The NRC process has taken a toll on Mulla’s health. At 39 years old, Mulla suffers from acute health problems, including a heart condition, psychological stress and difficulty in speaking. “Abhi humein baat karne mein bahot takleef hota hai”—I find it very difficult to speak. “Chikitsa karne ke liye humko paisa nahi hai. Abhi do saal se beemar hain hum”—There’s no money to spend on treatment. I have been ill for two years.
Mulla had spent more than a lakh while fighting the case, and incurred a debt of Rs 60,000. “Din bhar mein 200–300 rupaya kamata hun, 150 rupaya kamata hun—I earn Rs 200–300 a day, sometimes just Rs 150, he said. “Woh khane peene mein chala jata hai. Bhaari musibat mein hai hum abhi”— All of that in spent on food and water. I am in huge trouble right now.
According to Mulla, his wife and four children often have to sleep on an empty stomach. The entire burden of sustaining the family of six fell on Mulla’s 17-year-old son, Mohammad Asif Helal Mulla. Since the family could not pay his school fees, Asif had to drop out of school and pursue work as a labourer initially. He now works at an apparel store in the village market. Referring to his father, Asif said, “He won the case and was declared an Indian citizen. But we do not know what will happen now.”
Mulla said he had started visiting the masjid more often to offer namaz. “Allah se mei bahot prarthna karta hun. Namaaz padhne se humko shaanti milta hai”—I pray to Allah a lot. Offering namaz brings me solace—he said. We were unable to contact Mulla after the final publication of the NRC, but Nawob Ali, who knows Mulla personally, said that he and his family were included in the final NRC.
Correction: This photo essay was earlier titled, “Four cases that illustrate the arduous struggle for inclusion in the NRC.” The headline has been modified to more accurately represent the cases mentioned in it. The Caravan regrets the error.