Our Special Correspondent
Silchar, March 28: CRPC (Citizen’s Rights Protection Committee) Assam general secretaries Sadhan Purkayastha and Bidhyak Das Purkayastha held a meeting with Union Home Minister Rajth Singh at his official residence in New Delhi on Wednesday and discussed with him the problems of Bengalis of Assam, centering round detention camps, ‘D’ voters, implementation of government Notification dated September 7, 2015 and Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2016. Both submitted a memorandum on the subject. It was pointed out that the process of detection, determition and deportation of foreigners particularly known as ‘D’ voters is going on in the State of Assam for the last two decades.
Continuing, it was further pointed out although the matter has no legal base, yet the process of serving notices on the alleged ‘D’ voters through the police and sending them to detention camps of Silchar, Kokrajhar, Goalpara, Dibrugarh and Tejpur continues. Around 1,000 alleged ‘D’ voters are now in these camps, awaiting trials by Foreigners’ Tribuls. These people, most of them rightful citizens of the country and also in possession of supporting documents to establish their credential as Indians, have been declared as foreigners. Recently, a number of persons under trial expired in detention camps, uble to put up with mental agonies and pressures.
Both the CRPC leaders have also raised the issue of NRC update in process and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill of 2016 before the Joint Parliamentary Committee for consideration. But, in between, people are being harassed, tortured, intimidated and humiliated by police in the me of detection and determition of foreign tiols. Both the processes cannot run parallel. It has also been mentioned that following the issue of the Gazette Notification issued by the Ministry of Home on September 7, 2015, no steps have been taken to implement it in letter and spirit in Assam.
Sadhan Purkayastha and Bidhayak Das Purkayastha have submitted before the Union Home Minister that the practice of issuing notices on ‘D’ voters has given the impression that these are to cause uncalled for and unnecessary harassment to the Bengalis of Assam, both linguistic and religious minorities. This should stop as it amounts to a sort of ‘witch hunting’. Rather, these people in the grip of fear and panic should be given safety, security and constitutiol right to protect themselves. Even the accused behind the bars in various detention camps should be set free and allowed the constitutiol freedom to fight for their cause and justice.