Assam Woman Declared Foreigner Despite 1951 NRC Link

Amila Sahu, a resident of Dholaibeel under the Jamugurihat Police Station Biswanath district, was sent to a detention camp after being declared foreigner by a Foreigners' Tribunal (FT) on June 15 last.

Amila Sahu has been sent to Tezpur Detention Camp-II.

Sahu's family had alleged that the tribunal rejected papers linking her to the 1951 National Register of Citizens (NRC).

"Name of her father Keshav Prasad Gupta is enlisted in the 1951 NRC. However, the tribunal rejected to accept the papers linking her to the 1951 NRC," said her family.

It may be mentioned here that apart from submitting legacy data establishing her relationship with her father, who hailed from Pratapgarh Tea Estate under Biswanath district, Sahu had also submitted her birth certificate, a letter from the Pratapgarh Primary School and PAN card.

"I appeared in the hearing on June 4, 2018, and submitted requisite documents. On top of that, on January 1, 2019, my mother also appeared in court as a witness. But, even after completing all the formalities, on June 15 she appeared but was arrested and sent to the detention centre," said Amila's brother Ramesh Gupta.

Condemning Amila's detention, Assam Communist Party India (Marxist) stated, "This case has made it clear that the Border Police are randomly picking up people and sending them to the detention centre without conducting a fair investigation."

It may be mentioned here that in June earlier this year, another woman in Assam's Golaghat district was sent to detention camp despite having 1951 NRC link.