NRC Draft: Binoy Chanda, a daily wage labourer ends life fearing be declared as ‘Foreigner’

GUWAHATI: 40 Lakh people have been left out of Assam’s National Register of Citizens most of them from socio-economically backward communities. But most of those left out are poor and vulnerable.

Tragedies Unfold:

Binoy Chanda, the only earning member of his family, became the 28th suicide victim in Assam since the BJP came to power in May 2016 due to the ‘D’ Voter issue.

The poor youth of Dimlapar village under the Tamulpur Police Station in the Baksa district committed suicide late at night on Sunday, September 9, due to fears that his mother, Santi Rani Chanda, was going to be declared a ‘Foreigner’ by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT).

Although Santi Rani Chanda had all the relevant documents to prove that she is an Indian citizen, she received a ‘Suspected Foreigner’ notice in the early part of 2018. After receiving the Foreigners notice, Binoy Chanda approached senior advocate and prominent writer Omar Ali Choudhury, and took his mother to the Foreigners’ Tribunal of the Baksa district so that she could be proved an Indian citizen. For the last seven months, Binoy, along with his mother repeatedly appeared before the Foreigners’ Tribunal, and collected all documents by which her rights to citizenship could be protected. In the process, Binoy, a daily wage labourer, had to spend all the money that he could earn in collecting documents and travelling. His debts increased day by day. In spite of this, he seemingly felt that there was no sign of hope that his mother would be declared an Indian citizen because of what he perceived was the bias of the member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal. He became increasingly frustrated, and finally took the extreme step of suicide.

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Binoy’s mother, Santi Rani Chanda, said, “I myself have all valid documents to prove myself an Indian citizen. I have migration certificate of 1964 along with my family, which is enough to prove myself an Indian citizen. But the member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal under whom my case is pending did not attend to my advocate’s arguments. Thus, my son Binoy Chanda became depressed, that I am going to be declared a ‘Foreigner’. In this situation, he found no option but took the supreme decision.”

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Courtesy: cjp.org.in