GUWAHATI: The carelessness of Assam border police stands exposed after a Kargil War veteran and serving police officer was declared a foreigner in one of the most controversial outcomes of India’s effort to identify illegal migrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
A senior IPS officer of Assam Police, talking to G Plus under condition of anonymity said, “There must have been loopholes on the part of the border police.”
The IPS officer was previously with the border department. According to him, it might be a possibility that when the ‘D’ Voters’ list was out pre-1971, the name of Mohammad Sanaullah was there. “Because he was in the army he might have not received any notice and the border police might not have done their duty sincerely,” said the officer.
The officer said that it was the duty of the border police to identify the ‘D’ Voters but in this case the Kargil war veteran got to know about his ‘D’ voter status after the first draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published in December 2017.
Barely a month ago, 57-year-old Sanaullah was appointed as an assistant sub inspector (ASI) in the Assam border police unit. Interestingly, before police personnel are hired, verification takes place and in the case of Sannaullah, police verification was done by the DIG’s office, according to the family members of Sannaullah. He got the job thereafter on April 24.
The IPS officer revealed that the verification process in Assam is not perfect and the police officials involved in the verification process on field mostly do not even visit the relevant houses to verify the addresses.
On May 23, the Foreigners’ Tribunal functioning in Boko in Kamrup (Rural) district, about 52 kms from Guwahati, declared Sanaullah a foreigner. He therefore essentially was categorised as someone who belonged to Bangladesh and had entered Assam illegally after March 24, 1971 – the cut-off date for citizenship in Assam as per NRC updation process.
For Sannaullah, he was not aware that his name was in the ‘D’ Voters’ list. He was informed after the first draft of NRC was published in 2017. But there are many ‘D’ Voters.
Talking about ‘D’ Voters’ case, in one such case reported where the border police made a reference (filing a case against someone doubted to be a foreigner) in 1998, the case was forwarded to the Foreigners’ Tribunal in 2016. The Foreigners’ Tribunal passed the order that the person is a foreigner in 2017 and the person filed a writ petition against the order before the Gauhati High Court in 2018.
One of the grounds that the tribunal took note of in deciding Sanaullah’s citizenship status was discrepancy in age mentioned in the various documents that he had submitted to the tribunal.
According to border police sources, during cross examination, Sanaullah said that he joined the army in 1978. In such an eventuality, he would then have been only 11-years-old, having been born in 1967. It didn’t match the official papers which said he joined the army in 1987.
Sannaullah’s family members will challenge the Foreigner’s Tribunal’s judgement in a higher court, but for now the police needs to change the system and start working smartly.
Foreigners absconding with help of various nexuses
It is clear that a huge number of declared foreigners are untraceable. This raises the question as to why the border police did not keep a check on these declared foreigners.
A senior level police officer, under condition of anonymity said, “There are many nexuses involved in helping the foreigners to remain absconding.”
He said that as soon as the foreigners’ tribunal declares someone as a foreigner, the border police are expected to restrain the free movement of the foreigner. But it does not happen that way because the police fail to locate the foreigner in the first place.
He explained that as soon as the police doubt an individual to be a foreigner, the papers are checked, and if found doubtful, a case is registered. He said that many lawyers help the doubtful foreigners to procure documents illegally.
Also, when the case is forwarded to the foreigners’ tribunal, the tribunal sends notices to the doubtful foreigner. In such instances, the lawyers immediately ask their “clients” (doubtful foreigners) to change their addresses. Later, when the tribunal, after having sent notices repeatedly, declares the person as a foreigner, the police are unable to find them.