Sara Asom Bangali Oikyo Moncho (SABOM), a constituent of Bengali United Forum of Assam (BUFA), on Sunday has expressed serious concern over the alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people as ‘D’ voters. The Oikyo Moncho leaders urged the government to arrange and facilitate the D-voter inmates in various detention camps to visit and meet their families in the coming Durga and Kali pujas.
Addressing a press conference at Kokrajhar Press Club, SABOM general secretary Santanu Mukherjee said the Bengali-speaking people in the state are being tagged as ‘D’ (doubtful) voters and a conspiracy is being hatched to exclude their names from the draft NRC.
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He alleged that many Bengalis have been branded as “illegal migrants” and sent to detention camps by Foreigners Tribunals despite having valid documents. He said nearly 25 lakhs Hindu Bengalis living in different parts of the state have been excluded from the draft NRC.
Stating that the Bengalis in Assam have become a victimized community in the state, Mukherjee said the border branch of Assam police are randomly serving D-voter notices to Bengali-speaking people and most of these cases are happening in districts like Chirang, Baksa, Bongaigaon, Barpeta and Udalguri. Even family members of people whose name figured in the 1951 NRC were branded as D-voters.