Leader of the Opposition in Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia on Wednesday interacted with several persons in Darrang and Sonitpur districts, who have fallen victim either to the NRC update process or have been declared ‘D-voters’ in debatable circumstances.
Saikia, who is also the Assam Congress Legislature Party (CLP), assured the victims that the Congress party would stand by them in their fight for justice.
Saikia first visited Rowmari in Dalgaon and offered his condolences to the family of Noornehar Begum, who committed suicide on June 26, 2019 fearing that the names of the members of her family would not find place in the final NRC.
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He then visited the Tezpur-based granddaughter of freedom fighter and founder president of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, late Chobilal Updhaya, Manju Devi, whose name has been excluded from the NRC draft lists despite the existence of strong evidence to show that she is an Indian citizen.
Saikia also visited the detention camp at Tezpur and met some detainees who possess credible documentary evidences of being Indian citizens.
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Among them was Amila Shah of Dholaibil, who was branded as a ‘D-voter’ and sent to the detention camp despite the fact that she had provided legacy link with the NRC of 1951.
Saikia also interacted with other inmates such as Azizul Haque, Kasem Ali, school teacher Abdul Rashid, all of whom hail from the Nagaon district.
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The affected persons complained to the Leader of the Opposition about serious irregularities and even bias in the NRC process as well as proceedings in the Foreigners’ Tribunals.
Saikia assured them that the Congress party would apprise the NRC authority about their problems and also provide legal assistance to them.