Assam Man Fighting Legal Battle To Prove His Indian Citizenship Commits Suicide

GUWAHATI: On Monday 31 January, a 60-year-old man in Assam committed suicide after he was declared Bangladeshi by the Foreigners Tribunal.

The man has been identified as Manik Das, a resident of Borkhal village located near Jagiroad in the Marigaon district of Assam.

The family of the deceased alleges that he committed suicide as per the impact of being regarded as a Bangladeshi. They further claim that he was suffering from mental torture and frustration which forced him to kill himself.

It is reported that the man was fighting a case in the Foreigners Tribunal in order to prove his nationality as an Indian despite the fact that his name was listed in NRC (National Register of Citizens).

On speaking about the matter Manik's son Kartik Das questioned why the NRC was conducted if the name of those appearing in NRC is still considered as Bangladeshi or foreigners.

He stated that the notice from the Foreigners Tribunal of Marigaon was sent to his father after NRC was published and the name of all the family members has appeared in the NRC.

Kartik said that he has no idea why the notice was served and why the case was filed against his father as due to this entire process of proving his nationality his father was mentally tortured. It was later confirmed that the name of Manik and his family were included in the Assam NRC list.

The notice from the Foreigners Tribunal was issued for Manik Das on 20 November 2019 which was just a few months after the NRC of the state was published as Assam NRC was published in August of the same year.

In the year 2004, the border police of Assam had filed a reference case against Manik Das for the suspect that he is a foreigner and after 15 years the notice was sent to him.

A day before the death of Manik Das on Sunday 30 January his family had filed a missing complaint at the Jagi road police station.

Aparna Natarajan, the Superintendent of police, Marigaon stated that the dead body of Mr. Das was found on Monday after which post mortem was done. According to the post mortem report, it is an unnatural death case and no suicide note was found. The SP further informed that a detailed investigation has been initiated about the case.

Deepak Biswas the legal counsel of the deceased stated that Mr. Das had all the legal identity proof including Adhar Card, PAN Card and land records. He said that a reply was submitted to the Foreigner Tribunal and they could prove him as an Indian.

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