Another Udalguri citizen now gets 'D' voter's notice

  • | Tuesday | 17th July, 2018

But despite being a bona fide citizen of India, she was served a 'D' voter notice by the government. "When the tribunal has cleared the name of a person as not a foreigner, on what basis can the same person be called a D voter. In 2007, the foreigner's tribunal at Mangaldoi in Darrang district had cleared her papers as an Indian citizen. she asked.The district secretary of the All BTC ( Bodoland Territorial Council ) Bengali Students' Federation (ABBSF), Shankar Das, who is also Aarati's neighbour, said since 2016 there has been a rise in 'D' voter notices. "In Udalguri, between 1,000 and 1,500 people have been served with notices since 2016.

GUWAHATI: Barely a month after Gopal Das committed suicide for not being able to contest the 'D' voter notice of the government because of his poor financial status, a 40-year-old woman is also battling the stigma of being a suspected foreigner in Udalguri.Arati Debnath lives about a km away from Das's house in Dhudgamakha, Nischlamari. In 2007, the foreigner's tribunal at Mangaldoi in Darrang district had cleared her papers as an Indian citizen. But despite being a bona fide citizen of India, she was served a 'D' voter notice by the government. Her husband is a daily wage earner compounding her dilemma. "Can I afford to fight the tribunal in a court of law?" she asked.The district secretary of the All BTC ( Bodoland Territorial Council ) Bengali Students' Federation (ABBSF), Shankar Das, who is also Aarati's neighbour, said since 2016 there has been a rise in 'D' voter notices. "In Udalguri, between 1,000 and 1,500 people have been served with notices since 2016. In Nischlamari alone, about 32 people from 300 houses got notices," Das said.Das is not the only person who is fighting the the social stigma associated with the 'D' voter's tag. Md Nurul Islam, a postgraduate teacher at the Paschim Moinbari Higher Secondary School in Assam 's Barpeta district, had earlier told us, "You cannot imagine the kind of mental torture and shame I am subjected to in social circles for being a 'D' voter. Sometimes the reactions I get are torturous and disgraceful. Two decades of carrying the tag invites the worst form of social ostracism."He had said the name of his father, Abul Hussain, was included in the electoral rolls of 1966 and 1970 besides his NRC legacy data being available. Islam's name also was included in the voters' list of 1997 and he had a serial number of 719. However later that year, he was tagged as a 'D' voter.Leader of the Opposition in the assembly and Congress legislature party chief Debabrata Saika said if a notice is served to a person even after his citizenship is validated by the tribunal, it would amount to disregard. Saikia, who met the affected citizens at Nischlamari on Sunday, demanded on Monday that a thorough judicial probe be conducted into the arbitrary manner in which doubts were being cast on genuine citizens."When the tribunal has cleared the name of a person as not a foreigner, on what basis can the same person be called a D voter. The majority of the people who got the notice are from poor backgrounds. A judicial probe is needed," Saikia demanded.

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