![]() ![]() "Jorimuddin Sheikh, father of Usman was listed in SL no 1 in village Khariabari under the PS Bijni as per the NRC of 1951," the Tribunal stated clearly in the order copy. After a thorough examination of his and his father's documents, the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) of Goalpara district dismissed the case against him in 1999, and the tag of illegal migrant was removed. Usman dug his heels in, fought for and finally, received justice. As he recalls now, receiving such notice questioning his citizenship was a terrifying and numbing experience. It was in the year of 1997 when an IM(D)T case was registered against Usman, simply based on “doubts”. It was the government's repeated and arbitrary attempts to target him made his life harder, terrified as he was of losing his citizenship. Despite these hardships thrown his way, the man worked hard to raise a happy family. Usman Ali was only a child when he was abandoned by his parents. An unlettered person, Josim could not figure out which spelling of his name was correct and had to rely on the authorities to write his name correctly –for him! Millions in this country have their names and surnames spelt, in varied official records or documents, differently. However, in later years, his name was recorded –as often happens in a bureaucratic slip in spelling -as Joshimuddin, Joshi, or Josim Sheikh. Jorimuddin Sheikh's name had even appeared in the 1951 NRC. ![]() Jorimuddin Sheikh, his father, was also a son of this soil. Usman Ali is a typical marginalized Indian, of which the country has millions, working through his day as a daily wage earner to support his family.He was born in the village of Barbakhra, which was then part of the Bijni Police Station and is now part of the Bongaigaon district's Manikpur. ![]() For two interminably long decades, Usman Ali spent valuable time and energy trying to break free from this web of injustice. He had to “prove himself as an Indian” each time despite having all the documents. He was tortured mentally each time, labelled “illegal” and a “foreigner” in his own land. Usman Ali, a daily wager, has had to go through the arduous process of the Foreigner Tribunal no less than three times in Assam. Pertinently who will provide reparation (compensation) for the 24 years, two dozen years, of continual harassment by the State? How many times does one have to fight the system to prove and re-prove and re-establish their citizenship in Assam? Can he still be a suspected citizen despite being declared an Indian by the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) way back in 1999 because he has all the necessary documents? Can the tribunal send a man a suspect foreigner notice even after he has been declared an Indian not once, but twice by the same agency, the FT? Is it only in Assam can an Indian, a Muslim who was declared Indian by a Tribunal in 1999, be condemned as an illegal immigrant / foreigner and tested three times? Under the guise of the Assam citizenship test, the Assam Foreigners Tribunal and border police continue to follow arbitrary mal-practice targeting the innocent and marginalized, affecting their right to life (Article 21) with equilibrium and without repeated harassment, equality before the law (Article 14) and a life without discrimination (Article 15). ![]()
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