The Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly and the leader of the Assam Congress Legislature Party (CLP), Debabrata Saikia, on Monday visited the Kalikajari village in Morigaon district and interacted with about 174 families whose members have been referred to the Foreigners Tribunals by the Border Police as suspected foreigners.
These names include more than a dozen members of the family of Moulavi Muhammed Amiruddin, who was the first Deputy Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly, stated press communique.
The villagers informed Saikia that they have been arbitrarily referred by the Border Police as suspected foreigners even though they have various documents such as school certificates, duly registered land deal documents and voters’ lists and NRC entries of the pre-1971 period which go as far back as
1931 in some cases.
Saikia said that genuine Indian citizens were suffering mental and financial distress due solely to the dubious role played by the Border Police in referring the names of people with strong documentary evidence of citizenship to the Foreigners Tribunals.
The Opposition leader said that the Chief Minister of Assam had failed to uphold his Oath of Office to protect the Constitutional and democratic rights of the citizens. He called for an enquiry into the role of the Border Police and advocated steps to prevent harassment of genuine citizens in future, the communique further stated