Citizens for Justice and Peace
CJP helps secure release of Bihari man dubbed Bangladeshi in Assam! Lalit Thakur had been languishing in a detention camp since October 2016
21-May-2020
Lalit Thakur has had an eventful life. He was a barber from Bihar whose family had moved to Assam. Then he lost his home during ethnic clashes in the state. But never in his life did the 58-year-old expect to be declared a ‘foreigner’ in his own country and sent to a detention camp! After…
सीजेपी की बड़ी जीत, डिटेंशन कैंप के तीन और कैदियों को रिहा कराया तीनों हिंदू कैदी बेहद गरीब परिवार के हैं. इनमें से एक के पास कोई घर भी नहीं है.
14-May-2020
पिछले साल (2019) मई और इस साल (2020) अप्रैल में सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने दो फैसले सुनाए थे. शीर्ष अदालत के इन फैसलों से असम के डिटेंशन कैंपों में डाले गए लोगों की सशर्त रिहाई का रास्ता साफ हुआ है. CJP इन लोगों की रिहाई की लगातार कोशिश में लगा है. CJP की कोशिश की बदौलत…
Victory! Three more detention camp inmates released in Assam with CJP’s help All three Bengali Hindu detainees hail from extremely impoverished backgrounds, one of them is homeless
12-May-2020
Ever since two Supreme Court orders, dated May 2019 and April 2020, made it possible for inmates of detention camps get conditional bail, CJP has been trying to help secure their release. 21 people had already come out due to the efforts of CJP, and on Monday, May 11 we were able to add three…
CJP in Action: Three of a family released from Assam detention camp after four years! Many are still languishing behind bars despite being eligible for bail
20-Mar-2020
Three people of a family; father, mother and son, were finally released from the Tezpur detention camp in Assam after CJP intervened in the case. They had been held in captivity for over four years and were unable to satisfy bail conditions despite being eligible for release. CJP’s Team Assam has been working relentlessly to…
CJP steps in to defend citizenship of freedom fighter’s daughter in Assam Septuagenarian Seje Bala Ghosh's father was close associate of Chandrashekhar Azad
11-Mar-2020
70-year-old Seje Bala Ghosh is in shock. This daughter of a freedom fighter and resident of North Bongaigaon (ward no 10) has been served foreigners’ notice by the Foreigners’ Tribunal of Bongaigaon, despite the fact that her name has been included in final National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published on August 31, 2019!…
Family migrates from WB, son declared foreigner in Assam! Gauhati HC upholds Tinsukia FT’s order, does not accept land documents as proof
06-Mar-2020
Even as the poor, the unlettered and the dispossessed worry about proving their citizenship in the absence of having proper documents, it turns out even when one has them there is no guarantee that they will be able to prove their case. Munindra Biswas learnt this the hard way. Now that the final NRC has…
School headmaster’s testimony missing, Assam woman declared foreigner Gauhati HC uphold's FT order, insists on testimony of issuing authority to authenticate documents
06-Mar-2020
In yet another example of how challenging it has become for people to prove their citizenship, the Gauhati High Court has ruled that a school leaving certificate needs to be authenticated by providing the testimony of the issuing authority. The court ruled against the suspected foreigner in the case because she failed to get her…
Allegations of inclusion of ‘ineligible’ people in Assam NRC State coordinator seeks details from DRCRs of all districts
25-Feb-2020
There appears to be no respite for people of Assam. Some are likely to suffer even though their names have been included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that was published in August last year. Now, in a letter addressed to all Deputy Commissioners and District Registrars of Citizens Registration (DRCR) of all districts,…
CAA-NPR-NRC – Why is there so much controversy? Should citizens worry? Dr. V Suresh - Advocate, Madras High Court & Gen. Secretary, People’s Union for Civil Liberties
24-Feb-2020
Citizenship has been defined as the right to have rights. Over the past six years, there have been clear political moves to fundamentally assault and redefine this Constitutional basis of both Indian nationhood and citizenship. Especially now, with the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 being passed and a not thoroughly debated all India-level NPR-National Register of…
World’s Most Successful Refugee Community – The Case of Tibetan Refugees in India Citizen Kaun - a CJP Series: Did the preferential treatment of the Tibetan refugees result in their success?
18-Feb-2020
When in 1950, China sought to ‘Liberalise’ Tibet, what it did in effect was persecution of the native Tibetans by attacking their unique culture in an attempt to impose Chinese Marxist ideology and practices in the social and political culture of Tibetans, who practice and preach Tibetan Buddhism – with the Dalai Lama as their…
Human Consequences of Forced Migration: The Case of the Chakmas Citizen Kaun - A CJP Series: The fault lines of partition and nationhood in South Asia and the unending saga of despair of the displaced populace
15-Feb-2020
As a consequence of partition of the subcontinent, (according to the 1951 Census of displaces persons), an estimated 72.49 lakh (7.24 million) Hindus and Sikhs had moved from western Punjab (Pakistan) to the Indian side and 72.26 lakh (7.26 million) Muslims had similarly moved from eastern Punjab (India) to the Pakistani. A new dimension was…
NRC anxiety allegedly leads to one more suicide in Assam Fayjal Hoque from Barpeta becomes latest victim of institutional murder by a heartless State
01-Feb-2020
In yet another instance of what are being dubbed institutional murders, 42 year old Fayjal Hoque allegedly took his life, unable to cope with anxiety and anguish related to the National Register of Citizens. Hoque was an urban labourer and was found dead at his home in Kodomtola in Barpeta district. He had allegedly committed…
Assam woman declared foreigner due to discrepancy in father’s name Gauhati HC upholds FT judgment
21-Jan-2020
This is the story of Khairan Nessa a.k.a Moyran Nessa, a woman from Assam who was declared foreigner when an FT ruled that she was not the daughter of her ‘projected’ father. Her troubles began way back in 1998 when a case was registered against her under the provisions of the (now scrapped) IMDT Act.…
Census Data debunks claim of large-scale Bangladeshi immigration in Assam Migration data especially significant in light of CAA-NRC conundrum
13-Jan-2020
Recently, much awaited migration data has been released by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. While demographers are presumably busy analysing the data, certain preliminary observations are noteworthy, especially in the context of Assam where strong allegation of large-scale illegal migration from Bangladesh has assumed greater significance post NRC. While data on foreign migrants do not distinguish between…
Person with two names confuses NRC officials Haphazard approach of authorities leads to inclusion of daughters, but exclusions of sons!
12-Dec-2019
While helping people negotiate the tortuous journey of defending their citizenship in Assam, CJP’s District Volunteer Motivator (DVM) Majidul Islam came across a very interesting case of Abdul Hoque aka Buida Sheikh’s family in Kandapara village in Barpeta district. Abdul Hoque and his family lost their home due to floods in North Mayunburi village and…