It’s been a year since the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed, But the Bangladeshis who have been declared foreigners in Assam are dying day after day to get citizenship under it. Two days ago, 104-year-old Chandradhar Das of Barak Valley died, wearing a foreign badge. He was counting down the days to apply for citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act, Before applying, ‘Death came and surrounded him’.
For example, today is the death of Gopesh Das, the husband of Amla Das, who was in the detention camp. He had been hoping for the same year that he would release his wife from the detention camp under the Citizenship Amendment Act. Amla Das’s house is in Rangijhara village under Panbari police station of Chirang district. The village is adjacent to the Bhutan border. Amla Das has been in detention camp for 21 months. The three boys do little chores. The family is lagging behind financially and academically.
Husband Gopesh Das was running in the court on behalf of Amla Das. Today, his death ended detainee Amla’s hopes. Gopesh Das was 61 years old.
The 104-year-old from Barak Valley, or Gopesh Das, has in discussion because they are died, But millions of NRC excluded Hindu Bengalis in Assam are living with the same hope as them. Those whose names did not appear in the NRC due to various errors.
The Citizenship Amendment Act states that from 1971 to 31 December 2014, all Hindus, Buddhists, Persians, Jains, Christians and Sikhs who came to India from Pakistan-Afghanistan-Bangladesh can apply for citizenship. In December last year, the Citizenship Amendment Act was passed in both houses of Parliament. But to date its rules or SOP have not been published. As a result, people like Gopesh Das and Dulal Pal do not know where to apply for citizenship. How to apply, to whom to apply, what documents are required to apply – nothing is clear.
From the house of late Gopesh Das, Nanda Ghosh says, “Gopesh Babu died last night.He used to get very upset whenever he heard about his wife in the detention camp. Exactly the same thing happened last night. Accompanied by Zamser Ali, he applied to the authorities and was allowed to bring his wife Amla Das home for one day. But the risk could not be taken as elephants go out in the area at night. How many more lives will be lost in Assam waiting for CAA SOP? ” his question.
