16-Sep-2021
Gangadhar Pramanik, a man from west Bengal who was declared foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam and thrown behind bars at the Goalpara detention centre, was finally reunited with his family in Bankura. His mother Bharati, could not believe her eyes as she saw her son for the first time in nearly 10 years.…
13-Sep-2021
Over the last few months, we have brought to you instances of people from other Indian states being declared foreigners in Assam and sent to detention camps. These include Lalit Thakur – a barber from Bihar, Dipak Deb – who hails from Tripura, and Mrinal Mandal – who originally hails from West Bengal, but moved to Assam after marrying an Assamese…
28-Aug-2021
We had recently brought to you the story of Dipak Deb, a man from Tripura, who was declared foreigner and thrown into a detention centre in Assam. His fellow inmate, Mrinal Mandal suffered the same fate – being declared foreigner despite hailing from West Bengal. But after spending 735 days behind bars, Mandal was able to…
27-Aug-2021
In yet another example of how sheer paranoia regarding “foreign infiltrators” has led to persecution of genuine Indian citizens in Assam, Dipak Deb, who originally hails from Tripura, was declared foreigner and was forced to spend five years behind bars in an Assam Detention Centre. But with CJP’s help, Dipak Deb was finally able to…
20-Aug-2021
In July this year, we brought you the story of CJP’s mammoth effort to track down the family of Sona Khatun, a woman who had been languishing behind bars for over five years at Assam’s Kokrajhar detention camp. On August 19, we were finally able to help her get released on conditional bail. Sona Khatun…
10-Aug-2021
We had brought you the story of Fazar Ali, a man who attempted suicide by plunging into the Brahmaputra upon learning he had been declared foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Assam. In a cruel twist of fate, though he was rescued from drowning and admitted to a hospital, the police arrested him from…
09-Aug-2021
The tragic story of Fazar Ali might have a happy ending. The distraught man, unable to cope with the trauma of being declared foreigner, had attempted suicide by jumping into the Brahmaputra. But though he was rescued, police nabbed him from the hospital. Now, CJP is helping him secure conditional bail in line with judgments…
06-Aug-2021
The denial of citizenship is much like a civil death as the ‘right to have rights’ is arbitrarily snatched away by an unfeeling State. In our work upholding and defending the rights of our fellow Indians in Assam, we came across many instances of mysterious deaths of detention camp inmates. Seemingly healthy people, suddenly dropping…
02-Aug-2021
During our work, upholding and defending the rights of our fellow Indians in Assam, we came across many instances of unlettered housewives, even elderly women, being victimised by a document-dependent system that fails to take into account ground realities in rural India. 73-year-old Parbati Das was thrown into a detention camp because she had no…
05-Jun-2021
In April this year, CJP had brought to you the story of Shanti Basfore, a 60-year-old Dalit woman who has been languishing behind bars at the Kokrajhar detention camp since May 2019. We had met her daughter Champa who was deeply traumatised by her mother’s incarceration. But on June 4, we finally secured Shanti’s release on…