Citizens for Justice and Peace
CJP intervention helps resolve case of mistaken identity in Assam Border Police realise respondent and receiver of FT notice are two different women
03-Oct-2020
In yet another example of how CJP has been helping defend the rights and freedoms of Indian citizens in Assam, a woman named Alekhjan Khatun was spared the harassment of defending her citizenship before a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) because of timely intervention by CJP’s Assam team. In the last week of September, 2020, a notice was…
Shocking! Flood-affected people sent ‘foreigner’ notice in Assam The four women and one man hail from villages that are under 7-8 feet of water!
17-Jul-2020
In yet another example of institutional apathy for human suffering, five people from the flood-hit Dhalpur village in Darrang district of Assam have been sent notices to appear before a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Mangaldoi to defend their Indian citizenship. “The region is presently submerged under 7-8 feet of water forcing people to vacate their…
EXCLUSIVE! Assam FT declares 282 people foreigner: Signed orders MISSING or full of errors Gauhati HC directs 57 cases be heard afresh
25-Sep-2019
In a shocking instance of negligence and possible abuse of power, 282 people were declared foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) in Assam without any record of due process, reasoning or even a signed order! When the Gauhati High Court took suo motu cognizance of the matter, and ordered an inquiry, it was revealed that…
More than 200 new FT members appointed in Assam New FTs coming up to hear cases of people excluded from NRC
11-Sep-2019
The government of Assam has appointed 221 new Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) members to hear appeals of over 19 lakh people who have been left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC). The list of names of new appointees and the FT to which they have been assigned was released on Monday via a…
The Notorious Foreigners’ Tribunals of Assam What are FTs and what do they do?
01-Aug-2019
Assam’s dreaded Foreigners’ Tribunals (FTs) are back in focus after the Ministry of Home Affairs told the Parliament that over 1 million people have been declared foreigners in Assam by FTs so far! But what exactly are FTs and what do these tribunals do? Watch this video to find out. Related: CJP in…
New MHA order setback for citizens’ rights in Assam? Order grants multiple officials right to make FT reference, FTs get unspecified powers
08-Jun-2019
On May 30, 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an ‘Extraordinary Order’ via a Gazette which in effect appears not only grant powers to multiple authorities to make a reference to Foreigners’ Tribunals (FT), but also grants rather nebulous powers to FTs themselves. FTs are quasi-judicial authorities that decide upon the question of…
35th Citizenship related Suicide in Assam! Death toll rises as state of hopelessness engulfs region
26-Nov-2018
The excruciating and soul-crushing process of updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the long standing ‘D’ Voter vis-a-vis Foreigners Tribunal has taken not less than 35 lives until now. After Samsul Hoque of village Bagariguri under the Barpeta district took the extreme decision to take his own life on November 14, 2018, two…
Assam Citizenship Crisis: Is Anyone Safe? The Making and Re-Making of Indians as Citizens in Assam: A CJP Series
29-Jul-2018
Ten kilometers away from Morigaon town, ten members of the family of a former Deputy Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly have been accused of being foreigners. Reports say almost all residents of this village have been served similar notices. They all now, stare at an uncertain future.
Assam man forced to prove Indian citizenship four times! The Making and Re-Making of Indians as Citizens in Assam: A CJP Series
28-Jul-2018
Even as Assam gets ready for a draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) that will be released on July 30, 2018, many people, whose cases are still pending before Foreigners’ Tribunals or the Gauhati High Court, will have to wait to have their names cleared before they can be added in the NRC. But as…
Gauhati HC reconstitutes Special Bench presiding over FT appeals Single judge replaced with two judge bench
16-Jul-2018
In a huge relief to many people who fear exclusion from the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, the Gauhati High Court has reconstituted the bench which hears appeals against judgments of Foreigners’ Tribunals. The previous single judge has been replaced by a two judge bench now. In an order dated July 3, 2018,…