Maynarani Singh, Langting, Dima Hasao District, Assam 2016
Detention Timeline Case Study #16 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, edited and further translated into English by Riya]
[Translator’s Note: This week’s newsletter is also on the history of the Jhinuk Cultural Organisation of Badarpur, Assam and how they became involved in helping people who were victims of the NRC. Kamal Chakraborty came in contact with Maynarani Singh’s family through them.]
Maynarani Singh, Langting, Dima Hasao District, Assam 2016
I went to Badarpur on September 19 2019, along with Jhinuk Cultural Organisation and lawyer Sima Das, who also spent her childhood in the Badarpur Railway Colony. We met Dibakar Singh, son of Maynarani Singh Das, who was then living in the Kokrajhar Detention Camp.
Maynarani Singh was a resident of Langting. If you were to travel from Silchar to Lamding via train, Langting was just one station away from Lamding. Maynarani was born in the Phoolbari Village, Katigorah. The voters' list of 1970 has her father's name present. On top of that, there is also legacy data present from 1966 for her father, Gaurmani Das. Maynarani went to Kalinagar Suryamani Lower Primary School of Katigorah. She has a school certificate issued by the school sub-inspector's office of Cachar District. Once she married Hari Singh, a resident of Langting, she changed her last name to Maynarani Singh from Maynarani Das. After her husband Hari Singh passed away, Maynarani used to run a small restaurant in Langting to make ends meet.
How did she end up becoming an illegal foreigner in her own country? As per the reports, in 2017, some police officials of the border police branch of Dima Hasao district went to have lunch at the Maynarani's hotel; as they were leaving without paying the bill, they were asked to pay up. This led to them getting furious, and they started asking her for proof of her citizenship, showing documents that she is an Indian. Shortly after this incident, the Border Police filed a case in the Haflong Foreigners' Tribunal, and she was marked as a suspected foreigner.
Maynarani did not know that it was a crime to demand money from the Border Police, money that is owed to her, payment to her services. She did not know that asking for the money she was owed was a crime, especially from Border Police, who only believe in taking things away and never giving back. Dibakar Singh took help from a lawyer in Halflong, but even though the lawyer took the money and all kinds of legal fees from him, he was unreachable whenever there was some work; his phone was always off. On the other hand, the problem of hunger and the need to work daily took over her life. She went back to working full time instead of handling the matter in the courts, while her lawyer was of no help. On June 15 2017, after getting no help from her lawyer, Maynarani Singh was declared a foreigner by Ranjan Bharali, a Halflong Foreigners' Tribunal member and Maynarani was sent straight to the Kokrajhar Detention Camp.
On May 5, 2018, Dibakar took the case to the Guwahati High Court. DC Kath Hazarika fought the case. But since Maynarani did not have proof of her date of birth from 1961 or a marriage certificate to clarify the change in her last name, she remained in the camps, still marked as a foreigner. It is absurd to demand such old documents in the first place; it would be unusual if she had proof of her date of birth from 1961. At that point in history, i.e., in 1961, there was no birth certificate given out in Assam.
After this attempt, Dibakar fell into the clutches of another lawyer in Guwahati. This lawyer also promised that everything would be fine and prove Mayna Rani's citizenship status by reviewing her old case. He spent 50,000 INR on the lawyer and was left penniless after these attempts.
Maynarani Singh had her husband's name present in the voter's list from when he was alive; she also had documents of her father and a school certificate mentioning her age. So there was no reason that she could not be declared Indian. But the stupidity of lawyers and their habit of cheating people for money became the reason why Maynarani Singh and many others like her are declared illegal foreigners in their own country and thrown into detention camps. Now, it is in the hands of the Supreme Court to rule on Maynarani Singh's case and provide her justice. Dibakar, who sells some household stuff on his bicycle for a living, can't bear any more of the cost in any way. One of my acquaintances in Delhi came forward to help me out and asked about the case, and collected the necessary documents. But nothing came out of that conversation as of yet. I don't know what he did with my papers; he probably threw them away.
Currently, Maynarani is out on bail from the Kokrajhar Detention Camp, but her case is far away from being resolved. Even though she is out of the camps, the uncertainty and the dark days still haunt her.
Jhinuk Cultural Organisation of Badarpur
When the final NRC was dropped on us, the names of many people from Badarpur went missing, especially the names of the residents of the Railway Colony. At first, I was bewildered, how can residents of Railway Colony, Badarpur are not included in the list, because they have been residents of the place for many decades now!
Jhinuk Cultural Organisation of Badarpur, a prominent and important cultural organisation of Badarpur and Barak, was dormant. People had high expectations from this group which increased, and there were multiple reasons behind this increase in expectations. At one point, Jhinuk was an organisation that was involved in various things, starting from theatre, literature, folk music to fitness, to even having its own football team. I myself grew up in the Railway Colony. While growing up, I witnessed the various movements and organising efforts of workers and railway employees up close; Jhinuk as an organisation was involved in those things deeply. I did not understand things very well back then, but I slowly understood things better as I was growing up. From politics to culture, 'Jhinuk' was relentlessly engaging itself in the cultural movement in Barak. It was one of the first of its kind.
The first Super 8 mm film made in Barak Valley was made based on the famous writer Malaykanti Dey's story "Ashraf Ali's Homeland", and Jhinuk Cultural Organisation did this. The main character behind the scene making it possible was Partha Pratim Mitra. This effort by Jhinuk deserves a special mention for its time. However, even though the pioneering role in this event was that of cultural activists of Barak, the general public also came forward voluntarily to create this film. From artistic personalities to the general public of different villages and towns came forward, cutting across, Karimganj, Silchar, Udharband, Hailakandi, Panchgram, Patharkandi, Bhanga, Katigorah everyone extended their helping hand. Not just that, common people also took over the responsibility of screening the film. In other words, it was the common people who took the role of producers to distributors of this film.
Once, the police objected to the screening in Karimganj. People came forward and arranged the screening of "Ashraf Ali's Homeland" without heeding the objections and threats of the police. The contribution of the people of Udharband and Dayapur, including Shanti Chanda and Heena Chanda, was immense. My guess is this was the first cultural movement that Barak Valley experienced, and there has not been such a movement since then.
Many people missing from the NRC list; some are illiterate or cannot afford the financial cost of challenging their current status. Their fates are in danger and utterly dependent on the verdict of the Foreigners' Tribunal. What could Jhinuk do for them? – Jhinuk came forward with a plan to alleviate the plight of all these helpless people – they started providing free legal aid for the NRC victims. Jhinuk Cultural Organisation and its members were committed to standing by the people as long as their names were missing from the NRC list.
[This is the 16th Case Study from the book আসামে নাগরিকত্ব হরণের দহনলিপি // Transliteration: Assam-e Nagorikottwo Horoner Dohonlipi by Kamal Chakraborty. The book was first published in February 2021 by Kotha Bikolpo Pariwar, Silchar, Assam. To know more about the book and this translation project or contact the translator or the author, click here. If you want to order this original book in Bangla, you can get it from the People’s Book Society, College Street in Kolkata. Contact Number: 033-22199256; instead, you may also contact the author or the translator.]