Momiran Nesa, Silambari, Goalpara, 2019
Detention Timeline Case Study #14 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, translated into English by Riya]
Momiran Nesa is a 47-year-old resident of Simlabari District (Lakhimpur), Goalpara, Assam. She was married to Jaish Hossain of Tikakata Village in Barpeta District.
One fine day, out of the blue, she received a notice from the Foreigners' Tribunal. But since her case wasn't appropriately fought, she was detained and moved to the Kokrajhar Detention Camp of Assam, where she remained imprisoned for about ten long years.
When she was sent to the detention camp, she was pregnant with a child, and they were healthy. She could feel her child's movement inside her, the universal experience of expecting mothers. When she was moved to the detention camp, it was a difficult time; she was trying to adjust and adapt to the new adverse condition of the camp. The conditions were not only challenging to her but to her unborn child as well. During this adjustment period, the police beat her up in the camp. She did not know what caused them to beat her up while pregnant with a child. Later she was forcefully admitted to Guwahati Medical College. According to Momiran, it was at the medical college that they administered an injection that killed her child in her womb.
After three days of this incident of beating her up, taking her to the medical college and administering the said injection, she couldn't feel the movement of her child inside her. Before the child could see the light of the world, the child was murdered. Yes, Momiran as a mother, used precisely this word, 'murder', "My child has been murdered". Sadly, this incident is not one of its kind; many people imprisoned in the detention camps have gone through such inhumane treatments.
While Momiran was inside the detention camp, her husband, Jaish, was distressed with her being away in the camp. He was under immense pressure with Momiran sent to the detention camp; on top of that, the financial burden that comes with fighting such cases took its toll on Jaish. He was crushed under stress and eventually died from a heart attack while Momiran was still locked up. He didn't even manage to get any medical attention or care. Momiran didn't even see him one last time before he was buried. Even though several requests were made to the jail superintendent by Momiran's brother, Sahajul Haque, Momiran wasn't allowed to go to her husband's burial or funeral and see him one last time. Superintendent demanded they get an order from the high court to release her for the funeral; only then he can decide whether to allow her. It takes a minimum of three to four days to get an order from the high court. And to keep a dead body for three-four days is impossible. This is how Jaish's body was buried in Momiran's absence. After the death of her husband, Momiran's brother took care of her other children while she remained in the detention camp.
When Momiran was in jail, her life was under harsh conditions, with one light blanket and barely any food. If anyone complained about the poorly cooked, inedible food, the prison staff would ask to either eat or throw it away. The torture in these camps is always silent and inflicted on people in innovative ways.
Momiran Nesa was released on 22nd November 2019. This was done per the Supreme Court's ruling in 2019, which stated that foreigners who have spent over three years in Assam's detention centres could be released with two sureties of INR 1 lakh each. However, they will have to continue to report to local police stations.
Momiran's father was Matin Ali, and his name is on the 1971 voters’ list. Her grandfather, Matin Ali's father, Rezak Sheikh's name, was also present on the 1985 voters' list. Having both her father and grandfather's names on the voters' lists over the years, it was safe to assume that her name would be present in the NRC. But since, Momiran was marked as a Doubtful or D – Voter, her name was dropped from the NRC List.
Suppose Momiran fights and wins her citizenship case and is declared an Indian Citizen. In that case, a copy of said declaration needs to be submitted to the election office to make sure that she is not a Doubtful or D-Voter anymore. Next, she must submit the voters' list with her name present without the doubtful mark. Only then her name will be included in the National Register of Citizens (NRC). This rule and the long method of having their name on the NRC apply to everyone marked as a doubtful voter.
Much like many other victims of NRC who are now released on bail, she has to report to the nearest police station once a week as directed by the Supreme Court of India and later by the High Court. Even though Momiran is released from the camp, her life is still full of distress. She has three children to take care of, needs to run her household, and regularly visit the police station, putting her life on hold. There is not much help around her.
Prominent Lawyer of the Guwahati High Court, Aman Wadud, said that in Momiran's case, Momiran had submitted all her documents to her lawyer. Still, the Foreigners' Tribunal's written statement about Momiran's case did not mention the said documents. Moreover, her family also mentioned to Mr Wadud that they did not have the financial stability to appear at the Foreigners' Tribunals. Thus, in the end, Momiran was declared to be a foreigner and spent ten long years in the detention camp.
Momiran slaved away in captivity for a decade, but we still don't know why she was marked as a "D" Voter or a Doubtful Voter in the first place? Why was her child killed in the womb? Why was she not allowed to see her husband one last time? Momiran's mind is still clouded with many such unanswered questions. There was no one to stand beside her, and now she is still alone fighting such a big fight. And yet, there are many such people like Momiran who lived similar lives that we probably don't even know about.
[This is the 14th 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’sBook Society, College Street in Kolkata. Contact Number: 033-22199256; instead, you may also contact the author or the translator. ]