Naresh Koch, Goalpara District, 2018
Detention Timeline Case Study #17 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, edited and further translated into English by Riya]
Naresh Koch was a 50-year-old Koch Rajbongshi and a resident of the village, Tinikonia Para of Goalpara. He was picked up from his village marketplace by the police on March 17, 2018, and put into the Goalpara Detention Camp before he could even understand what was happening.
Naresh Koch’s grandfather, Hiralaal Koch, came from then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1965 and took refuge in the Meghalaya Refugee Centre; he also had the 1964 Refuge Registration Certificate. Once they started with their lives, all family members had their name on the voters’ list as well in the subsequent years. Naresh Koch’s family has been residents of Goalpara for more than three decades.
The financial situation of Naresh’s family wasn’t very stable, and it wasn’t easy to understand the various complexities of a court case or to bear the financial pressure it could put. He was unable to appear at the court for his hearing, which led to him being declared an illegal foreigner and sent to the detention camp. While living in the unhealthiest of circumstances there, he fell in the toilet one day while having a heart attack. He was admitted to Guwahati Medical College on December 22, 2019. Doctor Ramen Talukdar stated his condition to be critical and put him in the ICU, where he struggled with life. But he could not fight for long; Naresh Koch passed away on January 5, 2020, with the question mark on his identity and marked as an illegal foreigner.
Translator’s Note: Naresh Koch’s wife, Jinu, has been struggling in every sense since Naresh was taken away, and even more so after his death. Here is a detailed report by The Wire on Naresh Koch that includes an interview of his wife, Jinu, as well: The Tragic Demise of a ‘Declared Foreigner’ at Goalpara Detention Centre.
[This is the 17th 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.]