Renu Kalindi, Chandranathpur, Cachar, 2021
Detention Timeline Case Study #22 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, edited and further translated into English by Riya]
Renu Kalindi alias Renuka Kalindi lives in Kalibari Village of Chandranathpur, Borkhola, Cachar. She is married to Samru Kalindi. Her father was Late Chaand Bauri.
Renu Kalindi was served a notice from Silchar Foreigners’ Tribunal No. 1 in 2012. Back then, Renu didn’t understand what the notice meant or what she should do as she couldn’t read; she never bothered with it doing anything about the notice either. Since then, police visited her asking her to be present at the Foreigners’ Tribunal, but nothing was explained much, nor was the dangerous and grave consequence of not appearing before the tribunal explained in detail. . She tried to get a few days off from her work at Bikrampur tea garden, but she never got leaves to appear for the tribunals. Even at that point, she had no idea what the consequences of not showing up at the foreigners’ tribunal could be. After a few years, on May 14, 2018, Renu Kalindi was arrested by the police and sent to Silchar Detention Camp. On that day, Renu became aware of the fact that she was a foreigner.
One of the interesting aspects of this case is that Renu Kalindi was declared a foreigner on November 23, 2012, in a unilateral verdict of the Foreigners’ Tribunal, but it was only after six long years they felt the need to arrest her. According to the verdict, Renu Kalindi is a foreigner, that is, a person who came from Bangladesh after 1971. We never understood how she was declared to be a foreigner even though she belongs to the tea tribe.
Once she entered the detention camp, everyone started working towards getting her released on bail. Her husband Samru Kalindi and her son-in-law went to seek the help of Advocate Halim Ahmed Chaudhury or who is also more popularly known as Panna Chaudhury. With Halim, aka Panna Chaudhury’s help and support, Renu Kalindi was out on bail in 10 days on May 24, 2018. Since Renu Kalindi became aware of her status as a foreigner, only after she was arrested, as per the Article 123 Limitation Act-3-A-(I), Panna Chaudhury (re)appealed to the Foreigners’ Tribunal within a month of the arrest. This is how the fight for Renu Kalindi began.
Yes, she was released on bail, but then what? The minimum fare for appearing at the Foreigners’ Tribunal was 300 INR. On top of that, collecting documents and being organised about it kept getting more and more difficult for her and her family. Even though Panna Chaudhury charged a very small and nominal amount for the case, other things remained unaffordable. The court date got postponed several times due to a lack of funds.
The case kept delaying and getting prolonged due to the pandemic and lockdown. There was no way to submit testimony at the Foreigners’ Tribunal during this period. However, on November 12, 2020, people were able to come and give their testimony. After that, there were still some documents to collect. The next hearing was scheduled for December 5, 2020, then again on December 31, 2020. At this point, we could only hope that her case would be resolved and she would be declared Indian by February 2021.
At the end of the day, I only can keep wondering why send notices questioning the citizenship of tea-garden workers, who are a protected class and considered the original inhabitants of Assam.
[This is the 22nd and the last 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.]