Satya Kumar Das, Lakhipur, Cachar District, 2017
Detention Timeline Case Study #18 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, edited and further translated into English by Riya]
Satya Kumar Das was 65 years old; his father was Shishuram Das. He lived in Dilkush, Binnakandi, Part 1 of Lakhipur, Cachar. He was the last person to be released from Silchar Detention Camp in 2020, as per the Supreme Court Ruling to release people who have served two years or more in the detention camps on bail.
Satya Kumar was born in the village of Harinagar, Borobekra of Jiribam, located in the East Imphal (of Manipur). He had a land deed in his father, Shishuram Das’s name, from 1964-1965. Unfortunately, Satya Kumar Das lost his father at a very young age; his father’s name was absent in the voters’ list of 1965, meaning his father passed away after buying the land before he could vote.
Satya Kumar Das’s grandfather Kuluram Das was born in 1939 and was alive when his son, Shishuram died. Kuluram’s name was present in the 1965 Voters’ List. Satya Kumar had all the necessary documents that one needs for their names to be listed in the NRC. But the problem developed during one of the Manipur Assembly Elections; his name was written as Mat/মত instead of Satya/সত্য. This was an error caused because the letters were so similar. Because Satya Kumar Das was illiterate, he never noticed the mistake in his name; he did not know that this error would become a living nightmare for him and his family in the future. He even cast his vote with this error present in the name listed. Later on, an affidavit was submitted stating the error and the correct name and spelling.
Eventually, Satya Kumar moved to a basti in Dilkush Bagan of Lakhipur. This move also cemented his fate with his name removed from the Harinagar Election Office of Manipur. When he moved from Manipur to Assam, he automatically became a D-Voter, an illegal foreigner.
The case went to court even though his lawyer eventually lost. On May 17, 2017, Satya Kumar Das was declared a foreigner. On May 16, 2018, he was sent to Silchar Detention Camp. Currently, this is a pending case in the Guwahati High Court. Advocate A.M. Barbhuiyan got an order out on March 31, 2018, stating that ‘Until Further Order(s), Petitioner should not be deported from India’ on Case No. WP 3316/2018.
Satya Kumar continues to live with the marked as an illegal foreigner even though he is an Indian. How did he become a foreigner? Who is responsible for this? There are thousands of such questions that remain unanswered. Yet, we have not lost hope and continue to build on it. If the case is adequately fought, then Satya Kumar Das will surely get rid of the mark of an illegal foreigner.
Satya Kumar has two sons and two daughters. One of his sons and one of his daughters are married, his other daughter, Soma, lives with her aunt. Soma has studied till class ten, now she takes tuition classes and manages the expenses for herself and her aunt. But the problem is that due to lockdown, her source of income was also halted. Probably because she lives in the slum area, they were sometimes not entitled to the rations during that period. There was no financial support for them from the government either. She has no idea who to approach for ration how to manage these things. One of her brothers lives in Pune, Maharashtra; he is also unemployed to provide any help during this period. But the students of batch 1989, of Secondary Education, from Karimganj, Debjyoti Dutta Choudhury, Prosenjit Dutta, Debojit Das, Manoj Kumar Choudhury, Gautam Dey, Malal-Uddin Ahmed came forward to help Satya Kumar Das and his family financially. Once Satya Kumar completed two years in the Silchar Detention Camp, he was released on May 16, 2020, on bail.
[This is the 18th 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.]