Siddique Ali, Hatikhali, Dima Hasao, 2017
Detention Timeline Case Study #20 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, edited and further translated into English by Riya]
Siddique Ali, son of Masaddar Ali, was a resident of the Hojai District. According to the 1965 Voters' List and his statement, he was a resident of Katlicherra of Hailakandi District before coming to Hojai. Siddique Ali moved to Hatikhali, Dima Hasao District, later in life for work. Siddique Ali has been voting since 1965; his name is also present in the voters' list of the subsequent years 1997, 2005, and 2016.
One random day, out of the blue, Siddique Ali's wife, Rabia Begum, found a notice stuck on their rented house's door, left by the police; she couldn't even read what was written on the notice. So many such papers get stuck on the door and walls during election season that they did not think much of the paper.
Meanwhile, the foreigners' tribunal kept giving notices with hearing dates one after the other, and Siddique Ali remained utterly unaware of it. No one came to figure out why was he not showing up for his hearings. Finally, on April 20, 2018, Siddique Ali was declared to be a Foreigner in a unilateral verdict by the Foreigners' Tribunal. On June 5, 2018, police from the Hathikhali Police Station took him straight to Silchar Detention Camp. Siddique Ali was 69 years old at this point.
His daughter Asma Begum is in Class IV, and his son, Iqbal Hussain, is now in Class IX of a government school in Hathikhali. After spending two years in the detention camp, Siddique Ali was released on June 11, 2020. His wife, Rabia Begum, was the one I was in touch with during this period. Rabia, herself suffering from heart issues, runs the household herself. While Siddique was in the detention camp, he suffered a lot. He was stuck in a small room all day, causing his limbs to be in pain. His muscles stopped working the way they used to. He never understood why even after being an Indian, he spent his days in the detention camp. He has been voting as an Indian citizen since 1965, his name is also present in the NRC, so why is he considered a foreigner? He had no answers for such questions. Only the Guwahati High Court can help him get rid of the foreigner badge now.
However, on December 20, 2020, the Guwahati High Court ruled that if a person is unable to appear for a hearing but has relevant documents, they must be taken into consideration and a decision of sending them to the detention camp cannot be made solely based on his absence. But by then, he has already lived in detention for two years. When Rabia Begum came to take him home from the detention camp, it was apparent that Siddique Ali was suffering from mental issues. Once he came back, he succumbed to depression due to incarceration at his age. Now that Siddique is back in Hatikhali, he is unable to get work. After being stuck in a room for two years, his legs don't have the strength he had before. The schools for his children are not open due to the lockdown; they are not getting an education. As a daily wage labourer, the source of income is also dried up due to the lockdown. At that point, no one came forward to help him or his family out. He was taken to the camp when he was 69, at the age when most people retire. He spent two long years in detention even after living his whole life in India. He doesn't know what the future holds if he is free or if he will be sent back to the dark detention camps again.
[This is the 20th 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.]