Sukhdev Ree, Mohanpur, Hailakandi, Assam – 2016
Detention Timeline Case Study #8 [written in Bangla by Kamal Chakraborty, translated into English by Riya]
Sukhdev Ree, son of Biraj Ree is a resident of Mohanpur village of Algapur, Hailakandi. Sukhdev is a tea labourer by profession in the Burnie Breas Tea Estate. He has been working in the tea gardens for twenty years. In 2012, Sukhdev received a notice from the Superintendent of Police (Border) stating that a person who goes by the name of Sukhdev Ree was a doubtful voter and suspected to be an illegal foreigner. After receiving the notice, feeling lost and confused, Sukhdev went to seek help from a lawyer. Subsequently, the case was filed at the Hailakandi court on March 7, 2013. Sukhdev collected all the required documents he had and submitted them to the court on July 18, 2013. After that, the court gave out dates of appearance to him for cross-examination. But, neither Sukhdeb nor his family member could not appear at the court on given dates. So, on April 4, 2016, through a unilateral verdict, Sukhdev was declared an illegal foreigner and was sent to the Silchar Detention Camp.
The real name of Sukhdev Ree's father was Biraj Bauri. Most tea garden workers start working in the tea gardens early on in their lives and hardly have access to education; thus, most remain illiterate. He did not notice or rather have an opportunity to notice when or how his father's surname changed from 'Bauri' to 'Ree'. This kind of problem is present in almost every household in the tea garden area. However, they still submitted an affidavit stating the change in surname.
Dr Parthasarathy Bhattacharya, Secretary of Silchar District Legal Services Authority, took me to Silchar Detention Camp in November 2019 as a Resource Person. My dream of working for people was finally taking up an actual shape. I walked into a detention centre for the first time; it was an unusual and mixed feeling. I have seen these people and known their issues up close. I knew that many of them were imprisoned because of the lack of formal education, literacy or the necessary documents. Here, I met Sukhdev along with other victims in the camp who failed to prove their citizenship.
I had no previous acquaintance with Sukhdev. I didn't know anything about him. Since he was a worker at the tea gardens, I was surprised to hear that he was a prisoner in the detention camp1. After getting his phone number and home address, I went to Mohanpur village to meet his family at his house. It would be wrong to say that they lived in a village; it was more of a forest-like area of Algapur. I do not know if it would be fitting to call it a house or describe it as a spot. They were spending their days in a place that was barely a skeleton of the house. They gave me a broken chair to sit down on. I had travelled a very long distance; I wanted a cup of tea, but I didn't express any such trivial desire looking at the situation around me. I was very unprepared to see their living conditions. They continue to struggle to survive in challenging conditions. In my heart, I was worried for all of them and not just Sukhdev. After seeing the judgment order (that put Sukhdev in the detention camp) from Sukhdev's wife Shishubala, I asked, why did they not appear in court, even after the court gave them ample time? In response, Shishubala said that whenever she went to the lawyer, the lawyer would ask for 2000-3000 INR for each visit. They had already borrowed a lot of money and gave it to the lawyer. How much more could they borrow? It was no longer possible for them to accumulate such amounts of money. She said she would rather resign to whatever was written in her fate. Once Sukhdev was put into the camp, they had to appeal to the High Court to prove his citizenship. This was an impossible task for him and his family.
We know that even today, in 2020, with the amount of money a daily wage tea labourer can get, it is nearly impossible to save up to two thousand rupees for a lawyer and that too for each visit. Yet, they still didn't give up and tried to collect the money to save that impossible amount. She tried a lot, but at some point, she failed. And that is how Sukhdev Ree's space to live in turned out to be the Silchar Detention Camp. Shishubala has one son, his name is Sujit. He studies in class four. Shishubala’s mother-in-law also lives with her. Shishubala has figured out work for herself at the tea gardens; she works during the tea plucking season, so work is not available for her around the year. When there is work and a need for labour, she is called for work and gets very little money. It is an insurmountable task to provide meals to her family three times a day with the money she earns, let alone running a household. Shishubala and her mother-in-law wouldn’t eat daily; some days, even her son Sujit doesn’t get to eat three meals a day. With Sukhdev in the detention camp, things took a worse turn; she never expected such a dark moment in her life.
Sitting at her house, I swore that I would do everything possible to bring back some relief in her life, to make sure that at the very least her life goes back to how her family functioned before Sukhdev was taken to the detention camp. If nothing else, I can bring the family back together. I promised myself that I would make sure that Sukhdev was free from the confinement of the detention camp. Shortly after returning from the visit, we got to know that the Supreme Court had given out the ruling on the Harsh Mander’s petition2. The ruling called for releasing people from the detention centres on bail, but only detainees who have already served three years.
By then, Sukhdev had spent more than three years in the detention camp. But for the release, two people have to arrange the bail amount of one lakh rupees each. I called up Shishubala to inform her about this news. She was happy for a moment, and then, in the next moment, she broke down in tears. She did not know where to get even one such guarantor, let alone such a massive sum of money! Yet Shishubala tried everything and persisted; she ran from one end of the district to the other in search of the bailiff. Eventually, after going through many menacing problems, we found two bailiffs. After that, we had to raise the bail amount; I took up that responsibility, my wife Sreelekha Sengupta came forward and helped me out. I don't know what I would have done if Sreelekha wasn't there at that time to provide the money. I would here note that, even though all the political parties have workers’ unions in the tea gardens, no one came forward to help or fight for people in detention camps or any D-Voters from the tea gardens.
The Home Ministry of the Central Government of our country has repeatedly claimed that all those in the detention camps in Assam are Bangladeshis. Now, let us look at this specific case—Sukhdev Ree's father's real name is Biraj Bauri, and his grandfather's name is Manu Bauri. They have been tea garden workers for generations. They have their names listed in the 1965 voters' list. Their names are present in the voters' list of 1970, and naturally, the names of all the family members have also appeared in the NRC. Except for Sukhdev, because he has been in the detention camp. Here, if we go back to the claim made by the government—all those in the detention camps in Assam are Bangladeshis—we can see that the claim is false. Sukhdev Ree cannot be Bangladeshi, and he, like many others, has been put in the detention camp only based on the directions of the government. The main objective was clear as day; it was to meet some sort of 'quota' of the detainees or illegal foreigners3. The question was not about them being Indian or Non-Indian at all4.
Eventually, on Wednesday, February 26, 2020, Sukhdev Ree was released on bail from Silchar Detention Camp. Once released, Sukhdev was angry and rightfully so! After his release, he said, 'Where have you been all this time? You have come to me now? I became a foreigner because I decided to sell my own land, house, my own property! And now you have come to talk to me?' He said the same thing to me and the journalists present. The next day, Sukhdev called me to express remorse about his anger and how he spoke to me. This was after his mother and wife—who were more acquainted with me—scolded him for talking to me like that and getting angry at me. But, in my opinion, his anger was justified.
Once he was released, Journalist Vidhayak Das from Guwahati contacted me and came forward to provide financial assistance to Sukhdev and his family. Another good thing that happened—Aman Wadud, a prominent lawyer in the Guwahati High Court, promised to fight this case further, pro bono. We will have to wait and see what happens with the case in the future. Sukhdev Ree is at the very least living with his family, spending the days together, good or bad.
[This is the Eighth 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 to 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. ]
"Under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, as per information made available by the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), a central list of OBC for the state of Assam is published for as many as 28 communities. But there is no single community described as "Tea Tribe" in the Central List of OBC for the state of Assam. However, there are as many as 96 castes in the Central List of OBC under the description' Tea Garden Laborers, Tea Garden Tribes'. Ex-Tea Garden Laborers & Ex-Tea Tribes, which fall in entry No. 24/50 declared by resolution no. 12011/68/93 BCC (C) dtd. 09/10/1993.
In respect with the "The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Card) Rules, 2013" under clauses 3 (3) all the members of Tea Tribes shall be covered under "Original Inhabitants of Assam Category"
Further Reading on the Supreme Court order: Supreme Court clears release of long-detained foreigners - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)
Translator’s Note: It is important to note that there is/was indeed a situation of this nature where a judge or a tribunal member’s term depended on the rate at which they declared people foreigners. The Hindu published an article on Amnesty International’s report that you can read here: Assam decides tribunal member’s term on rate of declaring foreigners: Amnesty - The Hindu
To know more about discrepancies in the process: Conduct of Foreigners Tribunals in Assam is questionable | The Indian Express