A letter turned Uttam Brajabasi’s life upside down.
Back in January, the villager from Dinhata in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district received a notice from the Assam Foreigners Tribunal (FT) that said he was an “illegal immigrant” who entered Assam without any valid document between 1966 and March 24, 1971.
Now, as he scrambles to meet the July 15 deadline to prove his citizenship, Brajabasi’s case has sparked a war of words between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP, with West Bengal Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the BJP government in Assam of attempting to implement the “NRC (National Register of Citizens) in Bengal”.
Brajabasi claims to have never set foot in Assam. “I am not educated. After I got the notice, I spoke to several people and realised it is an FT notice. I found a lawyer who went to Assam and submitted documents proving that I am a permanent resident of the Cooch Behar district,” he said.
However, sources in the Assam government claimed Brajabasi’s case was from 18 years ago. “The notice has been issued by the FT now, but the reference was given to the FT back in 2007. On the basis of the references, notices are issued by the FT at the time of hearings. As per the case records we have, he was residing in an area called Birubari in Guwahati in a rented house,” Deputy Commissioner of Police of Border (Guwahati) Gautam Borah told The Indian Express.
The northeastern state has a citizenship determination process in line with the Citizenship Act. Under this, a unit of the police, called the border police, may initiate proceedings against people believed to be “illegal immigrants” and forward the reference to the FT in the jurisdiction concerned.
In line with the citizenship determination process, the onus is on the accused to prove they are an Indian citizen. According to Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the cut-off date for citizenship in Assam is March 24, 1971. Those found to have illegally entered the country between 1966 and March 24, 1971, are placed in a special category and struck off the electoral roll for 10 years. After this, their citizenship is restored.
After the incident recently came to light, the TMC labelled the BJP government in Assam “anti-Bengali”. On Tuesday, Mamata Banerjee wrote on X, “I am shocked and deeply disturbed to learn that the Foreigners Tribunal in Assam has issued an NRC notice to Uttam Kumar Brajabasi, a Rajbanshi, and resident of Dinhata in Cooch Behar for over 50 years. Despite furnishing valid identity documents, he is being harassed on suspicion of being a “foreigner/illegal migrant”.
Banerjee called the episode a “systematic assault on democracy”. “It is proof that the ruling BJP dispensation in Assam is attempting to implement the NRC (National Register of Citizens) in Bengal, where it holds no power or jurisdiction. A premeditated attempt is being made to intimidate, disenfranchise, and target marginalised communities. This unconstitutional overreach is anti-people, and exposes BJP’s dangerous agenda of bulldozing democratic safeguards and erasing the identity of Bengal’s people,” she wrote.
The Bengal CM and TMC chairperson called for Opposition unity to “stand up against BJP’s divisive and oppressive machinery”. Following her statement, North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha said he would “take this issue to every appropriate forum”.
The Bengal BJP hit back, with Mathabhanga MLA Sushil Barman accusing the TMC of politicising the matter. “This is a strategy by TMC. If they really cared, they would have addressed it long ago. They are simply trying to tarnish the BJP’s image.”
After Banerjee’s social media post, the Cooch Behar district administration swung into action. District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Meena said he had helped Brajbasi source all “necessary documents, including certified copies of the electoral roll from the 1960s”.
“These (documents) prove that Brajabasi is a resident of this district. We will also send a letter to the Assam district authorities, making it clear that he cannot be an illegal immigrant. The administration stands with Brajabasi,” he said.
District officials said they were helping Brajabasi procure a caste certificate. With the deadline approaching, Brajabasi said he was receiving all the help he needed. “The administration was not serious about my problem. But now, they are fully cooperating with me. They are sending a car to travel to the office of the Sub-Divisional Officer.”