Another exarmy man asked to prove citizenship

A retired army man in Guwahati has been served a notice to prove his citizenship, a month after a Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam sent a similar notice to a retired Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO).

Mahiruddin Ahmed, who retired as a havildar from the Indian Army in 2004, along with his wife, was served notices by a foreigners’ tribunal in Barpeta district on September 16. The notices claimed that the couple entered India from Bangladesh after March 25, 1971, without valid papers. The tribunal also asked him to appear on Monday with proof of citizenship, Ahmed said. “It is very painful and shocking that we are subjected to such humiliation after serving in the army,” he said, adding that he was born in 1964 in Barpeta. Ahmed also wondered how could he have joined the army if he was not an Indian citizen.

Last month, Mohammad Azmal Hoque, who had been a JCO in the army, was asked to prove his Indian citizenship and that he was not an “illegal Bangladeshi immigrant” by a foreigners tribunal, which charged him with entering the country in 1971 without proper documents.

Hoque, who retired from the army on September 30 last year, after serving in the force for 30 years, was living in Guwahati post retirement. The Assam police, however, later apologised to him as it was a case of mistaken identity. PTI

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