Retired Assamese army officer told to prove he is Indian
A retired army officer has been branded as a Bangladeshi immigrant by Assam police, asking him to prove his citizenship in a bizarre twist to the contentious issue of illegal migrants in the northeastern state.
Mohd Azmal Hoque, who retired as a junior commissioned officer (JCO) last year, after serving the army for 30 years was living a peaceful life with his family at Guwahati, when he received a notice from a foreigners’ tribunal last month.
Hoque has been asked to prove he is Indian and not an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant.
In Assam there are 100 foreigners’ tribunals set up to detect illegal immigrants, especially those who entered India after creation of Bangladesh.
The notice mentioned that the district police have registered a case against him alleging he entered Assam illegally without any valid documents after March 25, 1971, the day Pakistan army launched Operation Searchlight against the people of then East Pakistan.
The notice, issued on July 6, asked Hoque to appear before the court on September 11 to prove his citizenship, failing which the case against him would continue
GUWAHATI:
ex-parte. But the 49-year-old failed to keep the date as the notice reached his ancestral village Kalahikash near Boko, nearly 70 km from the state capital, after September 11. He will now have to appear before the tribunal on October 13.
“This incident has saddened me a lot. Even after 30 years of service to the nation, we are asked to prove our identity. This is unnecessary harassment,” he told HT.
“I have asked the district SP to inquire into the records of the case. Since the court will open on October 4, we will be able to get the sequence of events only then,” Assam Police DGP Mukesh Sahay told HT.
The police chief added that unlike criminal cases, in foreigners tribunals, the onus is on the individual to prove he is an Indian citizen.