Assam woman declared foreigner from Bangladesh 6 years ago, is Indian: Tribunal
Bibi is a resident of Cachar’s Udharbond area and she was declared foreigner by the member of Foreigners Tribunal-3 of Silchar on March 20, 2017
50-year-old Dulubi Bibi, who was declared an illegal migrant from Bangladesh by a foreigners tribunal in Assam’s Silchar district in 2017 for name mismatch in multiple voters’ lists, has been declared an Indian citizen.
Bibi is a resident of Cachar’s Udharbond area and she was declared foreigner by the member of Foreigners Tribunal-3 of Silchar on March 20, 2017, during the hearing of a 1998 case under Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunals Act (which was later re-registered under Foreigners Tribunals Act in 2015).
The court found that her name appeared as Dulubi Bibi, Dulabjan Begum and Dulubi Bibi in different voters’ lists and there were mismatches in her father’s and grandfather’s names in those voters’ lists.
She also failed to establish a connection between her parents’ names.
Also Read: 83-yr-old declared Indian 10 yrs after son died by suicide over citizenship case
“Considering the materials and discussions, we found that these are not trustworthy. The OP (Dulubi Bibi) failed to prove that she and her father were born in India and resided in Indian territory prior to 1971. Hence, I am of the considered opinion that she is a foreigner post March 25, 1971, migrated into India illegally,” wrote BK Talukdar, Member FT-3 in Silchar in his order on March 20, 2017.
The tribunal also ordered the police to arrest Bibi and keep her under detention until she is sent back to Bangladesh.
Police arrested her on April 18, 2018, and she was shifted to a detention camp in Silchar.
She was released from the detention centre in April 2020 on bail following the direction of the Supreme Court and in May 2023, she challenged the 2017 FT-order in Guwahati high court.
The District Legal Service Authority (DLSA), Cachar provided her free legal support and appointed advocate Mahitosh Das as her lawyer.
Das said that the HC ordered the member of Silchar’s FT-3 to hear the case again.
“During the FT’s hearings, Bibi claimed that she had adequate evidence to prove her connection with her grandfather whose name appeared in multiple voters’ lists before 1965. The FT-3 member was convinced with the materials produced and argument placed before him and declared her as Indian citizen,” Das said.
She was declared Indian by the same member, BK Talukdar, who declared her illegal migrant in 2017.
Talukdar in his order dated October 7, wrote that considering the facts and materials submitted and depositions in the earliest and present detailed of 1965, 1985 and 1997 along with the new documents of 1993 and 2015 voters list are to be appreciated without any doubt.
He wrote, “According to the report submitted by the superintendent of police (B) with related documents including copies of NRC details of 1966, printed voters list of 1993, Gaon Panchayat Certificate, Elector Voter Identify Card and an affidavit stating that the OP Dulabjan Begum daughter of Sirai Uddin Laskar, Dulabjan Begum daughter of Sirai Mia and Dulabjan Bibi are one and the same person.”
“In view of that my considered opinion is the OP (Dulubi Bibi) is a citizen of India born out of Indian citizens living in Indian soil, the order stated,” Talukdar wrote.
Bibi received the official order copy from FT-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
“I am a Muslim woman, and my family is conservative. I used to work as a cook before going to jail. I’m not sure if my husband will accept me, or if I’ll get any work now. Will the government take responsibility for this damage,” she said.
A social activist from Silchar, Kamal Chakrabarty helped Bibi in this process.
“After six years, she has been declared Indian based on circumstantial evidence, which means the court considered the local witnesses admissible. If this was done back in 2017, she wouldn’t have had to suffer this much,” Chakraborty told HT.
