Citizens’ meet resolves to launch movement against branding of Bengalis as ’D’ voters
SILCHAR, August 11: In order to chalk out the strategies to fight against the branding of Bengalis as ‘D’ voters in a whimsical manner, a citizens’ meet was convened at Gandhi Bhavan here today. The meet, attended by the people of all walks of life, resolved to launch massive movement against the unnecessary harassment of people in the name of ‘D’ voters in the State.
The meet was divided into two parts. The first part was sieged with deliberations and discussions and the second part with specific resolutions to arrive at definite conclusions. Several distinguished citizens of this town and beyond took part in the deliberations and offered their valued suggestions as well as opinions.
Addressing the assembly of citizens, Dr Kumar Kanti Das, one of the conveners of the meet, said the ‘D’ voter issue has become a matter of serious concern as it has been affecting people in the three districts of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi along with all other parts of Assam. Till date, many persons belonging to lower class families in particular have been served with notices to prove their bonafide as Indian citizens. In many cases, even without notices, police has been involved in a sort of ‘witch–hunting’, branding Indian citizens as Bangladeshis and even sending them to detention camps for push back.
A movement in a coordinated manner involving all sections of people has to be chalked out and launched in order to pressure the Centre and the State for a reasonable and permanent solution, he said while briefing the objectives of today’s meet.
Paritosh Paul Chowdhury, a senior journalist and a social activist, said that the Bengalis in particular in Assam have been unnecessarily harassed in the name of ‘D’ voter since long despite of being the ‘legitimate’ citizens of the country. He said notices are being sent without citing any proper reasons to the people to prove themselves as the citizens and later they are being harassed and tortured by the police which he described as “very much unfortunate.”
Binodlal Chakraborty, a distinguished citizen, said that all the political leaders of the past and present did not have any interest to address the issue. Citing different examples, he said that even Gopinath Bordoloi did not want to include this region in the State of Assam. He took the opportunity to say that “the Prime Minister of India, Dr Manmohan Singh is also a ‘refugee’ but nobody like to say this. It is only in the case of Bengalis, the terms like refugee, immigrant and ‘D’ voter are used.”
He pointed out the Hindu Bengalis in particular have been forced to migrate from their hearths and homes from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, and take shelter in Assam and other States of the country. The Hindu Bengalis who needed to be protected after their migration from Bangladesh have been treated like the infiltrators and branded ‘D’ voters and even sent to detention camps and pushed back, he added.
Joydip Biswas, assistant professor of Economics, Cachar College, who compered the meeting, expressed his concern at the way people are being harassed in the name of ‘D’ voters. He cited the statistics given by Rockybul Hussain, Forest Minister, on the floor of the Assembly on July 15 according to which till March, 2013, out of total 2,31,657 cases, 91,159 cases were dissolved out of which only 7,152 were actually found ‘D’ voter. These figures only reveal how the people were being harassed as the conviction rate is only around eight per cent, he lamented. At the outset, he set the perfect ambience for the discussion, citing the history of the ‘D’ voter issue and its affect on the people.
Nihar Ranjan Das of ‘Swajan’, an NGO, which has been fighting for the cause of the ‘D’ voters, who is a lawyer by profession, said that when the rest of the country has been adhering to the Foreigners’ Act of 1946, Assam has its own legislation starting from the Illegal Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act of 1950 down to the most controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act of 1983. These have only gone to confound and complicate the foreigners’ issue instead of evolving any solution.
He pointed out that in order to protect these unfortunate victims of forced migration from Bangladesh in particular, the ‘Swajan’ along with All India Adhivakta Parishad had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India which, as he said, has recently issued notice to 18 States including the Centre and Assam to reply on the status being granted to all such migrated people in respective States. Das expressed his hope that the SC would give the verdict on their favour.
All the speakers in an identical manner underlined the importance of a mass movement against such “draconian” rule of the Assam Government.
The meeting was jointly convened by Sundari Mohan Seva Bhavan and Srikona Club.
In the meantime, Barindra Das, a resident of Katigorah, who was recently released from the charges of being ‘D’ voter by the Foreigners’ Tribunal of Silchar, also shared his personal experiences with the gathering.
Later, a committee involving distinguished citizens was formed which will finalize the future course of movement. Among others who spoke on the occasion included Dr Ramaprasad Biswas, Dr Sourindra Bhattacharjee, etc.
Source: The Sentinel 12.08.2013
