83 years old lady who lost her son over citizenship issue finally declared Indian after a long legal battle

May 11: In the year 2014, Narendra Modi during his visit to Silchar spoke about Arjun Namasudra. Sarbananda Sonowal even rushed to the house of Arjun to meet his mother. In a tragic turn of events, Arjun Namasudra committed suicide on 8 June, 2012 after the Foreigners’ Tribunal declared him as a suspected foreigner. It was expected that Arjun’s mother Akal Rani Namasudra’s condition would improve. How can the speech of Narendra Modi and the visit of Sarbananda Sonowal go in vain! But hopes got lost in the distant horizon.

As days passed, every moment of the Namasudra family of Haritikor village under Katigorah Police Station unraveled new and more critical problems. They were unable to manage two square meals a day. They found nobody besides them. After Arjun, the suspicious eye of the nation fell upon Akol Namasudra. Suspecting her as a foreigner, she too was served notice. It is to reckon here that the octogenarian poor lady fought alone and proved that they were indeed Indians and notices were served to her unnecessarily. Her son had to give up his life even without being guilty.

However, Akol Rani would not give up and put up a brave legal fight. Member of Silchar Foreigners’ Tribunal, Dharmananda Deb in his verdict pronounced that Akol Rani Namasudra is indeed an Indian citizen. In his verdict, he further stated that Akol Rani has submitted the voter lists of 1965, 1970, 1977 and 1985. All these copies were then forwarded to the respective Circle Office to ascertain their authenticity. It was then revealed that these were infact genuine and after that there remained no iota of doubt that the 83 years old Akol Rani was a citizen of India.

Akol Rani was represented in the court by four Advocates of Silchar- Anil Chandra Dey, Amarendra Paul, Champak Dey and Siddhartha Chakraborty. During his argument, Advocate Anil Chandra Dey blamed the system to be faulty. He further alleged that due to the callousness of the police, many people have to face similar problems like that of the Namasudra family of Haritikor.

Citing the instance of the case of Akol Rani, Advocate Anil Chandra Dey argued, “In the year 2000, she was suspected by a police officer and so wrote in his report that the lady came to India after 1971. The tragedy in the Namasudra family started since the submission of this police report. Ironically, neither the said police officer nor any other policemen ever tried to meet Akol Rani and cross check her documents. The case registered against her in 2000 in IMD Tribunal later went to the Foreigners’ Tribunal in 2011. But the tragedy lies in the fact that Akol Rani till then was in the dark of all such developments happening against her family.”

However, now when the case went to the Tribunal headed by Dharmananda Deb, he resolved the matter within a span of just two months. But the pain which pricks the heart of Akol Rani till now is the fact that she lost her son for no fault of his. Arjun was also declared an Indian one year after his tragic death. Her daughter Anjali was also also declared as an Indian in 2013. In the verdict, it was categorically mentioned that Ananta Kumar Namasudra and Akol Rani Namasudra had their names in the voter list of 1965. As such, it was quite natural that their children were not foreigners but Indians.

Day labourer Arjun was the only earning member in the family. His death has compelled his family members to disperse in quest of earning two square meals a day. His wife Basana Namasudra works as domestic help in a house at Srigouri. Her younger son aged 7 stays with her. Her elder son Bijon, aged around 13 works in a cloth store at Rajatila since last four years. Her second son Sujan and only daughter Shova stays at another person’s house in their locality. Sujan takes care of the cows in his neighbours house and also studies when he finds opportunity.

In a grave tone Akol Rani lamented, “I lost my son, our family was devastated, I was issued foreigners notice, I had to run from pillar to post, had to sell whatever meager belongings we had to prove that we were bonafide citizens of India- and all these we had to face inspite of the fact that we had our names in the voter list of 1965! Indeed strange are the ways, how a nation could harass its common citizens!”

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