Latest news with #NRC-related
The Hindu
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Family alleges NRC fear behind elderly man's death in Kolkata
A 63-year-old man died in Kolkata on Sunday (August 3, 2025) morning, with his family claiming that he had been living in fear that he would be sent to Bangladesh if the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was implemented. Dilip Kumar Saha, a non-teaching staff member at a private school in Dhakuria, south Kolkata, had arrived in Kolkata in 1972 from Nawabganj, Dhaka, and had been living in Anandapally, Regent Park area. The wife of Saha said that he used to watch television news and was concerned about implementation of NRC in the State. 'He has been under severe stress for quite some time regarding this.... He was afraid that he would be sent to a detention camp and then pushed back to Bangladesh, where he had nobody. He had a valid voter ID card and other documents,' Aarti Saha, wife of the deceased said. There was concern about the implementation of the NRC in West Bengal before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and a sense of panic spread among the people in the State, particularly when leaders of the BJP stated that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act would be followed by the NRC. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee had in September 2019 said that six persons had died due to NRC-related fear in West Bengal. On March 11, 2024, the Union Home Ministry notified CAA rules, but the BJP dropped NRC from its manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. West Bengal Power Minister and local Trinamool Congress MLA Arup Biswas reached out of the family members of the deceased, said. 'This is what the fear of being thrown out of the country could do to a man. What they (Centre) have started in the name of the SIR shows their anti-people attitude, and the result is in front of you,' Mr. Biswas said. West Bengal's ruling party raised the issue and said that the death was the BJP's orchestrated campaign of fear and intimidation. 'Despite possessing valid documentation, Bengali-speaking citizens are being served NRC notices. Migrant workers are being arbitrarily labelled as foreigners,' the party posted on social media.
India Today
03-08-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Kolkata man dies by suicide, family claims NRC fear; no such mention in note
A 59-year-old man died by suicide in Kolkata over an alleged fear of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), sparking a war of words between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the proposed Kumar Saha, a non-teaching staff member at a private school, was found hanging in his room on Sunday by family members who had to force open the door. According to his family, Saha had grown increasingly anxious and depressed in recent days, terrified by the fear of being served an NRC notice and possibly deported to Bangladesh, from where he had migrated in victim had been living in Kolkata with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law for over 30 years. His family claimed that although he never received any official NRC notice, he had stopped eating and often voiced panic over being 'pushed back'. They believe this fear drove him to take the extreme police investigating the case said no mention of NRC was found in the suicide note recovered from the victim. 'He stated he held no one responsible for his death,' an officer said, adding that a case of unnatural death had been incident has escalated into a political flashpoint. Trinamool Congress minister Bratya Basu alleged that Saha's death was the result of the 'humiliation and depression' inflicted by the BJP's 'selective targeting' of Bengali Hindus through NRC-related the allegations, BJP MLA Agnimitra Paul accused the Trinamool Congress of politicising the tragedy.'Since the suicide note does not mention NRC, this is another attempt by the TMC to create fear among Hindus and Muslims alike. Even genuine Indian Muslim citizens will not be affected by NRC,' she said.- EndsMust Watch
Time of India
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Bengal man slapped with NRC notice to miss tribunal hearing?
1 2 Jalpaiguri: Fifty-year-old Cooch Behar resident Uttam Kumar Brajabashi, the member of the Rajbanshi community who received an NRC notice from an Assam foreigners tribunal, is likely to give his document submission hearing on Tuesday a miss. His lawyer, Apurba Sinha, was supposed to attend the Kamrup tribunal hearing on Brajabashi's behalf. But having been unable to contact Brajabashi over the past few days, Sinha is sceptical of attending the hearing. "Assam govt identified him as an illegal immigrant who entered India through the Assam border between 1966 and 1971 and was residing in Dinhata. Surprisingly, another document prepared by Assam govt shows Brajabashi was born in 1977. When govt itself is claiming Brajabashi is 48 years old, how can they ask for documents from between 1966 and 1971?" Sinha said. "However, I am not sure if I can represent him at the tribunal as I have not been able to contact him for the past few days," he added. Meanwhile, Assam govt on Feb 4 issued a notification stating that all Koch Rajbanshis would be treated as indigenous people of Assam. On April 11, Assam chief secretary Partha P Majumdar instructed govt pleaders in Assam to withdraw pending NRC-related cases against people belonging to the Koch Rajbanshi community. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata Questioning the term "Koch Rajbanshi" in Assam govt notices, North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha said, "There is no Koch Rajbanshi community in Cooch Behar or other parts of north Bengal. Yes, there are Rajbanshi people. The notification by Assam govt is misleading and confusing." "We have assured Brajabashi and all other Rajbanshis that our govt and party are with them," Guha told TOI. Sources said Brajabashi may be on the dais on the July 21 martyrs' day rally in Kolkata. BJP's Cooch Behar chief Avijit Barman said, "There is no difference between Koch Rajbanshi and Rajbanshi. Since it was a Cooch Behar kingdom, indigenous people are often called Koch. They are the same. Governing party leaders know this well." He added: "They are just trying to create confusion in an effort to recover their lost ground in north Bengal, especially among the Rajbanshi population. Uttam Kumar Brajabashi has no reason to be afraid. "
Time of India
06-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Bengal man tagged ‘illegal immigrant' by Assam, state steps in
1 2 Jalpaiguri: Bengal govt assured help to a Cooch Behar resident who received an NRC notice from Assam govt in Jan, accusing him of having entered India illegally from Bangladesh. The assurance came after Uttam Kumar Brajabashi (50) reached out to North Bengal development minister Udayan Guha on Sunday after he was given until July 15 to prove his citizenship. Brajabashi said he had never left Cooch Behar in his life. But in Jan this year, he got a notice from the local police that alleged that Assam govt had identified him as an illegal immigrant who entered India through the Assam border between 1966 and 1971, and had been residing in Dinhata. The notice claimed that Brajabashi could not present valid documents during police verification. You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata His lawyer, Apurba Sinha, said Assam govt started the NRC case in 2015, but the letter reached the office of the Cooch Behar district SP nine years later, in Dec 2024. Sinha questioned how Assam could send an NRC-related letter to the district SP in Bengal when Bengal govt does not recognise NRC. According to the lawyer, Assam govt has demanded proof of his name on the voter list since he became an eligible voter but neither the district nor state administration have been able to provide the documents. On learning of the incident, minister Guha, who is also the Dinhata MLA, said, "Brajabashi is not only an Indian citizen but also a scheduled caste citizen. On what grounds did the SP of Kamrup district (in Assam) send an NRC-related letter to a citizen of Dinhata in Cooch Behar. This will not be tolerated here." Uttam Kumar Brajabashi's lawyer questioned how Assam govt could send a letter on NRC to the district SP in Bengal when Bengal govt does not recognise NRC
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First Post
08-06-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Assam govt to invoke a forgotten law to identify and expel illegal migrants
The government of Assam is all set to revive a 75-year-old law that enables the state authorities to push back illegal immigrants upon identification without the need to approach the judiciary every time read more The Assam government is working on reviving the use of a 75-year-old previously overlooked law in a bid to push back illegal immigrants from the state. As per the law, the state will be able to remove illegal migrants without any form of judicial intervention and immediately after their identification. On Saturday, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma noted that a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, while hearing a case on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act (October 2024), had maintained that there is no legal requirement for the Assam government to always approach the judiciary in regards to illegal immigrants, The Times of India reported. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'There is an old law called the Immigrants Expulsion Order (1950), and during a hearing on Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court said this Act is still valid. Under its provisions, even a district commissioner can issue an order for immediate pushback of illegal immigrants,' the Assam CM said on Saturday. 'For whatever reason, our lawyers had not informed us about this, and we weren't aware of it either,' Sarma added. He revealed that in the past few days, the entire matter has come to light, and the state government will now discuss it seriously. The process of identifying foreigners will be sped up: Assam CM The Assam CM noted that the process of identifying illegal immigrants and pushing them back from the state will be sped up now that the government is aware of the law. 'The process of identifying foreigners, which had paused due to NRC-related matters , will now be sped up a bit,' he said. 'This time, if someone is identified as a foreigner, we don't send them to a tribunal. We will straightaway push them back. Preparations for this have been ongoing over the last few days,' he added. Sarma also maintained that those who have moved courts will not be pushed back for now. In his statement, Sarma was referring to the five-member Constitution Bench headed by then Chief Justice DY Chandrachud . On October 17, 2024, the bench upheld the validity of Section 6A of the Citizenship Act in a 4:1 majority, with Justice JB Pardiwala giving the sole dissenting opinion. In their joint order, Justices Surya Kant, MM Sundresh and Manoj Misra said that the provisions of the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, 'shall be effectively employed for identification of illegal immigrants.' About the 1950 law The Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950 (IEAA) empowers the central government to order the expulsion of any person or class of persons who came into Assam from outside India, either before or after the commencement of the Act. The act can be implemented to deal with someone who stays in Assam and is detrimental to the interests of the general public of India or any Scheduled Tribe in Assam. The constitutional bench also noted that the IEAA granted 'the Central Government the power to direct the removal of immigrants who are detrimental to the interests of India.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'If there is any other piece of legislation, such as the IEAA, under which the status of an immigrant can be determined, we see no reason why such statutory detection shall not also be given effect to, for deportation. We thus hold that the provisions of IEAA shall also be read into Section 6A and be applied along with the Foreigners Act, 1946, for detection and deportation of foreigners,' the judges stated in their order. It is pertinent to note that the law was enacted even before the immigrants from West and East Pakistan were considered foreigners under the Foreigners Act . According to the Statement of Objects and Reasons, the Act was enacted to deal with the large-scale immigration of migrants from East Bengal to Assam.
