Guwahati, July 11, 2019: The recent suicide of a teenage girl has highlighted the anguish of hundreds of thousands of residents of Assam who have been anxious and distressed about their residential status in the northeastern Indian state.

Noor Nehar Begum took her life on June 26, the same day the Assam government published the additional list of National Register of Citizens (NRC).

The additional list left out nearly 100,000 people from the NRC while the draft list published earlier had excluded 4.1 million people.

News of the 17-year-old girl committing suicide has sent waves of anguish to the already distressed residents.

The Bengali speaking Muslims in Assam are living in perpetual fear of being declared foreigners all the time. The death toll has now risen to 57 people with the recent 6 deaths after the additional exclusion list.

Noor Begum committed suicide when she was informed that her name was not in the additional list.

Zabeda and Anwar’s 40-day old infant died of heatstroke as the parents were in the queue for more than 3 hours at the NRC office which is 50 km away from their home just to correct a spelling error in the name of Zabeda’s sister.

Noor Begum’s name was not in the NRC draft list published on July 30, 2018. Her family did not realize the additional list was just an extension of the draft list and that the names in this were not final.

When Noor was told that her name was not in the additional list, she was afraid that she would be taken to a detention camp. The fear forced her to take the extreme step, according to her father Kalam, a poor daily wage laborer in Ramwari Chapri village.

And another daily wage laborer Abedin from Dumerguri village committed suicide because he was told by some people that the names of his family would be included in the list if he paid a huge bribe. Unable to afford the sum, he hanged himself on July 3.

Likewise, Rahim Ali of Bantipur village hanged from a tree in a forest when the names of his 3 children were found missing in the draft list. Kulsum Begum from Barkhetry hanged herself as she did not have any documents to provide her linkage to prove her Indian citizenship.

Two suicide cases were reported on July 8 in Chunpura and Silapather villages of Dhemaji district. Ambar Ali was listed in the D voters’ category while none of his family members’ names were in the draft list. He had been struggling from 1997 trying to prove his citizenship.

Depressed, he committed suicide by sitting in front of a running train. Amar Majumder could not prove his citizenship despite having all valid documents. Disappointed and frustrated, he hanged himself.

The death of Zabeda’s child in March is perhaps the most tragic because it was not just the callousness of the NRC officers but also the people in that village who refused water to the infant.

Fear and tension has gripped the people of Assam whose names have not been in the list and those who are struggling to prove their citizenship and attending the hearings in front of the tribunal as the final list is due to be published on July 31.

Source: twocirlcles.net