This weekend, the government in Assam intensified the ‘verification campaign‘ to identify illegal Bangladeshi citizens. According to police sources, about 50 suspects have been detained from several districts including Guwahati, Golaghat, Dhubri, Barpeta and Cachar under this campaign. Officials said that all have been kept in Rupnagar Police Reserve and their documents are being checked. This campaign is being run on the instructions of the Center so that action can be taken against Bangladeshi citizens living illegally in India.
Families claim, we are Indian citizens
The families of some of the detained people say that they are Indian citizens and they have all the necessary documents. Despite this, they have been picked up by the police in the name of verification. This campaign is being monitored by IG rank officers of Assam Police Border Organization. However, no official statement has been issued by the Assam Police on this entire campaign so far, due to which questions are being raised on the transparency of the campaign. There is an atmosphere of worry and confusion among the local people about this action because many people do not know why their relatives have been arrested.
9 Bangladeshi citizens arrested from Morigaon
On Saturday, 9 Bangladeshi citizens were arrested in Morigaon district of Assam who were living illegally in India for a long time. All of them were declared foreign citizens by the Foreigners Tribunal but they were avoiding arrest till now. Officials said that after the verification of documents is completed, they will be sent to the detention center in Goalpara (now called transit camp). Police say that the entire process is going on according to the law and the campaign will continue in the same way in future.
Questions raised about transparency on the campaign
Questions are being raised on transparency due to Assam Police not issuing an official statement on this campaign. Human rights organizations say that it is not right to pick up people on the basis of suspicion without clear information and document verification. This issue has also given rise to political and social debate in the state as there have been controversies about citizenship and NRC in Assam in the past. The government claims that the aim of the campaign is only to identify illegal citizens so that the security of the state can be ensured. It will be interesting to see in the coming days in which direction this campaign moves forward and how much impact it has.
