Rakibul Hussain and Debabrata Saikia in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati: The Congress on Saturday highlighted the case of two Hindu Bengali brothers in Nagaon district being sent to a foreigner detention camp despite their names figuring in the first draft of NRC, in an effort to substantiate its charge about minorities being harassed during the Supreme Court-monitored exercise in Assam.

The Congress, which met in the Assembly before lodging its complaint with NRC state co-ordinator Prateek Hajela, said here on Saturday that Ashutosh Das and his brother Prahallad, residents of Kulidonga under Kaliabar Assembly constituency, were taken to Uloni police station on May 31 and sent to a detention camp in Tezpur although they had pre-1971 documents.

“If they are foreigners, how did their names appear in the first draft? They were picked up by border police personnel for NRC-related verification but were sent to the detention camp. We have come across several such cases of harassment in Nagaon, Morigaon, Goalpara, Dhubri, Barpeta, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts,” Congress leader Debabrata Saikia said.

Ashutosh’s wife Kanaklata told The Telegraph that names of the entire Das family, including their three children, appeared in the first draft. “Our names were added after we had submitted land document dated before 1970.” A draft of the NRC with names of 1.9 crore people was released on December 31. The final draft will be released on June 30.

“The NRC is being updated with the cut-off date decided in the Assam Accord. How can they deny applicants from including their names despite having documents?” party leader Rakibul Hussain asked.

The memorandum said the NRC office had issued a directive on May 2 for non-inclusion of family members of declared foreigners in the NRC citing a Gauhati High court order issued in May last year. “The high court did not pass that order in the context of the NRC. It was passed in the context of Foreigners Act. It was for the SP (border) for inquiry against family members of declared foreigners to identify potential illegal migrants,” the memorandum stated.

Hajela did not respond to The Telegraph’s call and text message for his reaction.

Sumir Karmakar Telegraph India