Mortal remains of 65-year-old lies at GMCH morgue since Oct 13
GUWAHATI: His body has been kept at the morgue of the Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) here for three days now.
Yet the family of deceased, Dulal Chandra Paul is resolute in its decision not to accept the body till the 65-year-old is declared an Indian citizen.
According to the family, the ‘mentally unstable’ Paul was declared a “foreigner in 2017 in an ex parte judgment and thereafter lodged at a detention centre in Tezpur jail since October that year.
However, following deterioration of his health owing to an illness, the resident of Alisinga village in Sonitpur district had to be admitted to GMCH on September 28, 2019 for treatment.
“He passed away on Sunday (October 13) and the hospital authorities have cited renal failure as the cause of death. However, we will not accept the mortal remains of our father till he is declared and Indian citizen,” Paul’s eldest son, Ashish told The Shillong Times over phone from Alisinga, about 30km away from Tezpur.
The 28-year-old, who now works as a mechanic in the village, even went on say that if the authorities do not declare him a citizen of the country, they should “send the body to Bangladesh” as he had served two years at the foreigners’ detention centre.
“We have land records of 1965 apart from documents to prove his citizenship. In fact, my mother, Belurani Paul (45) has her name included in the final National Register of Citizens (NRC) list,” Ashish claimed.
A government delegation had reportedly visited the family members but has not been able to convince them to accept the body.
“This is a difficult phase for us but if we accept the body, we will, in a way, acknowledge the judgment that declared my father a foreigner,” he said.
According to Ashish, his father was a farmer. “But we had to struggle economically after selling land for Rs 4 lakh to contest the case in court since 2017. “The sum has been spent on litigation and our economic condition has been rendered unhealthy now,” he rued.
According to a statement issued by the state government earlier this year, 25 persons have died in detention centres since 1985, of which one was 45-day-old child and the other an 85-year-old man.