GUWAHATI: The All Assam Minority Students’ Union (AAMSU) has demanded a judicial probe into the deaths of declared foreigners in the detention camps of Assam.
The students union said that so far 27 detainees have lost their lives at the camps.
AAMSU alleged that the deaths of people languishing at the detention centres were not natural but “pre-planned murders” caused by depriving the inmates of food at regular intervals and requisite medical treatment, which can only be proved if an impartial inquiry is instituted.
In a statement here on Tuesday, the students union said that persons declared by tribunals as foreigners should be deported to their respective countries rather than being kept “captive” and left to die at the detention camps.
“Moreover, as many as 200 to 300 people are kept together in cattle-shed like conditions with 200 to 300 people,” it alleged.
The students union further questioned the rationale of keeping the declared foreigners away from their family members and later forcibly handing the bodies of the detainees who die at the camps.
“Instead, we appeal to the government to put an end to such inhuman treatment of detainees at the camps. Once they are declared foreigners, the government should make them sign bonds and hand over the persons to the families through representatives of local organisations. Thereafter, once the process to deport them is completed, the persons should be sent to their respective countries,” the union said.
AAMSU also appealed to the government to re-verify the documents of the detainees to make sure that justice is ensured for those having pre- March 25, 1971 documents.
“If the government fails to deliver justice to the poor, uneducated Indian citizens at the earliest, we will be compelled to launch a democratic agitation across the state,” it warned.
MLA charge
Meanwhile, Nandita Das, the MLA of Boko constituency and president of Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress along with party members on Monday met the bereaved family of Phalu Das, who died at a detention camp on October 25.
The family of Das, of Chotemari village under Barkhetri Assembly constituency, Nalbari, had refused to accept the body, as the members claim he was declared a foreigner despite having legal documents to prove his citizenship.
“It is a matter of great concern that despite of having requisite documents and his name figuring in the NRC of 1951, legacy data of 1971 and voter list of 1966, Phalu Das was declared a foreigner and kept at a detention camp in 2017. He died owing to unbearable mental pressure, shock and lack of healthcare,” the MLA alleged.
The legislator further alleged that the government was neglecting the detainees and that the administration had deprived Phalu Das of medical treatment despite repeated pleas from his family.