AUGUST 4, 2019 • THE WEEK 23worse than Kashmir;
it will be worse than
Myanmar,” he said. “Don’t
forget that in Myanmar, the
minority population is just a few
lakhs (eight to ten lakhs). But in
Assam, there are nearly one crore
Bengali-speaking Muslims. All are
not Mahatma Gandhi; the hotheaded
may strike.”
Faysal said the government and
NRC officials are toeing the line
of the All Assam Students’ Union.
“The AASU has already given a
figure—that one crore Bangladeshis
are living in India. And the govern-
ment is acting accordingly,” he said.
“All Muslims in Assam want illegal
settlers to go. But how can the gov-
ernment put families who have been
living here for generations in deten-
tion centres? What is happening here
is the worst human rights violation in
the world.”
All eyes are on the final NRC list
that will be published on August 31.
“If such a big number of people are
asked to leave India or are put in jail,
we have no option but to defend our-
selves,” said Jaihur Islam of Hatish-
ala. “There is talk about [starting an]
armed struggle. Another option is to
approach the United Nations.”
Akram Hussein, state coordina-
tor of the Association for Citizen’s
Rights, an organisation formed to
protect the interests of “NRC victims”
in Assam, said they have sought the
intervention of Amnesty Internation-
al. “We have no option but to attract
the attention of the entire world,”
said Hussein. “Other countries
should put pressure on the Indian
government.”INHERITANCE OF LOSS
Abdul Haque (left) with elder
brother Ramjan Ali of Hatishala
village. The siblings have been
declared foreigners, even though
their parents are Indians