The Week India – August 04, 2019

AUGUST 4, 2019 • THE WEEK 27

Supreme Court. According to the
tribunal, he had entered Assam by
crossing the porous India-Bangla-
desh border some time after March
25, 1971—the cutoff date for citizen-
ship claims as per the 1985 Assam
Accord.
On May 28 this year, an unsuspect-
ing Sanaullah was summoned to the
office of the superintendent of the
border police at Amingaon in Kam-
rup. He was interrogated and taken
into custody late in the evening.
Insiders say officers of the depart-
ment were unhappy with the way his

case was handled. Sanaullah appar-

ently reacted angrily when he was

asked to prove his citizenship, and

said he would contest the charges

against him in court. That resulted in

his immediate transfer to the deten-

tion camp.

When THE WEEK met him at his

relative’s house in Guwahati, Sanaul-

lah appeared shaken and hurt. His

lawyers and well-wishers in the po-

lice had asked him not to talk to jour-

nalists. “I hang my head in shame,”

he said. “Please excuse me; I cannot

talk. I cannot reconcile myself to the

charge that I was a Bangladeshi who

worked in the Indian Army.”

Sanaullah said his wife, Sanima

Begum, also lives in shame. “She goes

out and often stays in our village,” he

said. “No one hurls abuses at us, but

many look at us suspiciously.”

Sanaullah has two daughters and

a son. Sahanaj, the elder daughter,

is married and Helmina is a nursing

student. Son Sahid is a physiother-

apist in Guwahati. According to the

police, the names of Sanaullah’s

children vary across documents, and

none figured in the draft of the Na-

18%

23%

DARRANG

NAGAON

DIMA HASAO

31%

30%

17%

BAKSA

BONGAIGAON

17%

41

KAMRUP

LAKH

CHINA

DISTRICTS

WITH MOST

EXCLUSIONS

MAJORITY RELIGION

RELIGION IN ASSAM

NATIVE NO MORE

WHY ONLY ASSAM?

It was one of the conditions in

the Assam Accord, 1985

EXCLUDED FROM

ASSAM NRC

How updating the National Register

of Citizens would impact Assam

ELECTORAL IMPACT

At least 10 seats will have a

huge change of Muslim voters

DISTRICTS WITH CHANGE

IN MUSLIM VOTES

Nagaon, Darrang, Bongai-

gaon, Barpeta, Cachar, Kam-

rup, Sonitpur, Baksa, Tinsukia,

Dima Hasao and Biswanath

Islam Hinduism Christianity

64%

DARRANG

55%

NAGAON

50%

BONGAIGAON

82%

BAKSA

58%

KAMRUP

68%

30%

DIMA HASAO

62%

HINDUISM

34%

ISLAM

4%

OTHERS

GRAPHICS DENI LAL / RESEARCH RABI BANERJEE, KARTHIK RAVINDRANATH