Assamese man moves Supreme Court to stop deportation
NEW DELHI: A Muslim man from Assam who is facing deportation from India as a foreigner has moved the Supreme Court to stop the deportation of those who have been here for generations.
He has instead sought court intervention to have the borders sealed with neighbouring Bangladesh to prevent any fresh influx of migrants into this country.
Ajbahar Ali in his petition, filed through advocate Arup Bannerjee, argued that it was wrong to harass local Muslims in the name of identifying foreigners. The focus should be instead on sealing the borders.
A bench, headed by Justice RA Agrawal, issued notices to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Assam government on his plea on Thursday. Ali claims that his father and grandfather both figure in the National Register of Citizens, 1951, but due to a simple spelling mistake in his father’s name, a foreigners’ tribunal has declared him a foreigner.
He had challenged his deportation in the High Court but to no avail. He has now appealed to the top court to halt his deportation. Ali argued through his lawyer that his wife committed suicide after he was declared a foreigner and his seven minor children had no guardian after he was confined to a deportation camp in Goalpara.
Ali pointed out that even his mother figured in the Bangaigoan assembly constituency list in 1970, which pre-dates the cut-off date for citizenship i.e. March 25, 1971. Despite this, the foreigners’ tribunal had in an ex parte order passed on February 11, 2016, declared him a foreigner.
He has instead sought court intervention to have the borders sealed with neighbouring Bangladesh to prevent any fresh influx of migrants into this country.
Ajbahar Ali in his petition, filed through advocate Arup Bannerjee, argued that it was wrong to harass local Muslims in the name of identifying foreigners. The focus should be instead on sealing the borders.
A bench, headed by Justice RA Agrawal, issued notices to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Assam government on his plea on Thursday. Ali claims that his father and grandfather both figure in the National Register of Citizens, 1951, but due to a simple spelling mistake in his father’s name, a foreigners’ tribunal has declared him a foreigner.
He had challenged his deportation in the High Court but to no avail. He has now appealed to the top court to halt his deportation. Ali argued through his lawyer that his wife committed suicide after he was declared a foreigner and his seven minor children had no guardian after he was confined to a deportation camp in Goalpara.
Ali pointed out that even his mother figured in the Bangaigoan assembly constituency list in 1970, which pre-dates the cut-off date for citizenship i.e. March 25, 1971. Despite this, the foreigners’ tribunal had in an ex parte order passed on February 11, 2016, declared him a foreigner.
