Guwahati: Another election approaches, yet the lives of numerous families who fled East Pakistan during the communal unrest of the 1960s to settle in the Bamunigaon refugee camp in Kamrup district continue to hang in the balance.About two decades ago, govt granted permanent land settlement to around 120 families previously residing in the camp. However, for many residents, the absence of their names in the National Register of Citizens remains the most pressing concern.
The refugee colony, located close to NH-17 and surrounded by local tribal communities like Rabhas and Bodos, is inhabited by tribal Hajong and Garo families and non-tribal Hindu families who crossed over to India decades ago.Since the 1980s, election authorities have allowed them to vote at the nearby Choudhury Para Primary School polling station. For years, they lived quietly, earning a living through bamboo handicrafts, daily wage labour and small trades in and around Bamunigaon.For 66-year-old Rasendra Hajong, life remained relatively stable until the process to update the NRC gathered pace nearly a decade ago. Hajong entered India in 1964 through what is now Meghalaya’s border with Bangladesh. He was only four years old at that time and came with his mother, grandmother and brother. Recalling what his family endured in Mymensingh district, he said tribal families like theirs, who depended on farming and livestock, began facing sustained social exclusion.“We were isolated, our produce was not bought, and our families were repeatedly told that one day we would have to leave for Hindustan. Eventually, amid reports of attacks on Hindu and tribal families, we fled. We lost our home, land and all our possessions in East Pakistan. Despite living in Assam for decades, members of my family, including me and my two daughters, and several neighbours were excluded from the NRC,” Hajong added.He questioned why families like his, that receive govt-allocated rice from fair price shops and have been voting for decades, just like any other Indian citizen, should face doubts over citizenship.With matters related to the NRC pending before the Supreme Court, political parties have offered little certainty during their campaign in the area. Bamunigaon comes under the newly created Boko-Chaygaon constituency, where the contest is between Congress and BJP. Those excluded from the register will once again vote, but will continue to live in legal ambiguity.Across Assam, about 1.9 million applicants were left out of the final NRC published on Aug 31, 2019.Residents say they do not know the exact reasons for exclusion, but suspect that old refugee documents issued at the time of their entry may have contributed to the exclusion. Many of these papers are handwritten and fragile, with the writings fadingover time.Anil Chanda, 60, has his name included in the NRC. Though he has received a govt house and electricity connection, he says life remains difficult on a cramped 1.5-katha plot as families grow larger. Chanda, who runs a salon like his family once did in East Pakistan, said, “The bigger need now is economic support and jobs for the younger generation. Most people in the colony are extremely poor and cannot afford to buy land elsewhere. They hope for of economic upliftment.”
