A third Bengal resident has received a notice from the foreigners’ tribunal of neighbouring Assam, asking him to furnish proof of his Indian citizenship.

Nishikanta Das, a 75-year-old resident of Latapata village under Mathabhanga-II block of Cooch Behar, received the notice in May from the foreigners’ tribunal IV based in Kamrup of Assam.

Bengal residents Uttam Brajabashi (Cooch Behar) and Anjali Seal (Alipurduar) have already received such notices from BJP-ruled Assam.

Das, who earns a living by hawking eggs, said: “Around 30 years back, I had gone to Assam where I used to work in a household. One day, the police detained me, suspecting I was a Bangladeshi. As I furnished the documents, they released me. I returned home and did not go back to Assam. I am surprised why the notice has been served to me.”

After Das got the notice, he went to Guwahati and spoke to some local lawyers.

“The lawyers told me to show the voter list where my father has his name. I said my father died 45 years ago and didn’t have any voter or Aadhaar card. I showed my documents to them, but they said those would not help. After a couple of days, I returned home,” said the septuagenarian.

Das said that the recent instances of Brajabashi and Seal gave him courage to come forward with the news of his notice.

As the news spread, a group of Trinamool leaders led by Abhijit De Bhowmik, the district Trinamool president, reached Das’s house and promised him all help.

“We are with him and will extend all help. It is a planned conspiracy of the BJP, and we will not sit silent if people of our state are harassed under some pretext or other,”
said Bhowmik.

He said that the party would hold a sit-in demonstration at Boxirhat near the Bengal-Assam border on Sunday to protest the alleged harassment and torture of Bengali-speaking people in the BJP-ruled states.

“Uttam Kumar Brajabasi will be there. We have also requested Nishikanta Das to attend the event,” the Trinamool leader said.

Trinamool protest

Trinamool staged a demonstration at Pakriguri, next to the Bengal-Assam border, in Alipurduar on Saturday against the notices served by the foreigners’ tribunal of Assam to some residents of Bengal. The party also lined up protests and meetings in each block of the district from July 29 on the issue.

Homemaker Anjali Seal, the recipient of one such notice, left for Assam on Saturday with documents to appear before the tribunal in Kokrajhar, sources said.