GOROIMARI: Having been left out of the final National Register of Citizens (NRC), the threat of detention is looming large over the 31-member joint family of Mohirun Nessa. On Sunday, the 55-year-old rushed to Hatishola from her village Laruwajan when she heard that a group of lawyers from Guwahati was visiting the remote village in Kamrup district to offer legal advice to people excluded from the final list of the NRC.
Jochhon Ali, Mohirun’s husband, and his three brothers Asur Uddin, Moin Uddin and Sona Uddin live together. None of them could make it to the final NRC even though their names figured in the first as well as the second lists.
“We didn’t have any worries about the NRC as we had our names in the first and the second lists. We were shocked to not find our names on the final NRC list,” Mohirun said.
Mohirun’s son Robikul said he visited an NRC Seva Kendra expecting their names would be in the list, but was devastated to learn they have been left out. “My mother and children crying inconsolably. It was as if someone in the family died... Never before had we faced such a situation,” he added.
The joint family’s experience with NRC has been bitter. Last month, the authorities served them a 24-hour notice seeking their personal presence at a place some 400 km away for re-verification of documents.
“The notice triggered chaos as we had just 24 hours to go to faraway Golaghat. We sold off out cattle and rice to arrange `40,000 to hire a bus. We had to hire the bus as all 31 of us were called and there was no time to arrange travel by other means,” Robikul recalled.
The 30-year-old said the hardship was of no use as they were not included in the final NRC.
Their’s is not the only case of exclusion on questionable grounds. Hundreds of families from Hatishola, Majortop, Sontoli and neighbouring villages were issued short notices last month for re-verification in Upper Assam’s Jorhat, Golaghat and Sivasagar districts. Many families had made it to the previous lists but were left out this time, triggering panic and confusion all around.