Assam HC declares 50-year-old Indian woman a foreigner after she fails to prove citizenship

A woman from Assam who was declared a Bangladeshi foreigner by a Foreigners’ Tribunal in Baksa District failed to prove her citizenship even after producing 15 legitimate documents. According to reports, the Gauhati High Court has dismissed the citizenship claims of Jabeda Begum, who produced as many as 15 documents after she was declared a foreigner in May 2019 despite her claim that she was a citizen of India by birth. Jabeda Begum claimed that her family is a victim of river erosion and had to shift villages; she produced documents where she sought to show that her father was in the NRC list of 1951.

Jabeda showed that the names of her parents and grandparents appeared in the voters’ list of 1966. Names of her parents and siblings were also present in several subsequent voters’ lists.It is to be mentioned that although Jabeda produced documents like land revenue payment receipts, her bank passbook, her PAN card and a ration card, the High Court dismissed her writ petition. “In the instant case, the petitioner claimed that she is the daughter of Late Jabed Ali and Jahura Khatun. She could not file any documents to link herself with her projected parents…” the HC order read. This Court in Md. Babul Islam Vs. Union of India [WP(C)/3547/2016], has already held that PAN Card and Bank documents are not proof of citizenship,” the order stated. The High Court also did not take into account the village head’s certificates.