Assam Family's Struggle To Prove They Are Indians. For The 3rd Time.

Three members of a family in Assam have been served a notice for illegally entering India. The notice, served on June 8, stated they entered India illegally between January 1, 1966 and March 23, 1971 and that they need to depose before the tribunal to prove their citizenship.

The notice has confused Nata Sundari (66), her husband, Kashi Nath Mandal (68) - a daily wage labourer - and their son Govindo (40).

This is the third time that the family from Balijan Kacahri village of Assam's Sonitpur district will have to prove that they are Indians.

In 2016, they were judged legal citizens of the country by the Sonitpur tribunal after they furnished the legal documents.

"My father, Kashi Nath, was again handed a notice in 2018. This was the second time he got such a notice. We contested it in the tribunal and the ruling was in favour of my father. My father then stated to the magistrate that he is sick and tired of proving to be an Indian in his own motherland and doesn't want to go through the legal harassment again," said Nakul Mandal, the second son of Kashi Nath Mandal.

He said 38 members of their joint family have their names in the National Register of Citizenship 1951, which is a requirement to be a citizen of the country and, most importantly, to stay in Assam.

Why are we being harassed again when we were judged Indians citizens by the court twice, lamented the family.

On May 6, the Gauhati High Court ruled that a person who has proved their citizenship once cannot be asked about it again.

There are hundreds of such cases across Assam where people are receiving notices from foreigners' tribunal courts after already proving their identity supported by adequate documents.