The detention centre at Goalpara in Assam for those declared foreigners following the NRC exercise and subsequent verification process, played a key role in the Id celebrations of two families, living some 40 km apart.
For the first time in her almost 30 years of married life, Samina Begum did not celebrate Id-ul-Fitr. Her husband, ex-serviceman Mohammed Sanaullah, was taken from their home in Guwahati to the detention centre on May 28, five days after a Foreigners Tribunal order.
“How can I?” was all an disconsolate Ms. Samina could say.
Members of her family said Id has never been so bleak for them, though there were occasions earlier when Mr. Sanaullah, who retired from the Army as an Honorary Captain in August 2017, had to be away on festive days for military assignments.
Members of Mr. Sanaullah’s family did not go to the detention centre to meet him on Id, their lawyer Sahidul Islam said.
Some 40 km away in Khopanikuchi village the family of Rehat Ali had invited almost the entire neighbourhood for a exuberant Id celebration. Rehat Ali was released on May 7. Home after three years at the very same Goalpara detention centre, Mr. Ali said “My children insisted on a large-scale festivity because Id for them and me has been subdued for three years.”
He recalled the years when his family would meet him at the detention centre ahead of Id, give him new clothes, some grain and money to celebrate in captivity.
The story of Id at the Sanaullah and Rehat Ali homes was replicated across the State depending on the result of the decisions on citizenship.
The Assam government had in April told the Supreme Court that more than 900 “declared foreigners” were lodged across six detention centres — essentially central jails — in the State. More than 200 others have since added to those remanded after the court pulled the government up for slackness. “About 70% of the inmates in these centres are Muslims,” said Aman Wadud, an advocate who represents suspected foreigners pro bono .
Gesture from locals
“We used to fast for Ramzan and celebrate Id from the gifts received by the more prosperous among us. Jail authorities never stopped our celebrations, which fellow Hindu inmates would participate in,” Mr Ali said.
Local organisations and individuals also donate fruit platters for Iftar and meat and pilaf on Id, he said.
“As humans, we cannot prevent the inmates from celebrating Id or any other festival. There are limitations but we ensure they do not feel deprived,” an official of a detention centre in eastern Assam said on condition of anonymity.
