As tears roll after coming out of Silchar detention center, Suman Das questions, "How will I survive like this?"

After the death of his father and brother, Suman Das of Hailakandi had to work in a food stall to feed his wife and children. The Foreigners Tribunal had a notice in the name of his father, older brother, and also in his name. They had been declared foreigners in a one-sided verdict. His father and older brother have already expired. He is alive and still has a notice in his name, so the police repeatedly asked him to meet them. On May 9, 2019, on his way back from work, he went to the police station and was arrested by the police there.

Meanwhile, his wife couldn’t ascertain where her husband was for quite some time. She went from door to door with her infant child and finally found out that the husband was kept prisoner in the detention camp. Last year, the Honourable Supreme Court ordered the release of those who had spent two years in detention camps on bail. Hence, Suman Das was released on bail from the detention camp on Monday. After his release, seeing his own child and wife, he broke down in tears, not only due to emotions but also due to fear of survival, how will the family survive in this situation?

With a feeble tone, Suman Das said, “The family was already going through a lot of hardships for a long time, but the situation was different back then. Sitting inside the jail, I gradually found out that the situation outside was getting even worse. This time I have been released on bail as per the court order and I will stay at home with my family. But who will give me work in this situation? I can’t think of a way to survive with a minor child and a wife without any income.”

Regarding the lawsuit, he said, “We have been facing lawsuits since 2015. I have gone to court many times and presented various documents. My father and brother-in-law have refugee registration and citizenship certificates of 1965. We also have birth certificates, voter cards, and PAN cards. Even after producing all the information and documents to the court, the case against us is still pending. My father left this world with this grief and his elder brother has also left us following his path. Yet there is no mercy in the eyes of the police or the court. I don’t know how long I can live like this.”

Suman Das is 30 years old, and his father’s name is Kshitish Das. He used to live in the Kathalbasti area of ​​Hailakandi. After the death of his father, Suman started living in a rented house in Santoshnagar, Hailakandi with his wife and child. They lost the case in a one-sided trial at the Hailakandi Foreigners Tribunal and were declared foreigners by the court. His father Kshitish Das and elder brother Tapan Das had died even before that.

His wife Babita came to the jail premises that day to take her husband home, accompanied by their three-year-old child. Babita said, “After marriage, I knew that a case was going on in the court against my husband. But I did not know what the case was. My husband worked in a shop. Suddenly one day he could not be found. After much effort, I found out that he was in a detention camp. I didn’t know what crime he had committed to going to a detention camp. But now that he is released, we will try to get life back to normal.”

In this struggle, social worker Kamal Chakraborty helped him get bail. He said, “Many people around us suffer unspeakable pain only due to the complexities of official documents. Many end up dying while struggling to bear such misery. We try to stand by the people trapped in this abyss as much as possible. Suman Das is helpless, and after his father and brother’s demise, he was not able to find several documents. Although he was released on bail he’s yet to get released from the torture. Until the case gets over, he will have to go visit the police station over and over again. But we will be by their side as much as possible.”

He also said that apart from Suman Das, there are two more people locked up in the detention camp at the Silchar Central Jail who are yet to complete their two-year term. Apart from them, no one else is currently in the detention camp, but the cases against those released on bail will continue nevertheless.