On May 31, 2019, we had carried a story about how an indigenous Assamese Muslim family was attacked when they went to attend a National Register of Citizens (NRC) process related claims and objections hearing in Morigaon district. CJP community volunteers had intervened and taken the injured to hospital. But on June 12, 2019, the NRC authority using its twitter handle @NRCupdateAssam tweeted the following:
We stand by our story and in response to this tweet, we have the following points that showcase the facts of the case:
First, it wasn’t a “tiff/quarrel” as alleged by the NRC authorities, but a brutal attack with weapons that left Mokibur Rehman of Barigaon village with severe head injuries. The weapons used on him can be seen in this video. These include a hammer, a hammer head and a metal spike.
Secondly, the person attacked wasn’t the driver of the vehicle, but Mokibur Rehman, the man who had arrived for the hearing with his family in the car.
We have clearly mentioned in our story that the family was attacked just outside the center where hearing were being conducted. But as is made clear by this video, though the incident took place just outside the hearing center it was in the premises of the Kapili Development Block compound. The unconscious victim can be seen lying at the end of one of the corridors in the compound in the above video. The short video below is a close up of the blue board that reads “Extention Training cum Resource Center, Kapali Development Block”.
As far as the attempt to link the attack with proceedings of NRC updates goes, we once again stand by our story that the family that was attacked was there to attend a NRC claims and objections hearing. The assailants, as we have clearly mentioned were not NRC officials, but miscreants who demanded the family’s NRC documents. When the family resisted, the miscreants attacked them violently. The blood stains on the white cloth used to wrap the victim’s head show exactly how vicious the attack was. So even though NRC officials did not attack the family (and we haven’t claimed that in our story either), the fact that this took place because the family was there for the hearings, and that the attackers demanded NRC documents, is enough to establish that the attack took place because the family was there for an NRC hearing. The link therefore cannot be disputed.