In light of the constant confusion and lies spread by the top officials of the ruling government with regards to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) and their denial of detention centers, social activists from various organizations will embark on a yatra from February 22nd to March 2nd 2020 from Delhi to the Goalpara detention centre in Assam.
The Yatra organized by members of the Khuda-i-Khidmatgar, National Alliance for People’s Movements, Jamia Coordination Committee, Justice Forum (Assam) and the Socialist Party (India0 will also see participants form a human chain at the Goalpara detention centre to extend solidarity with the people who are already suffering in various detention centers.
In their joint statement, the organizers say, “We are aware of the vulnerability of citizens exposed to inhuman and unconstitutional CAA, NRC and NPR which is reflected in the ongoing protests all over India. There has never before been such an onslaught of the democratic values and vision of our freedom fighters. This is also an attempt to tamper with the very spirit of the The Constitution of India.”
Detention camps operate out of make-shift facilities in six local prisons across Assam – Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Silchar and Jorhat. As of November 13 2019, 1043 declared foreigners were lodged in detention camps in Assam and 29 deaths from these centers have been reported. While the Centre claims that most of these deaths took place due to “illness”, there have been concrete reports of people forcefully held in detention camps committing suicide, with the highest number of deaths being reported from the Goalpara detention camp.
Not just this, the government is also building detention camps in Maharashtra and Karnataka on the lines of those in Assam. This is going to lead to lakhs being forced to live an inhumane existence and render people ‘stateless’ in their own country.
More than 19 lakh people had been left out of the final NRC list in Assam. If the CAA and nationwide NRC are implemented, it is potentially going to put crores of lives at stake – especially the economically backward people, women, transgenders, Dalits and tribals.
The Yatra condemning the CAA-NPR-NRC will begin from Delhi and move through Aligarh, Varanasi, Patna and Jalpaiguri and finally to Goalpara. To join the Yatra, check the details in the attachment below.
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BREAKING: NRC related fears claim one more life in Assam
Another death in Assam’s detention camp brings the total to 29