Kolkata: Uttam Kumar Brajbasi has never stepped out of his district, let alone crossing the international border. Yet, the resident of Sadiar Kuthir village under Chowdhuryhat Gram Panchayat in Dinhata Block 2 of Cooch Behar district, West Bengal, has received a notice from the Foreigners’ Tribunal constituted for the Assam NRC (National Register of Citizens). The notice, which he received in January, demands that he provide citizenship documents by July 15 or be declared a foreigner.

“I have never even been to Assam, yet they are branding me as a foreigner. After receiving the notice in January, I submitted all necessary documents through my lawyer proving my permanent residence here. However, they are specifically asking for my father’s voter list records,” said Brasbasi, as he went from pillar to post to prove his citizenship.

According to the notice from the Assam government, Brajbasi is accused of illegally entering India via the Assam border between January 1, 1966, and March 24, 1971, without valid documents. It also claims that he failed to submit valid citizenship documents within the stipulated time. On Tuesday, Brajbasi and his family spent the day at the Dinhata BDO office seeking legal advice. 

“Authorities could provide only the 1966 and 1988 voter list copies. Facing contradictions in documents with Assam’s allegations, I have become helpless and submitted a letter detailing all these incidents to the District Magistrate of Cooch Behar on Tuesday,” shared Rajbanshi.

The case has taken a political turn, with a section of the ruling party proposing to bring Brajbasi to Kolkata to present his case to the chief minister, alleging a political conspiracy. 

Incidentally, Brajbasi’s father, the late Narendranath Brajbasi, whom the Assam government seeks to label a foreigner, served as the Deputy Head (Upa-Pradhan) of Chowdhuryhat Gram Panchayat. He won the position with support from the Communist Party of India (Marxist)  in West Bengal’s first panchayat election in 1978 – a fact confirmed by official documents and local residents. 

The January notice from the Superintendent of Police of Assam’s Kamrup district, sent via Cooch Behar’s Superintendent of Police, instructed Brajbasi to submit attested copies of voter lists proving his father’s continuous presence from before 1970 until his death in 2008. These documents must reach Kamrup Court by July 15, or he will be marked as a foreigner. 

Earlier this week, Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP and chairman of the Migrant Workers Welfare Board, Samirul Islam, publicly raised the issue on social media. Sharing documents, Islam questioned how Assam’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)  government could send an NRC notice to Brajbasi, whose name first appeared on voter lists in 1966.

Following Islam’s statement, chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday strongly criticised the Himanta Biswa-led BJP government in Assam. Referring to Brajbasi, she wrote on social media, “He has been a resident of Bengal for more than 50 years. Despite having valid identification documents, he is being harassed under suspicion of being a foreigner/illegal immigrant.”  

The Trinamool leadership has connected this incident to the proposed special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and an alleged attempt to impose the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in West Bengal. They claim this is a ploy to harass Bengalis in the lead-up to the 2026 Assembly elections.

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