As the narrative moves on to CAA and a possible nation-wide NRC, the Assam list hangs in a limbo. So does the fate of children out of it. The Centre has assured the Supreme Court, Parliament that such children, whose parents are on the list, won’t be taken to detention centres. But that hasn’t lessened their dread, of being sent away to “a place called Bangladesh”.
Bongaigaon, Morigaon (Assam): “Gaari, gaas gujali, fuler bagan (Cars, trees and flower gardens)!” says Fatima, 12, her face lighting up at the memory. That morning, more than a year ago, her 15-member family hired three autos for a trip to Boitamari. It was Fatima’s first time outside her village. The furthest she had ever ventured was her school, a 3-km walk from the family’s small thatched house in Borpara village, in Assam’s Bongaigaon district. Sitting by her side was her niece, neighbour and best friend, Narzina, and they watched paddy fields fly past the window over a 30-km journey that took nearly two hours.
The evening before, the girls had been told by their elders to answer every question clearly. “What if they catch you there itself? Don’t make mistakes,” they were warned.
Narzina and Fatima giggle at “the great time” they had at the National Register of Citizens (NRC) hearing. The grim purpose of their visit — to prove Narzina is Indian — hasn’t registered, though the 10-year-old is acutely aware of the value of the plastic folder holding her “nothi potro (documents)”.
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