Why a maverick Assam activist is pushing Bengali-origin Muslims to boycott citizenship trials

Sometime around 2017, Falu Miya and Jahedul Islam were summoned to a foreigners’ tribunal in Assam’s Barpeta district.

Foreigners’ tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies unique to the state that rule on citizenship matters.

The two men from the Bengali-origin Muslim community in Assam had been accused of being “illegal migrants” by the border wing of the state police.

But neither of them turned up for the hearings in Barpeta. Eventually, the tribunal declared Miya and Islam as foreigners in ex-parte orders – rulings pronounced in their absence.

Both their lawyers blame one man for convincing them to stay away from the proceedings – Faruk Khan, a maverick activist from the Bengali-origin Muslim community.

“When he was arrested last year, Falu Miya told them that Faruk Khan had advised him that he would get relief without going to the tribunal,” Akhtar Hussain, Miya’s counsel, told Scroll. This was confirmed by Miya’s sons.

Hussain added: “He had the documents [needed to prove himself a citizen], and I told him to go to the hearings repeatedly. But he chose to listen to Faruk Khan.”

Jahedul Islam’s counsel Mohibul Islam, too, claimed that he had been similarly advised by Faruk Khan. “Before the arrest, Jahidul Islam made a video in Faruk’s presence saying he would not contest the case before...