Defense Update

Guwahati: If documentary evidence presented before the Foreigners Tribunal by Md Sanaullah, from Assam, are to be believed, then a Bangadeshi national has served the Indian Army for 30 years, including in Kargil during the 1999 India-Pakistan war. The Foreigners Tribunal has, in its May 25 order, referred to various anomalies in the documents that Md Sanaullah presented before it and declared him a foreign national in an open court.

Investigations by various agencies, including one by the government of Assam, have found no anomaly in the tribunal’s order.

Mr Sanaullah had submitted a dozen documentary evidence, including his birth certificate, land documents, his sister’s date of birth, mother’s record of casting votes to the Foreigners Tribunal, but most of the documents and evidence were contradictory and failed to corroborate each other.

Referring to the constitutional status of declaring a foreign national, security sources pointed out that the “onus” of proving the nationality lies on the suspect.

Sources said that the case against Mr Sanaullah was registered in 2008, and he was served a notice soon after the case was registered, yet till 2017 he did not inform the Army about the case registered against him in the Foreigners Tribunal.

Arguing that while serving in Army, he had an opportunity to present his case before the Army for justice, security sour-ces said that instead he tried to hide the notice from the forces.

He was commissioned as a JCO, in 2014 promoted to subedar and later made Honorary Lieutenant.

After his retirement in 2017, Mr Sanaullah joined the Assam Border Police, security sources said, pointing out that he was once again guilty of not informing the border police about the ongoing proceeding against him in the  Foreigners Tribunal.

Mr Sanaullah, who is now trying to present his case as that of mistaken identity after the order of the tribunal, has not only received the notice of the tribunal as well as border police but also defended the case before the superintendent of police of the border police.

Md Sanaullah who has been sent to the detention Centre also presented multiple certificates in his defence but most of them did not corroborate each other. The border police have discharged him from services since May 23, 2019, following the Foreig-ner Tribunal’s order.

When contacted, superintendent of police Patha Jyoti Mahanata said that they have sent him to the detention centre.

After the Foreigners Tribunal declared him a foreign national in an open court, he had an opportunity to file a review petition but he chose instead to go to the media, security sources said.

According to the observation of the Foreigners Tribunal, Mr Sanaullah’s name has been mentioned as Marjyo-Ullah aged 25 years in the voter list of 1989. But as per the documents submitted to the tribunal, his age should be 22 and not 25, the member of the Foreigners Tribunal pointed out in the order.

The tribunal further found that after the death of his father in 1973, the mutation of land was done in the name of Sanaullah and his brothers, Barik Ali and Hanif Ali in 1977. The tribunal found that at the time he would have been only 10 years old according to his date of birth and mutation of land can’t be done in the name of a minor.

The tribunal also found discrepancies in the reference of his mother Bhanu Bibi who he claimed had cast her vote in 1966, 1970 and 1989. The tribunal found a discrepancy in the age of his mother in different voter lists.

Md Sanaullah told the tribunal that his youngest sister is 40 years old. The tribunal questioned as to how the birth of his sister was possible after the death of their father. If she is 40 now, her birth would be in 1979, six years after their father’s death.

The tribunal also refused to accept the testimony of a headmaster who failed to submit his identity card or any original record to the tribunal.

Md Sanaullah who has been sent to the detention Centre also presented multiple certificates in his defence but most of them did not corroborate each other.

The border police have discharged him from services since May 23, 2019, following the Foreigner Tribunal’s order.

When contacted, superintendent of police (Kamrup rural) Patha Jyoti Mahanata said that they have sent him to the detention centre.