Guwahati, January 4: A "declared foreigner" lodged at a detention centre for illegal migrants in Assam died late on Friday. Naresh Koch, who was in his mid-50s, died at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where he was brought 10 days ago. Koch belonged to the Koch-Rajbongshi community that has been demanding Scheduled Tribe status. With Koch's death, 29 people who were lodged in detention centres across the state have died till now. PM Narendra Modi's Assertion on NRC Signals BJP's Intent to Put Issue on Hold for Now.

Koch, who was lodged in the Goalpara detention centre in March 2018 after a tribunal declared him a foreigner, was brought to the hospital in a critical condition. He died due to health complications, doctors said. "The man suffered a stroke and died in the hospital. He was from the Mornoi area (near Sainik School, Goalpara),” Goalpara's Superintendent of Police Sushanta Biswa Sarma told The Hindu. Why Citizenship Amendment Act+NRC Raise Fear And Concerns: A Multi-Dimensional Take.

The Goalpara detention centre is one of the six detention centres across Assam where nearly 1000 "illegal immigrants" are lodged. In the last three years, 28 persons who were declared "illegal immigrants" and sent to detention centres have died. In October last year, 65-year-old Dulal Paul whose family claims he was mentally unstable and was lodged in a detention camp, died at the GMCH hospital.

Reacting to Koch's demise, Congress lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi said that the latest death was another example of how the poor bear the brunt of the politics around citizenship. "It is invariably the poor and the marginalised who suffer when forced to show documents to the satisfaction of the administration. And it does not matter which religion you belong to," Gogoi, who represents the Kaliabor constituency in central Assam, was quoted as saying.

The death happened at a time when the country is witnessing protests against the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced to implement across the country. The NRC exercise was carried out in Assam where 19 lakh people were left out of the final list. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, said that the government has not discussed the NRC till now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2020 08:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).