In a shocking development, Assam Police have admitted it had made a big mistake in questioning the nationality of the retired Junior Commissioned Officer, Azmal Haque.
Assam Director General of Police, Mukesh Sahay said, “It clearly shows that the case was registered against a different person and not the retired JCO. Unfortunately, due to the similarity of their names, the notice appears to have been wrongly served on the retired JCO.”
Haque said that the notice by Assam Police had cause unbearable insult to him. He said, “I cried a lot… After 30 years of service I had to face such an insult.”
Assam Police had sensationally accused Haque being an illegal immigrant after having served the forces for 30 years. The officer was served notice to prove citizenship by the Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT). Azmal Haque, who joined the Indian Army as a mechanical engineer in September 1986 and served the Indian Army for 30 years, last held the rank of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) when he retired. He was appointed by then President late APJ Abdul Kalam in 2003.
An emotional officer had said, “Why do I have to be humiliated so many times? I request the prime minister, the president and the home minister to end this harassment of a proper citizen.”
Haque’s son is also a student of the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun, which is a feeder institute to NDA, NAVAC and Indian Defense Services. He has also expressed his desire to serve Indian Army.
Haque said, “I am a khilonjia axomiya (someone whose origins are in Assam); I belong to this soil. Why is the government trying to harass us on communal grounds.”
Another such incident occurred when earlier Assam Police had accused its own Constable of being an illegal immigrant. On September 21, 2017, the Foreigners Tribunal had declared him an Indian citizen as well.