About Shajahan Ali Ahmed
Shajahan Ali Ahmed is a human rights activist, social worker and journalist who has spent almost a decade helping the most vulnerable people in the state of Assam, India. His long career in activism started in 2010. On 21 July 2010 the minority students organization AAMSU (All Assam Minority Students Union) staged a protest in Barpeta against the updating of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Four students were killed in police firing and 50 injured. This incident left a strong impression on Ahmed who had just finished college and set up a computer repairs shop in Guwahati. He returned home and joined the AAMSU as a member of the local wing. Over the next two years he rose through the ranks of the AAMSU and in October 2012 became the district president.
In 2013 a young mother named Joymoina Khatun was killed by a drunken assailant named King Basumutary. Her son and daughter were also injured. Since the victim and the assailant were from communities that had tensions between them, there was a possibility that tensions could be inflamed by the incident. Ahmed played an important role in holding talks with the All Assam Bodo Students Union (AABSU) and dispelling the tension. Many peace talks were held and the situation was brought under control.
On 1st May 2014 violence broke out in Narsingbari and Balapara in the Baksa and Kokrajhar districts of Assam. Ahmed stepped into action immediately. He alerted the police and ambulance services and went to the affected villages in person. The villagers were adamant that the district authorities meet with them in person and assure them of protection. Ahmed got in touch with the authorities and the Deputy Commissioners came personally to assure the villagers of protection. However, in an unprecedented turn of events, houses in the nearby village of Narayanguri were set on fire the same day at around 4 pm. On 3rd May 2014 Ahmed led a protest at Narayanguri. He remained on the field working with the locals. On 14th May a team of human rights activists travelled to Narayanguri. This was Ahmed’s first encounter with human rights activism. He learnt how to fight for justice, secure rations for those affected by violence and how to work towards their rehabilitation.
In October 2015 Ahmed led a movement to create awareness about the erosion of the banks of the river Beki. Erosion is a yearly occurrence but 2015 was particularly bad. Large chunks of the bank of the river Beki were swallowed up by the river. Ahmed and his team led a 72-hour hunger strike to draw the attention of the authorities towards the issue. The government got in touch and promised immediate measures to provide protection against erosion. To date about 2 kms of the bank has been fortified.
On 24th January 2016 Ahmed was included in the central committee of AAMSU as the education secretary. In his new position he worked primarily on education and the eradication of child marriage and child labour. Regular awareness programmes were held to address these issues. As far as child marriage was concerned, Ahmed undertook a hands-on approach. As soon as he and his team learnt about a minor being married, they gathered all the information about the to-be-married couple and if it was ascertained that they were indeed minors, the police was informed. If the police failed to respond immediately, Ahmed and his team arrived at the venue of the wedding and counseled the parents of the couple. Multiple cases were registered against Ahmed’s team for this. As a result of the work done by Ahmed and his team it is now difficult for even a single child marriage to be held in their area.
In 2015 when the NRC updating procedure was started in Assam Ahmed formed a team to help the poor and unlettered fill their forms claiming citizenship. In 2016 strong action was started against D voters. Even here Ahmed and his team of social workers created a mass programme to create awareness on how to source documents necessary to prove citizenship, how to fill forms etc.
A big setback to minority students politics in Assam came in 2017. On 1st August Lafiqul Islam Ahmed, the president of the All Bodoland Minority Students Union was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen. In July the same year a young protestor named Yakub Ali, who was protesting the harassment of people identified as D voters, was killed in police firing. Shajahan Ali Ahmed made his first YouTube video after the death of Ali. Over the last two years Ahmed has put up numerous videos on his YouTube page providing information on the NRC, social evils etc. Alongside the informative YouTube videos, Ahmed continued working on the field with D-voters. In July 2018 under the leadership of Tajuddin Ahmed Shajahan undertook a massive project of checking the documents of D-voters to see what was wrong with their documentation. Over 3600 people’s documents have been checked since then. In September 2018 an organization named Association for Protection of Indian Citizenship Rights (APICR) was formed with Shajahan Ali Ahmed as General Secretary and Abdullah Ahmed as President. On 11th September 1200 D-voters protested for their rights with Shajahan taking the lead. On 1st October 2018 another protest was held in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office with 600 D-voters present. Memoranda were given to the Chief Justice of India, the President of India, the speakers of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister and Governor of Assam. The primary demand made through the memoranda was to solve the D-voters issue through the NRC. Another important demand was to appoint retired judges to study the judgments of the Foreigners’ Tribunals since these quasi-judicial bodies were responsible for declaring people D-voters.
Shajahan Ali Ahmed shows immense potential as a mass leader. He understands the pulse of the people and his deep erudition and personal investment in the issues of people affected by citizenship problems makes him a deeply sensitive person and a potential leader.
Photo Gallery
Exchange mind with the public in Nelie propose about NRC Problem and its Solve.
As a Distinguished Guest in Open Session Programme organized
by Gobardhana Youth Samaj
Exchange mind with the public in Mathanguri, propose about local Problem and its Solve.
As a Distinguished Guest in Open Session Programme organized
by Katajhar AAMSU