Read the real life story of Pankaj Tripathi starrer "Kagaz"

India's 'living dead' struggle to reclaim their rights

Thousands of Indians who were fraudulently declared dead in official records have lost their rights and property. They have been trying to prove that they are still alive, but it is surprisingly difficult to do so.

Last year, Bhagwani Devi, a 70-year-old widow from Fakhruddinpur village in India's northern Uttar Pradesh state, found out that she had been declared dead in official records.

After her husband's death, Devi was entitled to their house and a plot of agricultural land as her husband's legal living heir. However, Devi said, her brother-in-law seized both the land and property by getting officials to officially declare her deceased.

"She is so old and frail. It seems her brother-in-law bribed the land records officials and got them to declare her dead," Devi's son-in-law told DW.

"At this age, how will she fight this injustice? She is so poor that she doesn't even have a mobile phone to contact us in an emergency," he added.

Devi's daughter and son-in-law are scared that harm could come her way.

"When you are officially dead, if you really die or are killed, it won't make a difference. We are scared that she could be in danger," said her son-in-law.

Devi is only one of the thousands of disenfranchised people living in India who have been declared dead in official records although they remain alive.

'They told me I was a dead man'

Lal Bihari is a 66-year-old former farmer from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh. He says he was "killed" by his scheming family members who wanted to own his inherited land.

"I was declared dead in the land revenue records by my uncle and his family in 1976. They bribed the village land and revenue accounts officer," he told DW.

"They told me to my face that I was a dead man and I didn't exist. It felt like a cruel joke. I went from pillar to post to prove I was alive. But accepting the land record mistake would have meant accepting the systemic problem of corruption. As a result, no one listened," he said.

Bihari went through a great mental ordeal. People in the village mocked him by calling him a ghost. Because he no longer has official documents, he soon lost his rights and privileges as an Indian citizen. He sold off his small factory and spent the money on lawyers and other provisions for several years, but to no avail.

"My children lived like orphans and my wife was treated badly by the community. We lived from hand to mouth. I wanted to fight for my dignity. I was stripped off my basic rights as a human being. No official was ready to change the status and some even asked me to forget it ever happened," Bihari   said.

The 'Association of Dead People'

But Bihari did not forget. He wrote letters to the district officer, chief minister of the state, the prime minister and even the president of India but the status quo did not change.

In 1980, Bihari started the "Uttar Pradesh Association of Dead People" and added the word "Mritak," meaning "deceased," to his name.  Soon he found support from many other "living dead" as the word reached nearby villages.

Bihari went to great lengths to prove he was alive. He kidnapped his nephew in hopes that the police would write a criminal report against him. He even contested an election standing against the then prime minister of India to get noticed.

"I organized rallies as funeral processions with other 'dead' people. We desperately wanted to prove that we were alive on paper. We committed petty crime to get arrested. But the police never wrote the names in the official report," he said.

But finally in 1994, after 18 years of highly visible protest, authorities restored Lal Bihari's status to living and his property was returned.

Coming back from the dead

Lal Bihari's fascinating account was made into a newly released Bollywood movie called Kaagaz, which means "paper" in Hindi. The protagonist is played by actor Pankaj Tripathi.

"I'm so glad I could play this part. It is a sad example of citizen-state conflict. A senior police official friend called me up after watching the movie. Lal Bihari's account had stirred him. He told me the state should be more understanding and sensitive to these cases. It is literally a matter of life and death," Tripathi told DW.

Since it was founded, Bihari's organization has added over 20,000 members. It continues to fight on behalf of people wrongly declared dead from all over India.

Krishan Kanhaiya Pal is a lawyer who represents some of these people in court. He told DW justice is often delayed.

"Sometimes these people pass away while they are fighting for their fundamental rights. I represent the ones who are extremely poor and have little to no means for subsistence," Pal said.

"There are so many of these cases that we need fast track courts to tackle this problem.  The government needs to take this matter seriously," he added.