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The Bangla Conundrum
Assam, changed
forever
A
state is being mutilated beyond recognition — its identity destroyed,
its culture vandalised, its people ignored. Beginning this week, Nitin
A. Gokhale brings to light the real story of Assam in a series
of articles
Northeast
on the Boil |
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Value
for Money: illegal migrants charge less, outflank local
jobseekers |
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A
governor, in his report to the Centre, said the influx of migrants
is changing Assam’s demography. Soon a demand for the state’s
merger with Bangladesh may be made, he wrote |
On
August 15 later this year, the much touted Assam Accord signed between
the Centre led by a young and wet-behind-the-ears Rajiv Gandhi and the
then equally inexperienced leaders of the All Assam Students Union (AASU)
will complete 20 years. Much has changed throughout the country in the
two decades after the accord, signed ostensibly as a solution to the problem
of infiltration in Assam. Rajiv Gandhi’s son is now in the thick
of politics; Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, then president of AASU, has had two
full terms as chief minister of Assam and is now languishing on the sidelines
of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), the party that he helped form in the
wake of the Assam Accord.
Through
all these changes only one thing has remained constant: influx of Bangladeshis
into Assam.
Despite
the six-year-long agitation against illegal migrants, despite the Assam
Accord, despite the subsequent construction of a fence on the border,
the Bangladeshis continue to pour into Assam looking for livelihood and
end up getting citizenship in India. It is as if everyone is reconciled
to the bitter truth: no matter what measures you adopt, the illegal migrant
will continue to enter Assam and, in connivance with his local benefactor,
acquire Indian citizenship. Eventually he will become an integral part
of the state’s economy. The process has been going on unobtrusively
and without any apparent hindrance.
Recently
an obscure group of youngsters in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district
hit upon a novel idea to check infiltration. Deny the migrant his chance
to earn livelihood. Economic boycott of the migrant, it seemed was the
only solution. So an sms went out: “Save nation, save identity,
let’s take an oath. No food, no job, no shelter to Bangladeshis.
Start a complete economic blockade. Please sms this message to at least
10 friends.” The message spread across the state fast. Some suspected
Bangladeshi nationals, brought to Dibrugarh and its twin district Tinsukia
by brick kiln owners hoping to save a few bucks, panicked and fled the
area. Chiring Chapori Yuva Manch, the outfit that spread the sms, convened
a press conference and thanked people for their support. A member of the
forum said, “The response to the campaign against illegal migrants
has been very encouraging. People from all quarters of this township,
irrespective of caste, creed and community, have responded fully to our
sincere appeal.” The group urged Indian Muslims not to be frightened.
It asserted that its fight was only against those who are illegally settling
in Assam. It also ruled out the possibility of any clash. The organisation
reiterated that it had only appealed to the people to which they responded.
The
number of Bangladeshis who fled was not large, not more than 300 left
the upper Assam districts. But the sms campaign achieved what no one could
pull off in the past two decades: bring the problem of illegal migration
in Assam right back into the national limelight.
The
campaign also reinforced well-known positions. AASU, which has been holding
the flag of anti-foreigner campaign afloat for two decades, was jubilant.
“It is a good move. We have been saying this since 1979 when a movement
was first launched to focus on the dangers of infiltration. You can’t
stop people from refusing employment to any particular labourer or domestic
hand,” says AASU advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya.
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Inundated:
Suspected migrants at a relief camp for the flood-affected
AP Photo |
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Recently, a group of
youngsters spread an SMS saying, ‘Save
nation, save identity. Let’s take an oath: no food, no job,
no shelter to Bangladeshis.’ About 300 migrants fled upper
Assam |
The
BJP says its stand that there are lakhs of foreigners in Assam is vindicated;
the AGP, having realised the need to be seen as non-communal was cautious
in its reaction; the Congress as usual went into a denial mode, with Chief
Minister Tarun Gogoi going to the extent of saying that all those who
left Dibrugarh out of fear were Indian nationals.
Gogoi
may deny the fact for his own political survival but the reality is grimmer
than it is generally perceived. The Bangladeshis are emerging as a strong
economic force and are also gaining political muscle through their larger
numbers. A large number of infiltrators have been included in the voters
list. At a conservative estimate, the infiltrators are a decisive factor
in at least 35 of the state’s 126 Assembly seats.
There
are more alarming statistics. The census figures of 1991 showed a notable
change in the demographic pattern across the state. Muslim population
in Assam increased by 77.42 percent in the period between 1971 and 1991,
while the Hindu population increased only by 41.89 percent. Moreover,
while there were only two Muslim-majority districts in the state till
1971, by 1991 this had become four. In 2005, the number has risen to nine
(Hailakandi, Goalpara, Barpeta, Dhubri Nagaon, Morigaon, Darrang and Karimganj).
It is no coincidence that four of the districts — Goalpara, Hailakandi,
Dhubri and Karimganj — share boundary with Bangladesh. Lt Gen (retd)
SK Sinha, the then governor of Assam, in a report to the president in
November 1998 had given a grim assessment: “As a result of population
movement from Bangladesh, the spectre looms large of the indigenous people
of Assam being reduced to a minority in their home state. Their cultural
survival will be in jeopardy, their political control will be weakened
and their employment opportunities will be undermined.
“This
silent and invidious demographic invasion of Assam may result in the loss
of the geo-strategically vital districts of lower Assam (on the border
with Bangladesh). The influx of these illegal migrants is turning these
districts into a Muslim-majority region. It will then only be a matter
of time when a demand for their merger with Bangladesh may be made. The
rapid growth of international Islamic fundamentalism may provide the driving
force for this demand. Loss of lower Assam (the area close to the Bangladesh
border) will severe the entire land mass of the Northeast from the rest
of India and the rich natural resources of that region will be lost to
the nation,” he added.
The
group of ministers, in its recommendations on the national security system
(February 2001), even as it addressed Bangladesh’s concerns, has
said “the massive illegal immigration poses a grave danger to our
security, social harmony and economic well-being”. All these warnings
notwithstanding, the Bangladeshi influx issue in Assam is mostly treated
from an electoral point of view rather than as a threat to national security.
Next
week: The Ground Reality
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