By Igor Siljanoski
It is observed that it has become a fashion for some of the Indian politians and columnists to make allegation of illegal immigration of Bangladesh nationals into the northeastern states of India in general and Assam in particular. Recently the Assam Gvernor alleged that about 6000 Bangladesh nationals enter Assam everyday. The effort was made to divert the attention of the exploited and deprived people of Assam to such an issue ' foreigners' which is popular to the ethnic Assamese. Some in the media also jumped on the issue.
How a state Governor could blame a neghbouring country in such an indecent and irresponsible way . Why didn't the Indian intelligence and security forces that beset the state could detain the Bangladeshis? According his statistics 1,80,000 Bangladeshis enter Assam every month and in a year the figure will stand at 12, 96,000. According to the census of 2001, the total population of Assam was 2,66,55,528. Among them, according Indian media, the Muslims constitute 30 per cent of the total population of the state. If so, their number now should be around 79,96,659. If one year's intrusion is added, the present number of the Muslims should reach at 92, 56,659. According to the census of 1991 Muslims were 63, 73,204.
Indian government and its media now point their fingers at the Muslims when they refer to the term 'infiltrators' in India, though there prevails strong
anti-infiltrator sentiment and campaign in all the states of northeast. Muslims were about 40% when Assam was merged with India in 1947. Their sizeable presence was in existence even before the advent of the British. Muslims were never infiltrators in Assam.
The Muslims of today in Assam are not immigrant or outsiders, rather most of them are the sons of the soil. After fall of Gurgobinda in the 14th century, many Ahom people adjoining Sylhet converted to Islam. During the British period, thousand of Bengali speaking Muslims were brought to and settled in Assam to bring arable lands under cultivation.
The descendants of these Muslims now form 30% of the total population of
Assam. These descendants of those Bengali speaking Muslims forgot their language and culture, but not their religion. This new generation Muslims of Assam feel pride to identify themselves Ahoms, treat Assam as their motherland, use Ahomiya language in their daily life, send their children to schools where Ahomiya is the medium of instruction. Other than their religious activities they are hundred per cent Ahoms.
They cannot be branded as foreigners or Bangladeshis. So it is itself illegal and unjustified and mere violation of human rights to brand and harass the
Muslims in Assam as illegal , outsiders or infiltrators.
Moreover it is impossible fo the Bangladeshis to enter Assam is such a massive way. Entrance of six thousand Bangladeshis daily means Assam border is opened for all. But the reality is just opposite. An Indian columnist Ajay Suri reported: After Kashmir, the Northeast India has the maximum concentration of intelligence personnel.
Apart from Military Intelligence, BSF's own G-branch (its intelligence wing) is active in the region. Also, more than 500 Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials are stationed permanently here, and the Research & Analysis wing (RAW) has its men even in Bangladesh(
http://www.indianexpress.com/ie20010420/nat23.html).
On the other hand, Assam is one of the most densely soldiered regions in the world. It is really difficult to mention the accurate figure of security agencies that are deployed in Assam. India, to avert the hue and cry in home and abroad, intentionally keep this information secret.
According to press reports, at least, one lakh soldiers of Indian Army are deployed in Assam. Six battalions of BSF, 10 battalions of CRP, five companies of the Punjab Police Commandos, one battalion of State Rifles have been deployed in the state. The number of other forces cannot be ascertained. One can have an easy idea how much of them are there, if one looks into so many security agencies besides the armed forces in India. Just look at their names and figures( Ministry of Home Affairs,
http://mha.nic.in):
BSF: Organisation - total 157 battalions
Artillery - 7 BSF Artillery Regiments
Water Wing
Air Wing
Signals Regiment
10 Frontier Headquarters
39 Sectors
Assam Rifles:
41 battalions
3 Maintenance Groups
Signal Unit
Construction Company
9 Range Headquarters
Indo-Tibetan Border Police:
29 battalions (4 specialist Battalions)
over 35,569 personnel
755 Officers
Other Paramilitary Forces:
Coast Guard
Rastriya Rifles
Special Frontier Force
Central Reserve Police Force
Home Guards
Intelligence Agencies:
National:
Research and Analysis Wing
Intelligence Bureau
Joint Intelligence Committee
Intelligence Agencies:
Military:
Aviation Research Centre (ARC)
Directorate of Military Intelligence
Directorate of Air Intelligence
Directorate of Naval Intelligence
Special Security Bureau
Other outfits:
All-India Radio Monitoring Service (AIRMS)
Joint Cipher Bureau
Signal Intelligence Directorate
Law enforcement Agencies:
Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
Criminal Investigations Department (CID)
Railway Protection Force
Rapid Action Force (RAF)
Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
National Security Guards (NSG)-has a strength of 7330 personnel
Special Protection Group (SPG)
All these agencies have strong presence in Assam. Moreover, India erected barbed wire fence along every possible point of 272km-long Assam-Bangladesh border. Heavy security forces have been deployed in those hilly areas where India could not yet erect the fence. Observation towers and posts are seen after every 500 yards. Not even a rat, not to speak of a human being, can enter Assam hoodwinking BSF and other Indian paramilitary forces.
The politicians on the otherhand resurrect anti-Muslim campaign in Assam when national and provincial elections approach. This time same thing happened. Assam Assembly election is scheduled to be held in early 2006. Anti-Muslim propaganda is a common election strategy in India. What happened in Gujarat? The Chief Minister Modi killed more than 3,000 Muslims to get the support and vote of the Gujaratee Hindus.
In Assam Prafulla Kumar Mohanta also got power using the same anti-Muslim card and about five thousand Muslims were killed in the state during the anti-settlers movement in the eighties.But Profulla Kumar Mohanta, the prophet of anti-settlers' agitation in the eighties, despite hectic efforts failed to prove the Muslims as illegal in Assam. He ruled Assam twice, but found little Muslims illegal. For this reason, Mohanta toned down his anti-Muslim slogan.
The most fantastic matter is this that the current Chief Minister of Assam Tarun Gogoi, dismissed the allegation of the governor. He suggested his boss to present document infavour of his utterance. Gogoi also said in a television interview that Assam Governor Ajay Singh should provide facts to substantiate his report that 6,000 immigrants enter the state everyday.But the Governor surprisingly remained mum, as if, he did not hear the challenge of his Chief Minister.
The Bangladeshis cannot leave for Assam leaving their country. The minimum daily net income of a rickshaw driver in Dhaka City is not less than $3. A labourer of any rural area earns at least $2, while his 4-member family can live easily spending one dollar.
Rather Anand will see one Indian out of every 10-rickshaw drivers in the street of Dhaka.
The utterance of Assam's Governor got momentum when on April 12 this year a group of Dibrugarh-based youngsters got together to form Chiring Chapori Yuva Mancha (CCYM).
They published leaflets asking residents not to harbour, employ or provide food to suspected Bangladeshis. CCYM claims, after the warning thousands of Bangladeshis who have been working as labourers and rickshaw pullers have been leaving the town of Dibrugarh. However, the estimate of number of people leaving varies. The group 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." But, in fact, this was exclusively a media propaganda to mislead and misguide others, particularly to terrify the Muslims. There is no sign in practice that any Muslim left Assam. No other sources, other than so-called 'Chiring Chapori Yuva Manch', claimed so. All Assam Minority Students Union claimed that the religious minorities working as wage earners in the Upper Assam districts are actually from the erosion-hit villages of Morigaon and Barpeta districts.
Still some other groups like All Assam Students Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chhatra Parishad, Tai Ahom Students Union and Motok Students Union also joined the campaign. As it is well known in Assam these student organisatons are directly or indirectly controlled by RAW. ASSU, the prophet of anti-immigrant campaign in Assam, now uses the anti-outsider sentiment against the Muslims, who are in the truest sense of the term are not outsiders, as they have assimilated with the Ahoms, the sons of the soil. It is not the Muslims who capture and control the key positions of Assam, but the outsiders who came from West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajsthan, Punjab and other states of India.
Now the common people of Assam want to get rid of these Indians. To frustrate this sentiment and divert the attention of the people from the real outsiders, the vested quarters let loose its operatives and agents in Assam and elsewhere in the region to create anti-Muslim sentiment mainly for two reasons.
It is assumed that anti-Muslim sentiment will unite the non-Muslims to vote for pro-ASSU Ahom Gano Parishad in one hand, and even prompt the Muslims to lean to ASSU and AGP to avoid their wrath. Dhubri, Goalpara, Kokrajhar, Morigaon, Silchar and Nagoan districts of Assam have Muslim majority. There are sizeable Muslims in other districts of the state. These Muslims determine which party will rule Assam. For this reason, RAW through its agents and operative, puts pressure on the Muslims so that they vote for those candidates who enjoy its blessings.
Secondly, this type of queer and incredible issue is surfaced whenever the nationalist and patriotic forcers assume power in Bangladesh. Raising anti-Muslim slogan, India intrigues to put pressure on Bangladesh.
However, it is a welcome step that the state government apprehending a communal backlash as certain quarters tried to give the issue a religious colour, took prompt measures. Assam Home Minister Rokibul Hussain asked the district administration and the police to remain vigilant to ensure that no genuine Indian citizens are harassed in the name of hounding foreigners and also to prevent any sort of communal tension.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi asked Hussain, Planning Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma and Home Commissioner B K Gohain to rush to Dibrugarh and take stock of the situation.
The government issued a mild warning, saying it would take "appropriate action against anyone found harassing or intimidating minorities in the name of illegal migrants." It has instituted two inquiries into the exodus. Apart from Dibrugarh additional deputy commissioner Mukul Gogoi, home commissioner Biren Gohain has been asked to investigate the development and submit a report within a month. A press release from Dispur said a preliminary investigation revealed that the people who fled Dibrugarh hailed from Darrang, Sonitpur, Goalpara, Barpeta and Nagaon districts. All these steps prove that no Muslim illegally live in Assam.
Meanwhile, the All Assam Minority Students Union warned both Delhi and Dispur to be ready to face an unexpected situation if stern action was not taken against the "communal leaders" responsible for the exodus of the working class minorities from the Upper Assam districts. It said dubbing them foreigners and imposing an economic blockade on them was a conspiracy of both the BJP and the AASU for their narrow political gain, which would ultimately lead to ethnic bloodbath.
The other non-Congress and non-BJP parties have come together at the initiative of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s state unit. They have expressed concern over the harassment of the religious minorities and the attempts to revive the anti-foreigners' agitation in Assam under the garb of a campaign against illegal Bangladeshi migrants.
The parties include the Nationalist Congress Party, the Republican Socialist Party, the United Minorities Front (UMF), the Janata Dal (Secular), the CPI (ML), the Samajwadi Party, and the SUCI.
Finally I would request fellow Indians not to make fabricated reports on Bangladesh . Let us be good neighours and follow the art of live and let live. Let the Muslims of Assam and India live in peace and contribute to the development where they live in.
Igor Siljanoski is a policy professional working and residing in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. His previous experience was in the public sector as an economist, economic development consultant and business and financial planner. Igor is lecturing macroeconomics at the St.Clair College of applied arts and science in Windsor, Ontario. Igor holds Masters Degree in Political Science and Honours Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the University of Windsor, Canada. Email:
igor.siljanoski@gmail.com
