Infiltration fiasco

North-East have suffered from the problem of refugee influx to a greater degree than any other state in the country.

IN North-East and more particularly in Assam, even a minor spark related to the sensitive infiltration issue is capable enough to create conflagration. Thus, the manner in which Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaisawal handled the issue is simply inexplicable. Though Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had tried his best to save the situation by saying that he would look into the controversy regarding presence of illegal Bangladeshis in Assam, the faux pass crated by the UPA Government over this burning issue had raised considerable doubt about its sincerity in solving the problem. While replying a question in Parliament, Mr. Jaisawal said that the number of illegal Bangladeshis in Assam alone stood around 50 lakh. But he later backtracked and said: “The reported figures are not based on any comprehensive or smple study but were based on hearsay and that too from interested parties.

It reminds us the confusion created by the late Hiteswar Saikia in 1992. The then chief minister of Assam had to swallow his own words that in 1989 itself nearly 23 lakh of infiltrators entered Assam.

Since independence, the Indian Government and its people have always found it difficult to cope  with the refugee problem.   Displaced persons from erstwhile East and West Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and Sri Lanka, have poured into India from time to time and the people had to take the extra burden to accommodate these ill-fated people.

Situated in dose proximity to Bangladesh, China and Myanmar, the seven states of the North-East have suffered from the problem of refugee influx to a greater degree than any other state in the country. With a substantial rise in the refugee population, accentuated by the unchecked inflow of displaced persons over the years, today the situation has reached a point where in some places of the region, the number of outsiders is so high that either it has outnumbered the local populace or is fast threatening to overtake them. Tripura can no longer be considered as a tribal State, noh-tribals are in minority. Similarly in Assam,’ the number of non-Assamese speaking people is on the rise. It is obvious that the indigenous people can no longer remain indifferent towards this issue. Besides, the continuing large scale infiltration from across the borders has made the problem worse, compelling the local people to come out in protest. Protest against the outsiders is not a new phenomenon in this region. Way back in the thirties, renowned Assamese poet Ambikagiri Rai Chowdhury had highlighted the fact that influx of people from erstwhile Bengal into Assam and their unchecked migration could affect the State’s economy adversely, besides creating a bilingual Assam. Then came the Assam agitation in late seventies. The agitation was unique for many reasons. For the first time a students body was spearheading the agitation with tremendous public response, one which rocked the entire State. This, it is to be marked, was the first organised protest against the outsiders, besides being an eye-opener to the volatile North-Eastern situation which compelled the Centre to admit that insurgency was not the only problem of the region. The problem of migration and infiltration was acute and needed equal attention.

Taking the cue from the Assam agitation, soon other students’ organisations of different NE states started agitation against the foreigners. Sensing the need to fight unitedly, the North-East Students Co-ordination Committee was formed, comprising leading Students bodies of the region. In April 1992, the Students Co-ordination Committee in a memorandum to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao demanded:

(1) An immediate comprehensive study by a parliamentary team on the social, economic and political dimensions of the inflow of foreigners and illegal immigrants into the North-East region.

(2) An effective policy to detect, delete, deport and check the inflow of foreigners and illegal immigrants into the North-East region and their settlement on our lands.

(3) Scrap the Illegal Migrants (determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 and deport the illegal aliens under the Foreigners’ Act 1946. Drawing the attention of the Prime Minister to the situation of the region, the students body further underscored: “The North-East, Assam and Tripura in particular, was made the dumping ground of displaced foreign nationals ever since independence and the tensions arising thereof have been a major cause of discontent for 20 years now. For reasons best known to the Government of India, no policy decision has been evolved till date and the influx continues. Today the sheer number of illegal immigrants in all the states of the North-East threatens to undermine our societies—-socially, culturally, economically and above all politically. Yet the Government of India stands mute, without initiating any concrete policy or action”.

This appeal was made in 1992 hut till date the Government of   India has not formulated any action plan to deal with the situation.The Government seems to be in a state of inertia.

Here comes the million dollar question — why is the apathy against the outsiders on the rise? The answer is simple. Rise in the number of outsiders means extra burden on the economy which in turn increases the hardships of the local people. In the case of Assam, many students feared that if the influx of foreigners goes on unabated, they would be deprived of employment and means to earn a livelihood even after completion of their studies. Today the indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura and others are also fearing the same.

Besides, too much politicisation of the issue has also contributed largely towards the present situation. After independence, as soon as the  political parties discovered that the outsiders could be used as vote banks, keen competition started to win over the ‘aliens’. It was for the sake of these vote banks that the political parties took up no positive effort to’check the illegal immigration. How self-centred politicians. can be in their quest for power is evident from the letter written by Assam Chief Minister Hiteswar Saikia to Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1993 just before Assembly elections in the four northern states. In that letter, Hiteswar Saikia requested the Prime Minister’s intervention to prevent the deletion of a large number of names of a particular community on the grounds of not being genuine Indian citizens (as ordered at the time of electoral roll revision by Chief Election Commissioner T.N. Seshan).

This, the letter indicated would hamper the party’s poll prospect in the then forthcoming Assembly elections. To solve the problem it is imperative that the govt. ensures that large scale immigration does not destroy the socio-cultural fabric or threaten the economy of the indigenous people— a task which so far the Govt. of India has failed to perform. The Centre’s passiveness on this issue is understandably stretching the indigoenous populace’s tolerance to the limits even as their fear of being swamped by the ‘aliens’ heightens. The Centre ought to understand this volatile mixture and defuse the crisis before its too late. Since the reply of the MoS, as usual all interested parties are busy in fishing in troubled water.

“A sinister design to create a greater Islamic state in the North-east covering Assam is being seriously pursued by various Islamic fundamentalist groups and terrorist organisations with the help of Bangladeshi nationals staying in Assam,” alleged BJP. The party has also expressed grave concern over the increasing number of Bangladeshi nationals in Assam and other parts of the NE and criticized the Congress-led UPA Government in the Centre for its callous attitude towards the problem The party has severely criticized the Centre for releasing two different types of figures about the presence of Bangladeshi nationals in Assam. “This reflects of the attitude of the constituents of the UPA Government, including Congress, CPI, CPI(M), etc. towards the problem,” the party alleged. The party further added that the immigrant Bangladeshi nationals have been providing help to various Islamic fundamentalist groups and terrorist organizations to carry out anti-national activities in various parts of Assam. “This has posed a threat to the national integrity and sovereignty,” the party said.

The party further alleged that the Centre has taken the matter very lightly only because of its vote bank politics. Meanwhile, the party has requested the people of NE to raise their voice against the problem. The All Assam Students’ Union said that the Congress-led Union Government’s own admission to the presence of 50 lakh illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam has vindicated its six-year-long Assam movement against the illegal influx from across the border, and has threatened to launch a similar movement if the State and the Centre did not detect and deport these illegal migrants within a certain time frame. AASU adviser, Samujjal Bhattacharjee and president Prabin Boro said that the recent letter by Tarun Gogoi to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister, seeking a clarification to the statement made by Minister of State for Home P Jaiswal in the Parliament recently claiming the presence of over 50 lakh illegal Bangladeshi immigrants in Assam has exposed the “ hypocrisy of the Gogoi-led State Government.”

“The Chief Minister is politically ruffled and is therefore exerting pressure on the Centre to revoke the statement made by the Minister of State for Home in the Parliament to save his skin,” Bhattacharjee said. He also recalled that former Chief Minister Hiteshwar Saikia had once claimed in the Assembly about the presence of 30 lakh illegal Bangladeshis in Assam, that is in the records of the House proceedings. Even though Saikia had then retracted from his earlier statement in the face of increasing pressure from different quarters, the records stating the presence of the 30 lakh illegal Bangladeshi migrants still stand to this day, the AASU adviser added.

The AASU leadership has also attacked the AGP for its silence on the issue and has asked the leadership to desist from indulging   in “communal politics.” They have also urged the minority groups not   to advocate for the illegal Bangladeshi migrants and stated that the very identity of the Assamese people is at stake.