The danger is real

Since independence  the Indian Government and its people have always found it difficult to solve the problem of infiltration. People from all the neighboring countries have poured into India from time to time in search of better work avenues and the people of the country had to shoulder the extra burden to accommodate these people. Situated in close proximity to Bangladesh, Myanmar and other countries, the seven states of the North-East have suffered from the problem of influx to a greater degree than any other State or region in the country. With the substantial rise in unchecked inflow of the outsiders, today the situation has reached a point where in some places in  the region, the outsiders have either outnumbered the local populace or are going to be in the majority soon.

Tripura can no longer be consider as a tribal state as non-tribals are now in majority in that state. 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. The continuing infiltration on large scale from across the international borders has compelled the local people to take the street.

However, protest against the outsiders is not anew phenomenon in this region. Way back in the thirties, renowned Assamese poet Ambikagiri Rai Chowdhury had highlighted the influx of people from erstwhile Bengal into Assam and their unrestricted migration would have a grave effect on the state's economy, besides creating a bi-lingual Assam. The same fear gave birth to the famous Assam agitation opened the floodgates for many more agitations launched in the other states of the region to protest against the outsiders.

The cause of  apathy against the outsiders is easily understandable. Rise in the numbers of the outsiders means extra burden on the economy which in turn aggravate the hardship of the local people. In the case of Assam agitation ,the people feared that if the influx of foreigners went on unabated, the avenues of making a living would be difficult to come by, if not completely dry up. Today the indigenous people of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Tripura  and others are equally alarmed by the same fear.

But it is an irony that Government of India or various political parties having presence in the region have never made any attempt to check the illegal immigration. Rather too much politicization of the issue has also contributed largely towards the present situation. Even political parties cannot be spared from indirectly encouraging the infiltration for establishing their vote banks from time to time since Independence.

It is time now for our policy makers at the Centre   to take serious note of the report sent by the Assam Governor. It is time now for them to ensure that large scale immigrations are not allowed to destroy the socio-cultural fabric or threaten the economy of indigenous people. Any passiveness on the issue would definitely test the tolerance of the indigenous people to the limit as their fear of being swamped by the outsiders is well founded. We must realize the gravity of the volatile situation and react on time to defuse the crisis before it explodes .