“My ancestors were never subordinate to any other people, and I for myself cannot remain under the submission of any foreign power. I am a descendant of the Heavenly King and how can I pay tribute to the wretched foreigners” – Chakradwaj Singha
Assam is agitating again, and the issue at hand is Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016. According to this bill, it allows certain illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. In other words, it seeks to grant Indian citizenship to the illegal migrants who belong to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities coming from the mentioned countries.
Why is this bill against the ethos of an “Assamese”?
By the term “Assamese” it covers the greater Assamese community inclusive of all the indigenous communities of Assam. The amendment of the Citizenship bill would not only be counterproductive to the development of the state but also put a question on the validity of the Assam Accord 1985 which demands the deportation of illegal migrants from Bangladesh.
If we look at the trend of population growth in Assam in few districts bordering Bangladesh it gives us a clearer picture. For example, in Assam’s Dhubri district the population of Muslim voter increased by five and half times between-1970 to 2014 whereas the population of Hindus did not double till 2005, but declined till 2015(India census). Similar trends have been established in Nagaon, Barpeta, and Boko. As a matter of fact, one can easily find sprawling Bangladeshi settlements in the suburbs of Guwahati. Moreover, the world heritage site- Kaziranga National Park has also been encroached by illegal Bangladeshi settlements.
The state of Assam has been witnessing Muslim population explosion because of illegal migrants from Bangladesh which is spiraling into social and economic issues, and also causing wide divisions among the indigenous communities.
With the advent of this bill, the state will crunch the existing scarce opportunities, and push the ethnic identity of the ‘Assamese’ culture further close to extinction which is already in danger.
No Political Will
The Congress government which was in power before BJP took over in 2016 was never serious about the issue and instead posed as the guardian of illegal Bangladeshis migrants by playing the Muslim card. And then people voted for the Modi Govt in Assam with the high hopes of solving the issue of Bangladeshi infiltrators once and for all, on the contrary, this Government is about to open the Pandora’s box.
This Govt has shown all the willingness to welcome the Hindu Bangladeshis and put all the economic and social burden on the shoulders of Assam. The logic being that this step would counterbalance the infiltration of illegal Muslim Bangladeshis.
But the bone of contention is it was never about the religion as Assamese Muslim community have been living for centuries in Assam and inseparable part of our culture.
In the hindsight, we didn’t see any political will to resolve the issue by any political party who came into power including the regional party who came into power on the forefront of Bangladeshi issue, but each party in power took advantage of us for their own vested interests.
Although the NRC documentation has been under process and scrutiny of able hands, however, it is a possibility that the tool to identify infiltrators and deport them can very much become their shield and legitimize them as a citizen of India.
There are a growing discontent and apathy among the masses of Assam which needs to be addressed before it ignites into another historical agitation that affected many courses of lives. The land of warriors and unmatched ethnicity which remained undefeated against Mughal forces for six centuries, and whom British found challenging to administer is crumbling because of her own political leaders, and who have given in to the RSS’s Hindu narratives of nationalism.
Image source: The northeast today