Illegal migration in Assam

Fazal |1 Md Fazal Mahmud Shah MA English Jamia Millia Islamia 4th May 2017 Illegal migration in Assam The concept of human migration is as old as human civilization. Migration which basically term as movement from one place to another happen for various reasons such as search for the food or water, better human conditions or access to resources. Besides that to avoid war and suppression or natural disaster people move or migrate to one place to another which is accepted in human civilization. However, The emergence of modern state ideology and the concept of national sovereignty which is established through territorial and defined borders break the free movement of people from crossing the boundary of a state and considered such movement as illegal. But despite the illegality and human desirability migration still continues in most part of the world. In the case Assam also migration is not exceptional. Throughout history people from various places have migrated to Assam, and the land of Assam always welcome them and assimilated them since ancient time. However, these migrations were during the time when the concept of nation-states and citizenship were not well-defined, and hence there was no definition of the legality and illegality of such migration. However, after 1947, when the British left India, we had our own policy of immigration, citizenship and voting rights. Hence, the legal definition of the word “foreigner” comes into effect from 1947. Interestingly, most of the north eastern state were the part of undivided Assam and they also bear the same problem to some extant. Fazal |2 All through the centuries, various factors including geographical, economic and political reasons Assam become a most preferred destination for neighbouring migrants. The fertile land which is covered by beautiful rivers, natural beauty, abundant rainfall and low man to land ratio attracted and ensured the migrants to fulfil their dreams. Thus one find Indo-Aryans, Mongoloids, Tibeto-Burmans, Tai, Shan and others who constituted the Assamese nationality. As discussed above, migration into Assam is not a recent phenomenon However, it has occurred on a relatively larger scale in more recent decades. Although migrants coming to Assam include people from the rest of India as well as from the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Nepal. If we go back to the colonial era, many communities from Nepal, undivided Bengal, and other parts of India also migrated to Assam. The migrants from Nepal were mainly grazers or Gorkha soldiers working for the Army. The people from Chhotanagpur plateau area, mainly Jharkhand and Orissa were hired as laborers by the British to work for the tea gardens. Later the subsequent establishment of British rule in North eastern part of India and their policy encourage migration of landless people from the teeming land of Bengal to Assam. The people from Bengal basically Bengali Hindus who were mainly from the elite class, who used to work as officials and Bengali Muslims migrated to Assam in large number. The Bengali Muslim immigrants were mainly cultivators, who migrated in accordance with the British policy of “Grow more food”, which ultimately many people felt was also complimentary with the Muslim League’s design to “Grow more Muslims”, obviously in the later part of the colonial era when they wanted greater territory for their separate land called Pakistan. However During the twentieth century Assam has experienced one of the highest population the population of Assam grew by 710 percent which is much more higher to the national ratio. The differencein growth rates can mostly be explained by large scale migration Fazal |3 of people from other parts of the subcontinent – particularly from densely populated neighboring country of Bangladesh. One important aspect of this international migration into Assam is that most immigrants have gotten by the formal or legal immigration process, taking advantage of an extremely porous border, Environmental crisis in Bangladesh and relatively greater economic opportunities for livelihood in Assam and other parts of India provide the primary motivations for cross-border migration of population. The influx of immigrants has not only had adverse effects on the delicate ethnic balance within the population leading to social and ethnic unrests and political movements but also has had short and long-run effects on the economy of Assam. A demographic imbalanced has created for the indigenous population. After 1947 when India got independence the problem of migration issue come into a larger scale which continues with the passage of time and still Assam is suffering from the same issue. At the same time, it is true that the Government had made various effort to resolve the issue. The first among these ineffectual legislation was the immigrants act 1950. This toothless act sought to differentiate between Hindu and Muslim migrants. While seeking to treat the Hindu migrants as refugees the Muslim were to treated as illegal immigrants. Despite the act the migration continued as the communal situation in East Pakistan which is come under muslim dominated state as per two nation theory increasing during the phase of time which is resulted in Hindu migration in large number. Communal clashes which intensified from 1964, forcing million of Hindus to seek refuge in India.in this context Government again bring another act named as Prevention of infiltration from Pakistan which tried to introduce a secular element into our law making by doing away with the distinction between Hindu and Muslim immigrants. The war of 1971 had a tsunami effect on migration to Assam. It is said that the population of Bangladesh before the outbreak of hostilities stood at 75 million. Of these Fazal |4 some 10 million were forced to leave their home due to the war . On a rough estimate it is said that one million never returned home and the migration continues. Many Bengali Hindu refugees from East Bengal, who were rendered homeless after the inhuman atrocities seek shelter in Assam. It must however be noted that after India became independent in 1947, all the Bengali Muslims who had migrated till that point were and are legal citizens of India. But illegal immigration went unabated, and out of a sheer influence of vote-bank politics, and a clear mistake by Assamese intellectuals to consider the compulsion of the immigrants to return Assamese as their mother tongue as a choice took a dangerous turn in the 1970s. A.F. Ghulam Osmani from Barpeta emerged as a leader who stressed on his linguistic identity as Bengali as well as his religious identity. He saw a new contour to the unspoken alliances, where the Bengali Muslims need not pander to interests of the caste Assamese Hindus. The tacit support of the government made it impossible to make out which Bengali Muslims had migrated prior to 1951 (and hence Indian citizens) from the illegal immigrants who migrated later. Migration issue has get serious after the creation of Bangladesh, if we look at the earlier migrants who migrated before Indian independence migrants they assimilated themselves to the identity of the host communities that their new feudal masters belonged. Hence, Bengali peasant migrants from East Bengal would in no time adopt the Assamese identity which resulted in the growth of the Assamese population. But the modern era immigrants from East Bengal (now Bangladesh) who come at the time of 1971 war and after who were mostly Hindu Bengali they are not willing to compromise their origin identity. They see it against compulsion. This became a huge issue, for then the indigenous Assamese began to see a threat to their own identity by a demographic takeover by Bengalis. Assam even refused to have the Hindu majority Sylhet become part of Assam when the Hindu Fazal |5 Bengalis of the district desperately wanted it so in order to be included in India at the time of Partition, and as a result this populous district was forced to join East Pakistan. However, 1978 was in many ways became a turning point in Assamese nationalism. Though the immigrants from 1901-1951 had by and large become Assamese, with their children and grand children being the product of being provided education in Assamese, as well as the policy of assimilation that their grandparents had adopted for survival. Many poets and writers also emerged from their midst. But, there was another angle to it. People among them who stressed more on their religious identity allowed illegal immigration to continue unabated even after independence, and with increasing numbers the compulsion to assimilate themselves into the melting pot that was Assam gradually diminished. Assam was slowly losing its identity, because the sheer magnitude of this migration is perhaps unprecedented. The rise of leaders like Osmani stands testimony to the fact. In 1978 again, the MP of Mangaldoi (in Lower-Middle Assam) Mr. Hiralal Patowari died, and after his death it was noted that the number of people in the electoral rolls had gone considerably high. This led to massive protests by the AASU, and the Assamese voter had finally risen up to the task of opposing illegal immigration. There were such voices raised earlier by the tribespeople in Assam , but from 1979-1985 the whole of Assamese population, including tribals united against illegal immigration and the anti-foreigner movement ultimately led to the signing of the Assam accord, where the people agreed to have 1971 as a metric for judging who is a foreigner. The opponents of the movement, especially the Congress party found that such movement would actually be detrimental to their interests. Therefore they sought to divide the Assamese society by encouraging militancy, and followed a policy where separate tribes were encouraged to highlight their differences rather than similarities. The aspirations of the Fazal |6 tribes for self-development were used as a tool to fuel discord in the Assamese society. Concordant with that was the failure of governance machinery, mainly due to the deteriorating Centre-State relationship. The tribes which faced the direct fallout of immigration in form of land also felt left out. Then came the IMD(T) act for Assam which was enacted in 1983 in response to the Assam movement of 1979- 85 that began when the electoral rolls were being revised. Amid allegations that a large number of Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants were being included in the rolls, the Election Commission asked the Assam government to identify constituencies with a big rise in the number of voters, but the state allegedly dragged its feet on the issue. The act applies only to Assam. The rest of India has the Foreigners' Act 1946 which puts the onus on the accused to prove his/her Indian nationality. The IMDT defines foreigners as those who settled down in Assam after March 25, 1971 and puts the onus on the one who denounces a person of proving that he/she is a foreigner. However the met ultimate failure to serve the purpose and Supreme Court judgment (July 12, 2005) on the public interest case filed by AGP, struck down the Illegal Migrants (Deter- mination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 (IMDT Act) as unconstitutional. That closed the chapter of a long saga, but did not bring it to an end. The reaction to the verdict was on predictable lines. There was gloom in the Congress circles and joy in the BJP, which claimed that it always wanted to repeal the act. The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) rejoiced at the verdict, but some of its leaders cautioned against the possible victimisation of the minorities. The Muslims feared reprisals and two of their bodies called for a bandh against it. Thus the verdict polarised Assam as much as the act had done for two decades. It may continue till the assembly elections due next year. In subsequent years after the withdrawn of IMDT act the rise minority Political Party and vote bank politics push the migration issue to a more complex situation. And the Fazal |7 concerns of Assamese identity and demarcation of illegal migrant still continues. Thogh the central govt effort of implement NRC to identify the illegal migrants also find many more obstacle in terms of a define a clear cut parameter of illegal migrants and interest of political partie to serve the purpose. Thus the illegal migration issue of Assam became a most concern issue not only for state and central govt. but for the indigenous Assamese population as well.