Ethnic conflcit
4 Followers
Recent papers in Ethnic conflcit
Abstract Assam has passed through a period of political turmoil since 12th century AD which continues even today. Prior to the entry of the British in to the territory of present Assam the region was ruled by various monarchs belonging to... more
Abstract
Assam has passed through a period of political turmoil since 12th century AD which continues even today. Prior to the entry of the British in to the territory of present Assam the region was ruled by various monarchs belonging to different ethnic groups. The initial conflict in the mid12th century was started with the entrance of the Ahoms into the territory of upper Assam, which was then ruled by the Bodo-Kacharis. The conflict between the two ethnic groups compelled the Bodo-Kacharis to migrate westward and this process continued till 19th century. The gradual expansion of the Ahom territory was affected at the cost of sequential migration of people from one segment of the territory to another. This process imparted socio-political instability to the other ethnic kingdoms of that period like the Gobha Kingdom, Koch Kingdom, The Mataks, and The Morans etc. The basic reason for such political conflict and sense of ethnic insecurity was related basically to right over land. During the British period the tribal groups of people who traditionally did not have proprietorial right over land were pushed out of their own land by imposing land revenue and in the pretext of land acquisition for tea plantation resulting in 1857 peasants’ revolution in Assam. Thus both the pre-British monarchs and the British rulers were equally responsible in creating ethnic instability in the region and in both the cases seeds of discord and distrust among the ethnic groups were sown on the very emotional ground of the agrarian populace that is the land. After the national independence the growth of the elite Assamese middle class started developing hegemony not only on the economic sector but also in language, literature and cultural aspects. The formation of the ‘Tribal League’ in 1933 under the leadership of Bhimbor Deori and hearing of the Simon Commission in 1929, wherein there was a strong resentment of the various tribal ethnic groups expressed in the form of protests against the Assamese hegemony. In fact, the various ethnic groups under the banner of Tribal League were organized only to protect their right over land, language and culture. Such a socio-political disturbance among the ethnic groups of Assam was supplemented by large scale immigration of muslim agricultural immigrants from the then East-Bengal under the patronage of the British rulers in the pretext of enhancement of agricultural outputs and land revenue. Initially influx of such a foreign demographic mass which was quite unmatching to the local demographic structure was quite small but since 1900 the influx of such immigrants was so huge that the indigenous ethnic groups of Assam started losing their very economic ground for their sustainance that is agricultural land. Thus the sense of socio-economic and political insecurity among the ethnic groups of Assam started becoming deeper. At the time of national independence the then chief minister of Assam Gopinath Bordoloi tried to redress this problem through implementing “line System” and creating tribal belts and blocks. But such measures failed because of the gradual encroachment of the Muslim agricultural immigrants into the protected territories meant for the tribal people. In fact, after independence the state had a requirement of a well-planned socio-economic policy for securing the rights and aspirations of various ethnic groups living over the territory for ages. But no such socio-economic plans have been created for resolving the basic areas of ethnic conflict even now. For this reason only the ethnic conflict of Assam as well as socio-economic frustration of the multi-ethnic state are considered as a socio-politic gimmick of both state and central government. The paper embodies the socio-economic and political causes behind the ethnic conflict in Assam and the prospective direction and resolution for an everlasting socio-political stability of the region.
Assam has passed through a period of political turmoil since 12th century AD which continues even today. Prior to the entry of the British in to the territory of present Assam the region was ruled by various monarchs belonging to different ethnic groups. The initial conflict in the mid12th century was started with the entrance of the Ahoms into the territory of upper Assam, which was then ruled by the Bodo-Kacharis. The conflict between the two ethnic groups compelled the Bodo-Kacharis to migrate westward and this process continued till 19th century. The gradual expansion of the Ahom territory was affected at the cost of sequential migration of people from one segment of the territory to another. This process imparted socio-political instability to the other ethnic kingdoms of that period like the Gobha Kingdom, Koch Kingdom, The Mataks, and The Morans etc. The basic reason for such political conflict and sense of ethnic insecurity was related basically to right over land. During the British period the tribal groups of people who traditionally did not have proprietorial right over land were pushed out of their own land by imposing land revenue and in the pretext of land acquisition for tea plantation resulting in 1857 peasants’ revolution in Assam. Thus both the pre-British monarchs and the British rulers were equally responsible in creating ethnic instability in the region and in both the cases seeds of discord and distrust among the ethnic groups were sown on the very emotional ground of the agrarian populace that is the land. After the national independence the growth of the elite Assamese middle class started developing hegemony not only on the economic sector but also in language, literature and cultural aspects. The formation of the ‘Tribal League’ in 1933 under the leadership of Bhimbor Deori and hearing of the Simon Commission in 1929, wherein there was a strong resentment of the various tribal ethnic groups expressed in the form of protests against the Assamese hegemony. In fact, the various ethnic groups under the banner of Tribal League were organized only to protect their right over land, language and culture. Such a socio-political disturbance among the ethnic groups of Assam was supplemented by large scale immigration of muslim agricultural immigrants from the then East-Bengal under the patronage of the British rulers in the pretext of enhancement of agricultural outputs and land revenue. Initially influx of such a foreign demographic mass which was quite unmatching to the local demographic structure was quite small but since 1900 the influx of such immigrants was so huge that the indigenous ethnic groups of Assam started losing their very economic ground for their sustainance that is agricultural land. Thus the sense of socio-economic and political insecurity among the ethnic groups of Assam started becoming deeper. At the time of national independence the then chief minister of Assam Gopinath Bordoloi tried to redress this problem through implementing “line System” and creating tribal belts and blocks. But such measures failed because of the gradual encroachment of the Muslim agricultural immigrants into the protected territories meant for the tribal people. In fact, after independence the state had a requirement of a well-planned socio-economic policy for securing the rights and aspirations of various ethnic groups living over the territory for ages. But no such socio-economic plans have been created for resolving the basic areas of ethnic conflict even now. For this reason only the ethnic conflict of Assam as well as socio-economic frustration of the multi-ethnic state are considered as a socio-politic gimmick of both state and central government. The paper embodies the socio-economic and political causes behind the ethnic conflict in Assam and the prospective direction and resolution for an everlasting socio-political stability of the region.
Related Topics