The latest disturbances shaking
the north-east, particularly the conflict-torn Bodo territorial areas of
Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang, etc., are a reminder to the powers that be in New
Delhi and the rest of the country that the hidden volcanoes in the North-East
need to be defused with wisdom and courage by the Central leadership while
taking the regional leadership into confidence. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should
call an urgent meeting of the National Integration Council to review the
present situation in Kokrajhar and work with local political outfits and civil
society for a lasting solution to the problem that has remained on the boil for
six decades.
In just a week, nearly four lakh
residents of Kokrajhar, Dhubri and Chirang turned into homeless migrants. Half
of them are aboriginal Bodos; they filled the 276 government schools,
government buildings and public places were converted into instant relief camps.
Each camp visited by the National Panther’s Party demanded security. The Bodos
felt insecure in the presence of Muslim neighbours; Muslim migrants in the
Muslim relief camps felt similarly insecure.
Absence of police and
administration added to the insecurity and terror. No one in the camps favoured
illegal migration from Bangladesh. Poverty-stricken Bangladeshis have been
crossing over from Bangladesh via Dhubri district in boats over the Brahmaputra
river. The re could be no fencing nor boundary wall erected as assured in the
Assam Accord 1985 as the Brahmaputra was too vast and fast for setting up any
effective obstacle to check illegal immigration from Bangladesh.
Kokrajhar has no land connection
with Bangladesh. Migrants flood this area from Dhubri. Kokrajhar is the only
geographical surface connection of the North-East with the rest of India, and
this too is via Cooch Bihar in West Bengal. Any mishap may damage the narrow
connection. The north-east has 4500 km-long borders with Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The region deserves exclusive attention from the Centre to ensure that these
sensitive borders are kept friction-free. The border with Bangladesh alone is
4097 kms.
The constant infiltration from
Bangladesh has created an alarming situation in the border districts.
Infiltration began before the creation of Bangladesh and remained unchecked
even after the signing of 1985 Assam Accord by Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi
with the leaders of Assam Movement.
Since the division of Assam into
the seven sisters’ states, the predominant tribals in Nagaland, Mizoram,
Tripura and Meghalaya have got a reasonable opportunity to share the
responsibility of administration in their respective states. But the tribals in
Assam have not been satisfied; particularly the bigger tribes like Bodos have
not got their due. The creation of the Bodo Territorial Council in four
districts of Assam (Kokrajhar, Baska, Chirang and Vidulguri) earned the
displeasure of Muslims for several reasons. This situation needs careful handling.
For a permanent resolution of the
Assam and North-East problems, we have to understand their genesis. The first
blunder was in dissecting the entire North-East region, mostly Assam, in 1947
by accepting the Partition of Bengal. The neglected people of the area started
facing alienation as the entire population was segregated from the
mainstream. Second, the Central leadership failed to realize the effects
of illegal migration from areas now designated as Bangladesh. The Congress-run
government at the Centre was lax with the illegal migrants, being mainly
interested in raising votebanks rather than caring for national security. When
Bangladesh attained sovereign status in 1972, there were unaccounted number of
illegal migrants who have already created space for themselves in different
districts of Assam.
The Assam Accord signed on 15
August 1985 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi could not be implemented at all. The
Central Government-established Tribunal to detect foreigners was quashed by the
Supreme Court. On 5 December 2006, the Supr eme Court declared the Illegal
Migrants Detection Tribunal (IMDT) as violative of the Constitution of India.
This IMDT provided protection to illegal migrants and was not in accordance
with the spirit of the Assam Accord. The Supreme Court directed the Govt. of
India to constitute adequate tribunals to detect illegal migration in
accordance with the Foreigners Act, 1946.
Unfortunately, the Govt. of India
failed to follow the direction of the Supreme Court. This was one of the
principal reasons that foreign agencies like ISI managed to get some
frustrated, unemployed and educated groups of Assamese to float the United
Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), with a manifesto to establish a sovereign
state of Assam. Prominent functionaries of ULFA belong to the majority Hindu
community.
ULFA has been financed, armed and
provided all kinds of help and assistance by the ISI. The CIA has not admitted
it openly, but there is sufficient evidence that CIA has been providing all
kinds of data to the ISI. The ULFA activists have been overactive in the unrest
in Kokrajhar, Chirang and other sensitive border districts of Assam. Had the
governments in Delhi and Guwahati been sincere to implement the Assam Accord,
the situation would have been different, according to Bodoland Lok Sabha
MP Sansuma Khunggur Bwiswmuthiary and Kokrajhar MLA Mrs. Pramila. The
Bodoland Students Union and All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) share this view
and blam e the Centre for the failure.
Assam Accord essentially involves:
i) Clause 9 of the Agreement made
bold and unambiguous assurances to stop infiltration from Bangladesh by
erecting physical barriers like walls, wire-fencing and other obstacles.
ii) It assured to construct a
road along Bangladesh borders in Assam.
iii) Encroachment of tribal line
was strictly taken into consideration with assurance that the land of the
tribals shall be protected.
iv) It was also assured that
detection of foreigners, illegal migrants into Assam shall be done in
accordance with the Foreigners Act, 1946.
Dr. Alka Sharma, former MLA, AGP,
and widow of a slain AGP Minister who was actively involved in the struggle for
implementation of the Assam Accord, opines that the national political parties
have not understood the genesis of the Assam problem. Hence, they would not be
in a position to appreciate the scientific solutions. The President of Assam H
igh Court Bar Association, Ram Sakiya, doubted the Centre’s sincerity in
implementing the Assam Accord as the Union Government has not constituted a
single tribunal for detection and expulsion of illegal migrants as directed by
the Supreme Court while quashing the so-called Tribunal.
The situation in Assam is more
threatening than in any other part of the country. Urgent measures have to be taken
to work out a viable solution with Bangladesh so that illegal migration can be
checked at source. Assam districts bordering Bangladesh have to be cordoned
properly and effectively as assured in the Assam Accord. The Central Government
must constitute a Tribunal in Assam to detect and deport the illegal migrants
as were to be determined under the Assam Accord and the Supreme Court’s
direction. Separatist groups like ULFA must be disciplined without delay and a
clear message sent out that Assam and the North-Eastern States are an integral
part of the Union.
Urgent attention must also be
paid to the Indo-Myanmar border which may soon be opened for trade between
Manipur and Myanmar. The problem of Chakmas in the Tripura hills is also a
matter of grave concern for national security.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
represents the people of Assam in Parliament and they have great expectations
that he shall strengthen the bonds of national integration from Imphal to
Delhi.
The author is chairman,
National Panthers Party, Sr. Advocate, Supreme Court of India & Member,
National Integration Council
Courtesy: Vijayvanni.com, 15
August 2012
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