Assam is a Congress ruled state (has been close to 5 decades) and you may have heard about the on-and-off violence between Bodos and Bengali Muslims. It has been termed ethnic violence by Congress – while RSS (BJP) supporters report an anti-muslim propaganda with a jehadi angle. Death toll numbers are often gagged to hide the reality. Both political groups play the reality per their respective agendas for the Indian masses. To know what’s really going on in Assam – you have to be a local.
The reality is that Assam is sitting on a time bomb right now. Assam is India’s bridge to Northeast. And foreign powers are trying hard to break that bridge. For past few years, growing numbers of Bangladeshi insurgents are entering India via Assam. These people migrate illegally, encroach local land, grow in numbers and start threatening the locals. Already 6 districts are Muslim dominated and by the next year 3 more districts – Darrang, Morigoan & Bongiagoan will be muslim dominated. 50 assembly seats are now in the hands of these insurgents and if the present trend continues soon the control of power will shift to them. Assam will fall into the vortex of Islamic separatism. Indigenous people will either be eliminated or converted; most likely they will all massacred like what these people have done with the Hindus in Bangladesh in last 50 years. Bodos know this fact. This is their land and they have nowhere to go.
“These Bangladeshis illegals started entering to Assam in larger numbers in the 1980s. When I was a kid, I did not see many, but by the time I was 18; even in upper Assam we saw many Bangladeshis and the administration was mum about their presence. I saw pristine banks of river getting packed with Bangladeshi settlements. We too were at fault to allow this. We opted for cheap Bangladeshi labour instead of the regular Indian labourers. Sow as you reap, they say …”, an Assamese co-worker narrates from experience.
Some people may try to sell you that these Muslims are jehadis – the Pakistan angle seems to work every time. But the reality is far more complicated; and the ruling government is to be blamed equally for the current crisis. These ethnic groups (Bodos & Muslims) are poor-illiterate farmers, fighting for resources – and are prone to be played at the hands off whosoever offers a solution to their problems.
One major question that arises out of this mess –
Why hasn’t the insurgency been curbed with a firm hand?
The choice should have been clear from the beginning – take care of local interests first. Bodos have been facing an identity crisis all along since the ancient history. In early days, there was a huge migration of Aryans from north India and they pushed Bodos to hills. There was more migration in middle-ages and Mughal era too. There were tensions, clashes and massacres all along. But the recent migration in last 5 decades of Bengali Muslims have created some genuine threat to their identity. Muslim population is multiplying, though Assam has limited resources. Bodo militants started an extremist ethnic cleansing in 1993, 1994 and 2008; until 2011, when a truce could be reached between the government and the Bodos.
There are often reports of Pakistani funding through MULFA (Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam) who in turn are supporting these insurgents. This is not a case of direct terrorism – but a more shrewd plan to weaken the state internally by playing on ethnic demographics. The bigger culprits are incompetent local government, home ministry and intelligence.
At one point, Chinese pressure is increasing on the borders, and then there’s Pakistan funding numerous misguided muslims all across India. One thing that army and government can do is to tighten our borders. What I fail to understand is that why were these poor immigrants considered harmless all these years, just because they were not carrying guns? Or, they made more sense to the political cause to add Muslim voter pool that congress can vouch on during elections? Is this how Congress been winning Assam elections for 5 decades? Wouldn’t it had been easier to solve local problems, so they elect you for real?
According to a study – India has 4 Crore Bangladeshi illegals – Mumbai alone has 5 Lakh. These people are ripe recruiting grounds for outfits like HUJI and Indian Mujaheddin. These groups were behind Delhi High Court bomb blast. That case is still unresolved. Congress has tried to convert these muslims into vote banks and has turned a blind eye to the insurgency for decades. Indian Muslim has to bear the burden of their actions – the ethnic and religious dynamics of our land are unforgiving towards Islam. Something what began as a petty resolve of increasing vote base has turned into a big monster – for which nobody has a working solution today.
Northeast is becoming an extremely strategic region in South Asia. A serious government which can think beyond it’s petty electoral goals would develop a long-term strategy to weed out the menace. More important is to win the faith of the locals first – who till now feel abandoned by the Center. Bodos are prone to be led astray – like it happened with the locals in Mao struck states. You can’t expect your citizens’ loyalty if you abandon their cause. Such unfortunate nations are bound to disintegrate.
The reality is that Assam is sitting on a time bomb right now. Assam is India’s bridge to Northeast. And foreign powers are trying hard to break that bridge. For past few years, growing numbers of Bangladeshi insurgents are entering India via Assam. These people migrate illegally, encroach local land, grow in numbers and start threatening the locals. Already 6 districts are Muslim dominated and by the next year 3 more districts – Darrang, Morigoan & Bongiagoan will be muslim dominated. 50 assembly seats are now in the hands of these insurgents and if the present trend continues soon the control of power will shift to them. Assam will fall into the vortex of Islamic separatism. Indigenous people will either be eliminated or converted; most likely they will all massacred like what these people have done with the Hindus in Bangladesh in last 50 years. Bodos know this fact. This is their land and they have nowhere to go.
“These Bangladeshis illegals started entering to Assam in larger numbers in the 1980s. When I was a kid, I did not see many, but by the time I was 18; even in upper Assam we saw many Bangladeshis and the administration was mum about their presence. I saw pristine banks of river getting packed with Bangladeshi settlements. We too were at fault to allow this. We opted for cheap Bangladeshi labour instead of the regular Indian labourers. Sow as you reap, they say …”, an Assamese co-worker narrates from experience.
Some people may try to sell you that these Muslims are jehadis – the Pakistan angle seems to work every time. But the reality is far more complicated; and the ruling government is to be blamed equally for the current crisis. These ethnic groups (Bodos & Muslims) are poor-illiterate farmers, fighting for resources – and are prone to be played at the hands off whosoever offers a solution to their problems.
One major question that arises out of this mess –
Why hasn’t the insurgency been curbed with a firm hand?
The choice should have been clear from the beginning – take care of local interests first. Bodos have been facing an identity crisis all along since the ancient history. In early days, there was a huge migration of Aryans from north India and they pushed Bodos to hills. There was more migration in middle-ages and Mughal era too. There were tensions, clashes and massacres all along. But the recent migration in last 5 decades of Bengali Muslims have created some genuine threat to their identity. Muslim population is multiplying, though Assam has limited resources. Bodo militants started an extremist ethnic cleansing in 1993, 1994 and 2008; until 2011, when a truce could be reached between the government and the Bodos.
There are often reports of Pakistani funding through MULFA (Muslim United Liberation Front of Assam) who in turn are supporting these insurgents. This is not a case of direct terrorism – but a more shrewd plan to weaken the state internally by playing on ethnic demographics. The bigger culprits are incompetent local government, home ministry and intelligence.
At one point, Chinese pressure is increasing on the borders, and then there’s Pakistan funding numerous misguided muslims all across India. One thing that army and government can do is to tighten our borders. What I fail to understand is that why were these poor immigrants considered harmless all these years, just because they were not carrying guns? Or, they made more sense to the political cause to add Muslim voter pool that congress can vouch on during elections? Is this how Congress been winning Assam elections for 5 decades? Wouldn’t it had been easier to solve local problems, so they elect you for real?
According to a study – India has 4 Crore Bangladeshi illegals – Mumbai alone has 5 Lakh. These people are ripe recruiting grounds for outfits like HUJI and Indian Mujaheddin. These groups were behind Delhi High Court bomb blast. That case is still unresolved. Congress has tried to convert these muslims into vote banks and has turned a blind eye to the insurgency for decades. Indian Muslim has to bear the burden of their actions – the ethnic and religious dynamics of our land are unforgiving towards Islam. Something what began as a petty resolve of increasing vote base has turned into a big monster – for which nobody has a working solution today.
Northeast is becoming an extremely strategic region in South Asia. A serious government which can think beyond it’s petty electoral goals would develop a long-term strategy to weed out the menace. More important is to win the faith of the locals first – who till now feel abandoned by the Center. Bodos are prone to be led astray – like it happened with the locals in Mao struck states. You can’t expect your citizens’ loyalty if you abandon their cause. Such unfortunate nations are bound to disintegrate.
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