The contention in your editorial “The Assam Killings” (4
August 2012) that devolution of power has not solved the basic
conflicts over land and citizenship in the western districts of Assam
needs some elaboration. L K Advani’s recent assertion that
the root cause is illegal migration from Bangladesh is not based on
facts. Nilim Dutta has convincingly argued against this bogey in his
article in the Indian Express (31 July 2012).
To
understand the complexities of the problem one has to admit the
existence of a mixed population of Bodos, Bengali Muslims, Bengali
Hindus, Rajbanshis and Santhals in the five districts for a long
time. The fiction of millions of Bengali Muslims entering Assam
recently is a figment of the imagination. Bengali Muslims entered
Assam after 1850, mainly from Mymensingh district, now in Bangladesh.
In the beginning of the 20th century this migration increased.
There
is endemic poverty and underdevelopment in the entire area and, in
this context, where people live with multiple identities, the
situation goes out of control when one group tries to assert control
over others. The Bodoland agitation of the 1990s and the demand for
Bodoland were misconceived as the Bodos are a minority in this
area. In 1996, in a gruesome terror attack, 400 Santhals were killed
and many still live in relief camps.
In
2003, the Bodo Territorial Council (BTC)
was accepted by the Bodo leadership and it was hoped that peace would
return in this strife-ridden area. But the structure of authority in
the BTC
is the root cause of the problem. The Bodos who constitute 18% of the
population control the other 82%, as a disproportionately large
number of seats are reserved for Bodos as scheduled tribes. The bogey
of infiltration is a mechanism to deny rights to Bengali Muslims who
are living here legitimately from the 1850s. By characterising many
of them as “D” (the so-called “doubtfuls”),
legitimate voters are sought to be disenfranchised.
To
have a lasting peace, three things are absolutely essential. First,
the source of the trouble is the composition of the BTC
and restoration of balance with equal rights and a representational
system that ensures rough parity of different groups, arrived on the
basis of all party consensus, are essential. Second, there should be
an immediate grant of scheduled caste/scheduled tribe status to
Santhals and Rajbanshis. Third, the Bengali medium schools should be
re-established and the life and property of every single
Indian irrespective of caste, creed, ethnicity or religion should be
firmly protected.
Subrata
Mukherjee
NEW DELHI