It's five days old. The violence in the lower Assam, that encompasses the Bodoland Territorial Council areas, continues unabated - the worst hit areas being Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri districts. The death toll has risen to 32 in the tussle for supremacy between the Bodo tribals and the miscreants, suspected to be Muslim settlers.
As an Indian and a layman, worried about my country's unity and territorial integrity, I've tried to analyse the anatomy of the problem and shall try to put them in perspective:-
(a) The boundary between India and Bangladesh is quite porous thanks to the riverine terrain in vast
stretches and is understood thoroughly by the Bangladeshi locals.
(b) The Bangladeshi populace living in their border ares live in abject poverty and are ever on the
look out for better living prospects, which is abundant in India as perceived by them.
(c) Consequently, their infiltrations into India, all over the Northeastern states, take place on a large
scale almost continuously, round the year.
(d) The BSF checkposts do not have the wherewithal to stop this continuous trickle.
(e) The three stake holders, who can put an end to this impasse, are the Government of India, the
Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Assam.
(f) The greatest problem is that short sighted politicians have taken advantage of the prevalent
confusion and have played vote bank politics to the hilt!
(g) Consequently, the local population feels the pinch while applying for jobs or while trying to acquire
a stretch of land to set up their homes and livelihood, as they've to compete with the migrants!
In view of the foregoing, many local groups have formed to reverse the injustice and quite of a few of
them have no remorse in resorting to violence to achieve their ends. This, in essence, is the story of the evolution of terrorism in the area.
My take.
(a) Firstly, the stakeholders must accept the errors of the past and come on to the negotiating table to put an end to fresh migrations. This has to be done forthwith.
(b) The BSF to be given all assistance and the wherewithal to tackle future migrations. It need not be stated that the BDR(Bangladesh Rifles) should get similar powers as it would automatically flow as a consequence to serial (a) above.
(c) Redistribution of the existing migrants. The steps could be:-
(i) Establish a cut off date.
(ii) Return the migrants back to Bangldesh based on the cut off date. This is gonna be difficult
because identification is a problematic job and many of them might have already migrated
deep into India, but a remedy needs to be found out. The earlier, the better.
(iii) Make the rehabilitation process of the migrants smooth by involving the support of the local
population, at every stage.
(iv) The documentation process has to be absolutely fool proof!
Tailpiece.
I've just stated the obvious and I'm sure that I'm not the first to have mooted such an idea. Perhaps, there's already a mechanism in place with the Assam accord signed by the late PM, Rajiv Gandhi way back in the early '80s. But a definite action is what needs to be initiated, otherwise the cycle of violence will continue to take innocent lives.
Till then, I weep for you, Assam!
As an Indian and a layman, worried about my country's unity and territorial integrity, I've tried to analyse the anatomy of the problem and shall try to put them in perspective:-
(a) The boundary between India and Bangladesh is quite porous thanks to the riverine terrain in vast
stretches and is understood thoroughly by the Bangladeshi locals.
(b) The Bangladeshi populace living in their border ares live in abject poverty and are ever on the
look out for better living prospects, which is abundant in India as perceived by them.
(c) Consequently, their infiltrations into India, all over the Northeastern states, take place on a large
scale almost continuously, round the year.
(d) The BSF checkposts do not have the wherewithal to stop this continuous trickle.
(e) The three stake holders, who can put an end to this impasse, are the Government of India, the
Government of Bangladesh and the Government of Assam.
(f) The greatest problem is that short sighted politicians have taken advantage of the prevalent
confusion and have played vote bank politics to the hilt!
(g) Consequently, the local population feels the pinch while applying for jobs or while trying to acquire
a stretch of land to set up their homes and livelihood, as they've to compete with the migrants!
In view of the foregoing, many local groups have formed to reverse the injustice and quite of a few of
them have no remorse in resorting to violence to achieve their ends. This, in essence, is the story of the evolution of terrorism in the area.
My take.
(a) Firstly, the stakeholders must accept the errors of the past and come on to the negotiating table to put an end to fresh migrations. This has to be done forthwith.
(b) The BSF to be given all assistance and the wherewithal to tackle future migrations. It need not be stated that the BDR(Bangladesh Rifles) should get similar powers as it would automatically flow as a consequence to serial (a) above.
(c) Redistribution of the existing migrants. The steps could be:-
(i) Establish a cut off date.
(ii) Return the migrants back to Bangldesh based on the cut off date. This is gonna be difficult
because identification is a problematic job and many of them might have already migrated
deep into India, but a remedy needs to be found out. The earlier, the better.
(iii) Make the rehabilitation process of the migrants smooth by involving the support of the local
population, at every stage.
(iv) The documentation process has to be absolutely fool proof!
Tailpiece.
I've just stated the obvious and I'm sure that I'm not the first to have mooted such an idea. Perhaps, there's already a mechanism in place with the Assam accord signed by the late PM, Rajiv Gandhi way back in the early '80s. But a definite action is what needs to be initiated, otherwise the cycle of violence will continue to take innocent lives.
Till then, I weep for you, Assam!
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