- Bonojit Hussain
The fragile and unstable peace in
Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD) of Assam has once again been ruptured.
The recent massacre of Muslims of East Bengali descent in Kokrajhar and Baksa
districts of BTAD on 1st and 2nd May has already taken
toll on 46 lives; with many people still missing, the dead count might go up.
This is not the first time that
targeted ethnic violence has occurred in what is today BTAD. Through out the
1990’s armed Bodo groups have indulged in pogroms against Nepalis, Adivasis and
Muslims and Hindus of East Bengali descent. But since the creation of BTAD in
2003, increasingly only Muslims of East Bengali descent are being targeted.
Worst among all was the so-called ‘riots’ of 2012 where 108 people died.
According to sources in Assam
government, 79 were Muslims of East Bengali descent, 22 were Bodos and 4 were
from other communities.
A lot has been written about the
underlying causes of these recurring targeted killings and we need not dwell
upon that here. (for an overview see Sanjib Barua, “Assam: The Politics of Electoral Violence”, Outlook Magazine, May 09, 2014). What should bother us all is how
quickly discourse over the recurring massacres in BTAD is transformed into a
debate on the question of illegal immigration from Bangladesh , wherein the victims are
immediately labeled as ‘illegal Bangladeshis’. Even if the victims were
‘illegal Bangladeshis’, the barbaric act of killing 46 people in a span of 36
hours is a crime against humanity.
Poster in Kokrajhar district during 2012 riots. Photo: Bonojit Hussain |
Like in 2012, immediately large
section of Assamese society, a section of the national media and the BJP leadership
raised the bogey of ‘illegal Bangladeshi’ to justify the killings and divert
attention from the real causes of the massacre. Some even went to the extent of
likening victims of the massacre with locust. Verbal attacks and abuses are also
being launched on social media against anyone who dares question the
hypocrisies of Assamese society. Recently an Assamese research scholar at Jawaharlal Nehru
University was subjected to threats
and abuses by Assamese xenophobes, she was also asked to re-locate to Bangladesh
owing to her sympathies for these ‘locusts’.
If one poses the question as to
how these xenophobes know that Assam is being swarmed by ‘illegal Bangladeshis’,
the answer is always about increasing visibility and numbers of Miyas (slur used to denote Muslim
Bangladeshis) in urban clusters, new settlements in peripheries of forest land
and settlements near river embankments. I argue this is a racist way of
telling.
It is a difficult question to
answer how many undocumented Bangladeshis are there in BTAD area let alone in
all of Assam .
However, it is impossible to refute that from 1901 to 1941, encouraged by the
colonial administration, over 10 lakhs migrated and settled in Assam from East Bengal .
The geographical area of present day BTAD would fall under what were Goalpara
and Kamrup districts during the colonial era. So, it is worth mentioning that
East Bengali Muslim peasants first settled in undivided Goalpara district,
before they spanned out to other parts of western and central Assam . The
decadal growth of population in Goalpara district had shot up by 30 % as early
as 1901-1911 compared to 1.4 % and 2 % in the preceding decades respectively.
In 1921-1931, the decadal growth of population of Goalpara dropped to 15.8 %
because most of the suitable wasteland in the district had already been
occupied by immigrants who poured into the district in 1901-1921, and that the
immigrants had found a larger scope for settling in Kamrup and Nagaon
districts. During 1921 to 1931 Barpeta subdivision of Kamrup district saw an
enormous 69 % increase in population. Between 1901 and 1931, 4.98 lakhs East
Bengali Muslim peasants are recorded in Goalpara district alone. Here, then,
the question arises – Where are the descendants of the lakhs of Muslim peasants
of East Bengali descent who settled in the region before partition? (for a
detailed discussion see, Banajit Hussain, “The Bodoland Violence and Politics of Explanation”; Seminar Magazine, No: 640, December, 2012)
Chars are the extremely braided mid-channel bar of Brahmaputra and
its tributaries. These Chars were
populated by Muslims of East Bengali descent for cultivation in the later
decades of the Colonial era. Due to subsequent neglect and apathy of the
Government the socio-economic indicators among Char dwellers have remained extremely depressing. Assam Government’s
socio-economic survey in 1992-93 and 2002-03 revealed that Char dwellers constituted 9.35 % of the total population of Assam;
the population density in the Char
area was 690 persons per sq. km (Assam’s overall density in 2001 was 340 person
per sq. km); between 1992-93 to 2002-03 literacy rate in Char area increased marginally from 15.45 % to 19.31 % (Assam’s
overall literacy rate in 2001 was 63.25 %); in 2002-03 67.90 % of Char dwellers lived below the poverty
line, an increase of 19% from 1992-93 (34 % of Assam’s population was below
poverty line in 2001).
By their very nature of being
integral part of the fluvial process of the river Brahmaputra
and its tributaries, Chars are
pre-disposed to erosion and Char
dwellers pre-disposed to become internally displaced persons. Though hard data
on displacement from char areas is
hard to come by, some micro-level studies provide adequate insight into flood,
erosion and displacement. One such study conducted by Dr. Gorky Chakraborty in
the chars of Barpeta district reveals
that “during the period (1989-98) when
there was no high intensity flood in Assam , 45% of the total households
were affected and 51% of the total land was lost by the surveyed char
households. Similar study over a period of 25 years (1980-2004) in the Beki River ,
a tributary of Brahmaputra in Barpeta district
reveals that 77% of the surveyed households suffered due to land erosion and
94% of their land was lost.” (Gorky Chakraborty, “Assam ’s Hinterland: Society and Economy in the
Char Areas”; Akansha Publishers, Delhi ,
2009) With such abysmal socio-economic conditions and such high degree of
erosion and displacement, lakhs of Char
dwellers are left with no option but to migrate to the mainland.
With such complexities involved
in differentiating between an undocumented Bangladeshi migrant and a Muslim
citizen of East Bengali descent; how do Assamese xenophobes and leaders of BJP conclusively
declare that the villagers of Balapara, Narasinghbari and Narayanguri (3
villages where the massacre occurred) were ‘illegal Bangladeshis’?
What are the ways of telling the
difference? It is most certainly not difference but similarities between an
undocumented Bangladeshi migrant and a Muslim citizen of East Bengali descent.
It is physical and cultural markers; in this case it is beard, lungi, religion
and language. Doesn’t this make ‘illegal
Bangladeshi’ racist shorthand for any Muslim of East Bengali descent in Assam ?
Here it is worth looking at the
cliché that are too often deployed – “illegal Bangladeshis are behind Rhino
poaching, they loot innocent tribal villagers, they breed faster than dogs, rape and murder women in
villages of Assam ”.
These clichés are becoming a part of a new discursive formation under
consolidation which represents Muslims of East Bengali descent in Assam as “lesser
human” or in its extreme form as “locust”. It hardly needs to be asserted that
the construction of the “lesser human” other that is sexually virulent and is
naturally prone to criminality has been the hallmark of racist worldview for
more than half a century now.
**********
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Banajit Hussain is a Delhi based
researcher from Assam .
He is associated with New Socialist Initiative (NSI).
3 comments:
I will begin by saying that I am a human being, do not believe in religion, am not a racist or sexist (to the best of my belief), a believer in humanity and equality. However, I was born and brought up in Assam, in the same circumstances you were and I DO work for a multinational corporation to eke out a living (although I do love my fellow human beings irrespective of any physical and root-based differences AND I believe in the concept of equality. Also, I DO think Modi is communal at best...). Anyway, I do work and pay my taxes to the nation and my fellow countrymen. So much for the disclaimers because I know you are a magician with data (GoI census, Mospi, other "non-biased" stats??) and rhetoric and you will clobber me to a shameful intellectual death if what I say doesn't necessarily agree with your "humanitarian" and oh-so-cool viewpoints. Again, I want to make it clear that I do not support killings and genocide (I think it is necessary to make it explicit, otherwise you will paint me with the same brush with which you paint anyone who does not agree to your views - low-beings abetting murder). If I may, I just wanted to answer your "poignant" question "Where are the descendants of the lakhs of Muslim peasants of East Bengali descent who settled in the region before partition?" (Noting the timeframe form your article) it is you and I Bonojit! We are the descendants of those people who crossed a political line some 50-100 (and more) years back and have assimilated into the Assamese (You will ask me to define "Assamese" now and I raise my hand and bow down in humility) society and are "almost" indistinguishable from "mainstream" Axhomiya people. What you very conveniently fail to mention in all your bright pieces is the fact that illegal Bangladeshis stick out like sore thumbs in all societies of the North-East by mere difference of their language (dialect, rather - sorry; you would have just shot me :) ), habits, and other noticeable demeanor / traits. This is being slightly stereotypical; but that is how it is...Again, none of are murders or supporters of profile-killings; but let us call a spade a spade and not be machointellectual about a burning issue...
Mr/Ms (?) anonymous, are you nuts? Don't let your fantasies and speculations loose! First have a read (a very basic read) of your history. Then ask how did islam come to assam? Do you mean to say there were no muslims in Assam before 100 years from today?
Why is it so difficult to accept that Bangaldeshis are an essential menace? Are you Bonojit and Raja Indians first or Muslims first? Is it always necessary for likes of you to take a contrary view to established facts? Or is it that your livelihood thrives on garnering such a stance?
Infact I doubt how much factually correct those figures are and have you gone blind or deaf about the crimes perpetrated by Bangladeshis in Assam?
From a common man's perspective (one with average intelligence and recollection) Bangladeshis wear Lungis! and look different unlike the native assamese Muslims who have assimilated into the Assamese culture and fabric.
And Bonjit expand your research to east Asia countries like Malaysia and Singapore (Islamic countries) and understand what tough stands they have taken against Bangladeshis.
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