Assam Burning

“Our controversy with India is not on the problem of Kashmir only. In Assam, there are some Muslim majority districts which should have been given to Pakistan at the time of Partition, these districts were wrongly included in India..”.

“The population of East Bengal is increasing at alarming speed. The inhabitants face acute shortage of land. The Bengalis need land which can be given by Assam. Assam abounds in good forests and beautiful scenes of nature. If some inhabitants of Bangladesh migrate to Assam and settle there permanently, they will be very happy. Actually Assam should have been included in East Pakistan”.

“The inevitable emergence of Bangladesh – which we had postulated- presented India with fierce long term problems. For Bangladesh was in effect East Bengal, separated only by religion from India’s most fractious and most separatist state. West Bengal. They share language, tradition, culture, and above all, a volatile national character. Whether it turned nationalist or radical, Bangladesh would over time accentuate India’s centrifugal tendencies. It might set a precedent for the creation of other Moslem states, carved this time out of India. Once it was independent, its Moslem heritage might eventually lead to a rapprochement with Pakistan.”

“…The first consideration, in the view of the Indian Delegation, is that aggression must be comprehensively defined… Aggression can be of several kinds such as direct or indirect, armed in nature or even without the use of any arms whatsoever. There can be even direct aggression without arms….

“The chart given above clearly indicates that Muslim population of Assam has shown a rise of 77.42% in 1971-1991, whereas Hindu population has risen by nearly 41.89% during the said period…. The growth of Muslim population has been emphasized in the previous paragraph to indicate the extent of illegal migration from Bangladesh to Assam because as stated earlier, the illegal migrants coming into India after 1971 have been almost exclusively Muslims.”

“ There are three Districts in Assam, which has borders with Bangladesh viz. Karimganj, Cachar and Dhubri. All India percentage of decadal increase in population during 1981-1991 is 23.85% whereas the Border districts of Assam namely, Karimganj shows decadal increase of 42.08%, Cachar district 47.59% and Dhubri district 56.57%. From the above it can be assumed that the infiltration of foreigners from Bangladesh contributed significantly to the sharp increase of population in Assam.”

“1. The unabated influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh into Assam and the consequent perceptible change in the demographic pattern of the State has been a matter of grave concern. It threatens to reduce the Assamese people to a minority in their own State, as happened in Tripura and Sikkim.

2. Illegal migration into Assam was the core issue behind the Assam student movement. It was also the prime contributory factor behind the outbreak of insurgency in the State. Yet we have not made much tangible progress in dealing with this all-important issue.

“These immigrants are hardworking and are prepared to work as cheap labour and domestic help for lower remuneration than the local people. This makes them acceptable. Moreover, with corruption being all-pervasive, corrupt officials are bribed to provide help…..

“Most of the jobs in the government is taken by Bangladeshis. You find them in schools, colleges, courts, markets – practically everywhere. There are certain areas which are forcibly occupied by the infiltrators in the market places, so the entire local market is in their hands. They are also employed in tea estates and other agricultural activities. It is impossible to find a single rickshaw driver who is an Assamese. Sometimes I end up wondering if I am in Assam or in Bangladesh- that is the scale of infiltration. That day is not far when we might end up as refugees in our own land.”