Ground Reports
Hridayapath, Dispatch 8: On Politics, Progress, And Poetry From Assam
Banuchandar Nagarajan
Apr 20, 2024, 07:14 PM | Updated 07:45 PM IST
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Assam is deceptively huge, or long, rather. From Kokrajhar in the west to Tinsukia in the east, it spans more than 700 km. For comparison, the approximate length of Uttar Pradesh is 800 km from east to west.
To borrow from George Bush Jr, I totally "misunderestimated" the time taken to cover all of these places. And there were additional stopovers in Meghalaya and Nagaland (Read Hridayapath, Dispatch 7 here).
In the spirit of Hridayapath, I travel to remote parts, even in Assam — to Dhubri, Bongaigaon, Nagaon, West Karbi Anglong, all the way up to Jorhat, and returning along the northern banks of the Brahmaputra through Tezpur and Kokrajhar.
Delimitation — The biggest political story yet
The biggest story for this election, so far, is the delimitation exercise that was carried out in Assam in 2023. The number of constituencies remain unchanged. But the boundaries have been redrawn both for assembly and parliamentary constituencies.
Major changes were made to Assembly constituencies, where the number of seats for indigenous communities has been increased. Apparently, the number of Muslim-dominated constituencies has come down.
In the case of parliamentary constituencies, it is a mixed bag. Let us take four former Muslim-dominated constituencies — Dhubri, Barpeta, Nagoan, and Karimganj. Dhubri and Barpeta are in western Assam, in the Brahmaputra valley.
Dhubri, the citadel of itr king and president of All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), Badruddin Ajmal, is unaffected. He won both in 2014 and 2019. Congress has fielded Rakibul Hussain, a sitting MLA and former state minister.
But, in the neighbouring Barpeta, the Muslim-dominated pockets are split. The sitting Congress MP Abdul Khaleque wanted to contest from Dhubri. After being denied the ticket, he quit the party in protest only to re-join again after meeting Sonia Gandhi.
In both Dhubri and Barpeta, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) candidates are contesting on behalf of the NDA. Barpeta went to AIUDF in 2014 and Congress in 2019. With Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) candidates in the fray, it should be an easy win for AGP this time.
Karimganj, in the Barak Valley, with a 57 per cent Muslim population, has been reclassified as an open constituency. It was previously reserved for STs. BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has re-nominated sitting MP, Kripanath Mallah, who won just by 38,000 votes in 2019.
In central Assam's former Nagaon and Kaliabor areas, the Muslim-dominated pockets are now consolidated within the Nagaon constituency. Kaliabor constituency no longer exists. Instead, a new constituency named Kaziranga has been created with the leftover assembly segments.
Former BJP MP, Rajen Gohain, who represented Nagaon for 20 years from 1999, protested that it will now become impossible for BJP to win Nagaon. He even resigned as a chairman of a commission with the government of Assam.
The current Kaliabor MP is Gaurav Gogoi (He won in 2014 also). He is now fighting from Jorhat after trying in vain to shift to Nagaon. Congress has re-nominated sitting MP Pradyut Bordoloi, who managed to sneak a win in 2019, with a measly 16000 votes.
The BJP is contesting a total of nine seats. The three constituencies left for its allies are all in the lower Brahmaputra valley — Dhubri and Barpeta for AGP and Kokrajhar for UPPL (United People's Party Liberal).
A sort of funny story now — The BJP, which is usually meticulous and over-analyses candidate selection, made a blooper of announcing candidates for the Mangaldoi and Kaliabor, which no longer exist! After the embarrassment was pointed out, the party revised the candidate list. (As a former management consultant who was chastised for even minor errors in reports, I shudder at these blunders!)
With the CAA being a big issue in Assam, it is fair to estimate that the NDA will get 11-12 seats out of the 14.
Dhubri — Of CAA, Ajmal, and logistics park
I cross over from Cooch Behar to Dhubri. I was reading about famous people of Cooch Behar and the name of actress Mouni Roy pops out. I wonder if Mamata's team have approached her!
In the North East, the sun rises early and people take their midday breaks at around 10.
Demographics of Dhubri is approximately two-thirds Hindus and one-third Muslims. 60 per cent are Bengalis, 20 per cent Assamese, 20 per cent Rabhas and Bodos. As I enter Dhubri, I am determined to probe about three things — Badruddin Ajmal, CAA and the multi-modal logistics park.
I start chatting with a bunch of people at a chai shop. Iman Ali, a local farmer, takes the lead. He says that the Congress candidate Rakibul has a better chance this time as Badruddin has been around for 15 years and fatigue has set in.
I slide into the vexing conversation about CAA. They say that the Assamese-origin Indian Muslims have been harassed and the local administration has been asking for papers from them repeatedly. They find it quite insulting. Apparently, they submitted all the information to an officer, and after he was transferred the new administrator asked for papers again.
They speak about the CAA and the NRC in the same breath. They say that it is the same. The "chronology speech" and subsequent relentlessness of the liberal campaign seem to have impacted people here.
While anyone in the right mind will know that CAA has nothing to do with Indian citizens, when you speak with people on the ground, you realise that when something as fundamental as your identity of citizenship is in question, one can get rattled quite a lot.
The BJP propaganda machine has not been successful here. Perhaps the nature of the behemoth is an issue itself. BJP should perhaps try a softer approach in listening to and educating the people in this part of India.
They are huge fans of the genteel Sarbananda Sonowal, who they say was the best chief minister. They say that CM Hemanta Biswa keeps provoking all the time.
Iman Ali says that CAA apart, most of what PM Modi does is for the good of the country. They get free rations that were a life-saver during the pandemic. Ali and other farmers are getting Rs. 2000 under PM Kisan. The removal of toll plazas after the onset of GST has been welcomed by Dhubri.
I ask about the ban on triple talaq. He says that it is not a big deal. The society here was already moving away from the practice slowly. One in the group says that there is a lot of difference between Muslims in Assam and Bengal and Muslims in the rest of India. They allow their daughters to study. Burqa is also optional after one gets married.
He says that there are differences between Bengali Muslims and Assamese Muslims. Intermarriage between them is less. Iman says that they have stopped cow slaughter to respect their Hindu brothers. The fencing with Bangladesh is complete and there is no cattle smuggling here.
Suddenly one of the guys talk about Kejriwal. He feels that his arrest is unjust. He is concerned that there is an effort to constrain the opposition in India. He says, "Might is right" always seems to be the norm.
The youngsters of this town usually go out in search of employment. There is joy in the air as it is Bihu and the boys are in town for the New Year's. I see a pandal slowly getting erected for the evening celebrations. I bid them adieu.
Dhubri town is fairly well developed. There is a Gurudwara inside the town built by the ninth Sikh Guru Teg Bahadur, It was the place where Guru Nanak Dev and Sri Sankardeva, two spiritual giants of our civilisation, had met in 1505. Goosebumps!
Google Maps fails us one more time. There is no way cross the Brahmaputra through Dhubri. We take a circuitous route to Jogoghopa. India's first multi-modal logistics park is still under construction. It seems it is a work in progress for a long time now. Swarajya reported about it back in 2020!
As a part of the ambitious Bharatmala Pariyojna, it is being built over 300 acres. It was back in the news last May, when Union Minister, Nitin Gadkari visited the place and promised to expedite the project. He had said that it would be a "game changer" for the land-locked northeast.
With air and road connectivity, it promised to be a transformative economic proposition for the North East. With the customs taken care of here, cargo could flow through the Brahmaputra onto foreign shores.
Post-script
The Brahmaputra River never ceases to inspire awe with its sheer size. I open YouTube to listen to the stirring Assamese song, "Mahabahu Brahmaputra," in the timeless voice of Bhupen Hazarika. Language does not matter!
The full English translation of the lyrics is below (courtesy, The Wire). It has to be read in full to understand that Assam has never been too far away for seekers and wanderers.
Mahabahu Brahmaputra
Where does spring come to its own?
By the banks of the Brahmaputra, isn’t it?
But have you wondered
What is the heritage of the mighty Brahmaputra?
O the mighty Brahmaputra!
Maha-bahu Brahmaputra
The abode of many a confluence
For millennia, it has illumined to mankind
The true import of assimilation
The Baro Bhuyans arrived at its shores
From faraway Kannauj
In that clan, on this land, Sankardeva was born
From Persia came Azan Fakir
Composed the melodious Jikir by its banks
Dilvar from Delhi came too
To draw the Hasti-Puthi here
From the Land of Five Waters appeared Guru Teg Bahadur
To build a bridge of unity
Sprouted many an example of union
Mahabahu Brahmaputra
Lachit fenced the enemy at Saraighat itself
Bound one and all in a veil of loyalty, patriotism
Merging the lines of community, faith and tongue into one
Son of the Kirata, Bishnu Rabha,
Enlivened the culture of the land
Magnified the many facets of integration
Mahabahu Brahmaputra
Swayed by the sweeps of River Padma
Several reached the shores of Luit
O how many visitors did both the banks of Luit greet!
Take some, give some
Give and take
To merge
Open your arms, unite
Open your hearts, give
Tagore said so too
It was here that Jyotiprasad Agarwal spread light
Botched the conspiracy of those who wouldn’t merge!
Mahabahu Brahmaputra
O the abode of many a union
For millennia, the migrants continued to march to it
Thus, carving out a pilgrimage for assimilation.
This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on themes and topics that are often overlooked or looked down. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as ₹2999. Click here for more details.
Banuchandar is a political and public policy advisor. He posts at @Banu4Bharat.
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