Friday, March 29, 2024
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Is ILP the solution to the influx dilemma?

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By Patricia Mukhim

There is a time in history when even people with divergent views converge on something. Of late there has been a clamour here for implementing the Inner Lime Permit (ILP) currently in place in Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. The demand has come following the recent bloodbath in Assam where Bodos and alleged Bangladeshi Muslims went for each other’s jugular. It’s a different matter that the majority of those brutally massacred are Muslims and that the erstwhile members of the Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT) who signed an accord with Government of India leadint to the creation of the Bodoland Territorial Areas Council (BTAD) still have access to guns and other lethal weapons.

Normally one would expect the demand for any far-reaching legislation to be backed up by sufficient data and statistics from those states where it has been implemented. It is important to do a test check whether the ILP has worked in those states that have the experience of living with this instrument. How has the experience been in Nagaland for instance? Don’t you have illegal immigrants (meaning the ubiquitous Bangladeshi) there? Did the Nagas recently not get completely worked up by the agitation and carnage in Assam as much as we in Meghalaya did? Isn’t there a significant presence of non-Naga, non-tribals which would probably include those with doubtful citizenship? So what happened to the ILP then?

Some might point to Mizoram and say that the state is demographically pristine. But we cannot compare Mizoram to Meghalaya in terms of connectivity and opportunities. Meghalaya has always had a favourable climate, hospitable people and at the time was well connected to Sylhet and Dhaka. That’s why the British chose it to be their convenient outpost and summer resort. Meghalaya continues to offer residence to other tribes and non-tribes. If Mizoram were a haven of peace and prosperity why would a substantial number of Mizos move out of the state to reside elsewhere? Why do we have such a big Mizo population in Shillong when we don’t have as many Khasis, Jaintias or Garos in Mizoram? The counter-argument from Mizos would be that the bulk of ‘Zo’ peoples living in Shillong are from Churachandpur district of Manipur. Whatever the argument the fact remains that while most tribes are stringent about others entering their domains they do not, in their heart of hearts believe that the same yardstick be applied to them when they seek residence elsewhere.

Take a look at Arunachal Pradesh. Is it a progressive state? Apart from being a difficult terrain it is also not very hospitable. Would a Khasi want to live in that state? Doubtful, unless she/he has married someone from there. But even if there is a marriage between a man from Arunachal and a woman from Meghalaya or vice versa, take it from me that the two would choose Meghalaya as the place of residence. Why? There are too many historical reasons that make Meghalaya an ideal location and also a place where people can readily call home. This state has had constant interface with different peoples’ groups ranging from the Hindus and Muslims of erstwhile East Bengal and those from Assam and elsewhere, to the British and later the Americans who rested here after World Wars 1 and II. Then we also have the Chinese who set up the first restaurants and introduced us to their cuisine. They were also good shoemakers besides other trades. So to the doomsday prophets who keep harping on the standard argument that the Khasis will one day disappear from the face of the earth, I would say we won’t. We are a strong and resilient community even if we are not as aggressive as other tribes and I don’t think we need to be.

Now if the Khasis would not prefer to settle in any of the North Eastern states would they like to move out to the other metros of this country? Quite a few I have spoken to would not mind moving out for a job and then settling down there once they have got into a groove. Of course they would want to visit family and friends here but they are also pragmatic and know that life is tough and Meghalaya will not be able to provide jobs to every indigenous Meghalayan. In his latest book, ‘The Price of Inequality,’ Joseph Stiglitz says the interconnectedness of peoples’ countries and economies across the globe is a development that can be used to promote prosperity but also to spread greed and misery. Stiglitz tells us how the markets have failed us and how states are controlled by the market. But he also argues that there is no alternative to market forces except that they should be regulated. The future of any state or country therefore rests largely in being connected to the global economy. Is it possible to promote such an economy in a place where entry is restricted and that in the 21st century?

To my mind therefore the idea of the ILP is xenophobic, knee-jerk, populist (some have suggested this with the aim of garnering cheap popularity) and downright lazy. The suggestion emanates from a position of fear and paranoia and does not even allow for a public discourse but calls upon the government to do it now or never. Those who have put forth their views in these columns do not even consider it worthwhile to call for a state-wide discourse on this issue to allow other ideas to spring forth. They feel they have it all cut out and that the recipe they propose is the only way to keep the Bangladeshis at bay. I do not believe that Bangladeshi nationals who wish to enter Meghalaya would come by any of the routes where their ILPs would be checked. You know who will be harassed? It’s the tourist, the professors and scholars who come to the Indian Institute of Management Shillong or to the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), the doctors, specialists and super-specialists who wish to visit the North East Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS). Also those who plan to set up Information Technology (IT) back-offices in the suburbs of Shillong might reconsider their plans.

Would anyone want to set up a world-class institute in a state with restricted entry? Take it from me, no one will. So while we think we will remain demographically pristine we will also lose out a lot by way of economic growth. Without economic growth there will ne unrest and unemployment. Some of the more loud-mouthed activists have said that industry in this state has only benefited the “outsider.” I would agree that the subsidy- based industries might have allowed the mercenaries to walk away with our wealth. But are those the only industries we are talking about? If the subsidy-based industries are killing our economy then lets just stop shouting from the rooftops but make a blueprint for a different kind of industrial roadmap and present it to the Government. Pressure must then be exerted to see that Government accepts such alternative models. If it does not it has to give a cogent reason, why not.

Engagement in a democracy goes beyond getting RTIs on a hundred and one things, exposing the government and then stopping at that. The RTI is a post facto document of something that has happened and where the next step is to take matters to a court of law. Sensible people would prevent scams from happening rather then endorsing their own suspicions after corruption has happened. This requires keeping a vigilant eye on policies.

My own proposition to contain influx would be to endorse what Toki Blah in one of his article had proposed and what local MLA Manas Chaudhuri has been mooting in the Assembly but which was received with lacklustre response. A three-tier identity card to determine three categories of citizens – the local indigenous people, the permanent residents and the semi-permanent and floating population who would have no voting rights and no claim to any of the benefits of a permanent resident – is what might solve the burning problem of influx. This is perhaps a more viable solution. Lets not forget that the state requires human resource in the lowest categories of activities such as labourers in coal and limestone mines, labourers for road and building constructions and such other jobs that the locals cock a snook at and charges double the rate for. This proposal was in fact at the point of being implemented as a test case in one area of the state several years ago. A senior bureaucrat then cited funds constraints as an excuse to scuttle the project. I am also told that the pugnacious Rangbah Shnong (whose only activity in life seems to OPPOSE everything without adequate counterpoints) had opposed this mechanism although I recall that the Khasi Students Union under Paul Lyngdoh had also toyed with this idea.

Can we give this idea of a three tier identification system a chance without shooting it down prematurely? If Meghalaya comes up with this it will be the first state in the country to do so and to my mind this is a better proposition than the ILP which has been tried, tested and found wanting.

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