Editor,
The cause of the on-going deadly ethnic conflagration in Assam is the uncontrolled, unregulated and unceasing inflow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Concerned Indian citizens had foreseen the catastrophic consequences that would overwhelm the state of Assam should the authorities fail to stop the influx. At least two successive Assam governors had written to the Central Government urging it to take effective steps to forestall the inevitable calamity before it overtook the state. Quite a few local organizations and even the BJP had now and again warned the State and the Central governments of the looming dangers. But, nobody was listening. The worst culprits are the over-ambitious and unscrupulous politicians who threw the gates wide open to build their vote banks for personal fortunes, obviously with the tacit approval of their party top bosses. These greedy people cared nothing about the lives and properties of their own people, nor empathized with the victims in their apprehensions, losses and miseries. Therefore, the bloody conflict was just waiting to erupt.
What would you expect when the local tribes of the BTAD saw that wave after wave of foreign immigrants (thousands upon thousands of them) kept pouring into their territory and multiplying by the day usurping their land, forests, businesses, market places, etc, and domineering over them by sheer numbers? The ‘tribals’ are fighting for sheer survival. Can you really fault them for trying to save their heritage in the only way they know how? Unfortunately for the indigenous people, the chances are heavily loaded against them! They will be invariably in a no-win situation. Such incidents will follow a standard pattern. When blood begins to flow, the state government will tell the district administration and the police to control the situation. The local police are not adequately equipped to deal with such a massive upheaval and rampant and emotional carnage. Neither will the district administration be able to cope with the rush of the victims (both indigenous and immigrant) of the violence for relief and shelters. The state government will call for help from the Center, which will promptly respond by sending large contingents of uniformed men and women to restore peace and normalcy. VVIPs will visit the affected areas and shed a tear or two for the victims who have lost their loved ones, their homes and everything they owned and comfort them with a few words of kindness and compassion and stress the importance of learning to live in peace and harmony with their neighbours. And most importantly, they would urge them (indigenous and illegal immigrants alike) to return to the homes they had left behind and assuring them safety and security with liberal financial assistance to rebuild their homes.
Voila! The immigrants are in a win-win situation, for they are here to stay then! To be sure, what the state and the Central governments are doing under the circumstances is politically correct. But for the indigenous people, they will certainly feel being let down, betrayed and alienated. The animosity is bound to lie dormant within them, dangerously! Our rulers should cease this practice of ‘vote bank’ politics which amounts to a betrayal of their own native people. This is the first step towards lasting peace and communal harmony.
Now, a similar fate will surely overtake the state of Meghalaya, if the people in power refuse to wake up. As soon as the mayhem in Assam was reported, the KSU and the UDP met the Home Minister with the request that the police be deployed at the entry points along the border with Assam fearing that the immigrants would certainly pour in large numbers into Meghalaya. They were absolutely right, but the state government in its usual indifferent and lackadaisical nature failed to take swift or any action at all. This is apparent from the fact that the KSU caught bus loads of immigrants as deep into Meghalaya as Marten/Mawiong! It is true that the politicians till the recent past were banking heavily on the immigrants’ votes and must have encouraged their entry into the state, but under the present dispensation we hope that things will change and expect the government to take swift and effective steps to safeguard the interest of their own people and tightly seal the borders. We certainly don’t want a repeat of the Assam bitter experience here. The elections are knocking at the door. Voters should remember the Kokrajhar tragedy before they cast their votes!
Yours etc.,
Jied Sani Dkhar,
Shillong -3
Sad event!
Editor,
My deepest condolences go to all the thirty passengers and also my prayer for the speedy recovery of the injured. Thanks to the vivid pictures snapped by the ST reporter some horrifying facts are revealed. The bus appears to be very old and it is no surprise in our NE states where road worthiness checks are never carried out. Moreover, absence of legal follow up regarding accident claims and life insurance make the bus operators to be least bothered about the safety of passengers. Another fact to be highlighted is that before the buses enter the stretch from Khliehriat to Sonapur, notorious for its sharp bends and deep gorges on either side, a short halt is made at Khliehriat or Lad Rymbai. The saddest thing is that while passengers have refresh themselves with a cup of tea and snacks, drivers of these buses are gifted with alcohol. This deadly drink is what finally causes such sad accidents. In view of the above, it is my fervent appeal to our leaders of NE States to activate mobile courts on a war footing and for goodness sake let us have policemen with integrity and honesty on night patrol. They should be equipped with breath analysers to check drunken driving. Unless this is done the journey through the Khliehriat-Sonapur road will remain as perilous as ever.
Yours etc.,
Wandell Passah
Nongkrem