BJP LEADERSHIP CLUELESS IN ASSAM IN DEALING WITH CAA
By Ashis Biswas
Even as the dust begins to settle in troubled Assam following the agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) 2019, palpable ethnic tensions remain between the two major communities—the Assamiyas and the Bengalis. Assam-based observers agree that at present, a delicate truce prevails, but simmering tensions and minor outbreaks of violence have not ended.
Going by Barak valley-based media reports, Bengali speaking citizenry feels threatened in upper Assam areas and by extension, anywhere out of Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi districts. People in these districts have broadly welcomed the CAA because Hindu Bengalis, who have crossed over from Bangladesh as refugees before and after 1971, will be recognised as Indian citizens. This also applies to Bengalis settled in upper Assam.
But there is a major difference between Barak valley Bengalis and Bengalis settled elsewhere in Assam. People in the Barak valley mostly declare their mother tongue as Bengali, during decadal census operations and other occasions. In contrast, for reasons of safety most Bengalis settled elsewhere in Assam whether Hindu or Muslim, declare Assamiya as their mother tongue.
Naturally, now that the status of Hindu Bengalis residing in the Northeast is about to change, there is a general fear among majority Assamiyas that they may all declare Bengali as their mother tongue. This could make them numerically the largest community in the NE region. Naturally, Assamiyas and the native tribes are restive about their long term political future. Their culture, language and age old customs may be swamped by the presence of larger groups like the Bengalis. Naturally they have pressured Delhi to ensure immediate safeguards. Delhi remains committed to working out a just formula balancing the interest of all in the region. There are renewed demands for the inner line permit system to be extended all over the region, to which the Assamiyas also agree.
Such apprehensions have been voiced by AASU( All Assam Students Union ) leader Samujjal Bhattacharya , former Chief Minister Prafulla Mahanta(Asam Gana Parishad –AGP),peasant leader Akhil Gogoi ( now under arrest by the NIA for making inflammatory speeches targeting Bengalis) , the AJYCP, the Asam Sahitya Sabha, and numerous organisations representing major segments of the society in Assam. They and their followers have sustained the mass protests against the CAA during the last few days. Most major tribes in the NE region, similarly concerned about their future, have joined these efforts.
It goes to their collective credit that Assamiyas and the ethnic tribes have strictly maintained communal harmony and ensured that their protests remain non-violent. The contrast with the utterly indisciplined Trinamool Congress-led(TMC) mayhem in neighbouring Bengal over the CAA , involving a reckless destruction of national asset that was allowed to continue for 72 hours, could not be sharper.
Bengali mass organisations in the region have also behaved responsibly, avoiding any display of triumphalism. They have issued several statements in recent months to indicate their continuing support for and commitment to the development and progress of Assam and local streams of culture in the region. They have taken part in large numbers in the various anti CAA processions, rallies, meetings and marches during the last few weeks. As before, they have consistently spurned all efforts made by TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee to resort to violent agitations anywhere in Assam, issuing statements condemning her trouble-making tactics. No wonder, there have been very few attacks on Bengalis in comparison with turbulent eighties.
But tensions persist and ethnic relations are not as smooth as before. The present situation finds the Assamiyas a sharply divided lot. There is much popular anger against the ruling BJP for sponsoring the CAA. ‘Now that they have come to power, they have totally forgotten Assam as a whole, ‘ said Arnab Goswami, high profile TV presenter, who has emerged as an Assamiya cultural icon in recent times .Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal’s home district has seen many angry processions. Many BJP leaders and Ministers complain that they cannot face people in their localities, or even move around freely.
So far so bad, but the position of the AGP whose rise to power in the eighties hinged on the success of the often violent ‘anti- foreigners(read Bengali) violent agitation’, is worse. As the junior ally of the ruling BJP, the party stands split between factions led by Mr Mahanta, who has condemned the BJP and would prefer to quit the ruling coalition, and Mr. Atul Bora, also a former youth agitator like Mr, Mahanta and Mr,Sonowal.
An article appearing in a Silchar-based paper notes that the AGP could well be going the way of another regional party, the Laloo Prasad Yadav –led RJD, in Bihar. The BJP has been ruling BIhar, long considered Mr Yadav’s personal fiefdom, along with the JD(U) for some years now. Its rise has coincided with the marked decline in the fortunes of the RJD.
At present, Assamiyas, who had turned to the BJP as their saviour from Bangladeshi infiltration, after their disillusionment with the AGP rule because leaders like Mahanta could not weed out illegal migrants, are confused as to whom they should support. The AGP had failed them and now the BJP seems to have betrayed their cause. As for the extremist option, fighting for an Assamiya dominated independent state, seems to be ruled out. The secessionist ULFA now much weakened, seems to have shot its bolt. It has suffered several splits and lost its earlier support and sustenance from Bangladesh or Myanmar.
The BJP however, is fully keyed into the problems of the Assamiya society and monitoring the situation. Prime minister Mr Narendra Modi, Home Minister Mr. Amit Shan and others have repeatedly assured the Assamiyas that they will not be let down. The BJP proposes to implement fully the clause 6 of the Assam accord of 1985. This ensures not only the preponderance and domination of Assamiyas in political policy-making, but also ensuring protection for locals in official jobs, land ownership, business and other facilities. And therein lies the rub. This is what scares most Bengalis, to whom the BJP is indebted for its gradual growth and its present political dominance in the NE region.
Assam Congress leader Kamalaksha Bhattacharya has repeatedly warned that if clause 6 were to be implemented, Bengalis and non Assamiyas will be perpetually relegated to second class citizenship, with even normal human rights much reduced, violating all established norms of minimal equity, pitting citizen against citizen. The arrangements outlined in the clause, say observers, are not unlike provisions of the Lord Cornwallis-sponsored policy of Permanent Settlement in undivided Bengal, which perpetuated unchallenged zamindari(landlordism) domination over wretched peasants. Given this outcome, the citizenship status would mean nothing for non Assamiyas.
Worse, if land ownership patterns are to be redefined to accommodate Assamiyas, there could be widespread complications, socio-political unrest and fresh eruptions of mass violence. To give only ine example of the complexities involved: at present 65% of the total land space(mostly rural) in Assam is under Muslim ownership , the owners mostly being Bengali speaking Muslims ! Should the plots they have owned and cultivated for decades, be turned over to Assamiyas or tribals, by announcing fresh legislation? Are there any precedents for such a move anywhere in the world? The question has been raised in articles in a section of the Assam-based media.
It remains to be seen how the ruling BJP balances the competing aspirations of the Assamiyas and Bengalis in the days ahead. It cannot abandon Hindu Bengali refugees, whose total support during the last few years has helped the saffron party to emerge as the NE region’s biggest party, decimating the AGP’s challenge. Nor can it afford to alienate the native Assamiyas/ethnic tribes either.
One workable solution could well be the declaration of a new union territory comprising the three Barak valley districts with contiguous areas, ensuring a welcome spatial separation between the Assamiyas and others, who also have been living in the region for generations. It is time for the centre to examine the proposal which had been broached earlier, in greater depth now.(IPA Service)