The large scale infiltration from the other side of theborder is not only threatening to demographic profile of Assam but also itscultures. Though the exact number of illegal immigrants is not known, generallyit is estimated that about 20 million Bangladeshis are illegally staying inIndia. Of this number, about 7-8 million are present in Assam alone. And thenumber keeps increasing daily.
Immigration is not a new phenomenon to Bangladesh. A largenumber of then cross over to India, Middle-East and European nations every day.The presence of immigrants of Bangladesh in other countries is not onlyacknowledged with pride at home but even celebrated in many cases. One of theprime agendas of the social sector in Bangladesh today is to pursue thedeveloped nations to acknowledge the immigrants from the country as climaterefugees and ensure their safe stay and work at the destination countries.Strangely enough, India does not figure in the list of destination countries.According to Udayan Chattopadhyay, “Given both the tumultuous history of EastBengal post-1947 and the current relationship dynamics between India andBangladesh at a national level, to accept that Bangladeshis would willinglychoose to migrate to "Big Brother" India for a better life is perhapsdifficult for many to accept.”
The reaction of Indian government towards too has been farfrom satisfactory. It also passed the Illegal Migrants (Determination byTribunal) Act (IMDT) in 1983, in a response to the popular agitation againstthe Bangladeshi immigrants. The act which was primarily drafted to describe theprocedures to detect illegal immigrants (from Bangladesh) and expel them fromAssam itself became the reason for the increased infiltration into Assam.Rampant cases of harassment of minorities were reported under it. Thus thesupreme court struck down the act in 2005. Under the law, the burden of provingthe citizenship or otherwise rested on the accuser and the police, not theaccused; whereas under the Foreigners Act prevailing in the rest of the countrythe onus is on the accused. The Congress-led Assam government says that itwants to solve the issue of illegal immigration on the basis of Assam Accordand make 1971 as the cut-off date for migrants. But this assertion remains onlya statement of intent. Very little has been done on the ground to check the influxof Bangladeshis.
The biggest challenge for policymakers is distinguishingillusory immigration problems from the real problems and addressing them. Onething is quite clear: The favored approach of recent years-a policy of benignneglect-is no longer desirable. The Bodo demands, or rather the demand of thelarger Assamese community of identifying the immigrants post 1971 needs to bedone soon. Efforts to either legitimize the immigrants could be made. Butlegitimizing process should not be a path to citizenship and should not enjoythe benefits a citizen do like buying land in Bodoland area. Also theimmigrants found to be illegal even after the arrangement for legal migrationis done should be deported rightfully back to its home country.
The increasing media portrayal of the recent clashes asattack on the Muslims, without understanding the history and the presenteconomic mode of exploitation, has a potential of turning the clash into acommunal one. In fact, reports of attacks on Assamese people in the cities ofPune, Mumbai, Bangalore and elsewhere have already confirmed the fear. Thus,there is a need to adopt a holistic approach to solving the problem or else wewould be staring at something much larger. All the interest groups should bekept away from the rehabilitation process as they might instigate furtherhatred and disturb peace. Also the presence of immigrants should not beutilised for political mileage and blatantly portray a ‘secular image’ by thestate of Assam.
Pegu is project coordinator at Public ServicesInternational - a global trade union federation. A native of Assam and alumniof Tata Institute of Social Sciences, he is keenly interested in socialmovements, tribal and labour issues
