Author:
Publication: NewsonNortheast.blogspot.com
Date: August 4, 2008
URL: http://newsonnortheast.blogspot.com/2008/08/is-assam-going-kashmir-way.html
Issue of illegal immigration is nothing new
for the Indian government. With increase in population and lack of job opportunities,
this matter has now reached its zenith point. Besides immigration harbours
causes for more terrorist activities.
The Large-scale influx of Bangladeshis into
Assam has been continuing from the pre-independence times. This unprecedented
migration gave rise to a historic movement, the Assam Agitation (sometimes
referred to as the Assam Movement) between 1979 and 1985 to force the government
to identify and expel the illegal migrants. The problem has now reached epidemic
proportions with the rise of Islamic fundamentalist groups in many parts of
Assam, especially those parts dominated by the migrants. It has led to a demographic
upheaval with 11 out of 27 districts in Assam becoming Muslim majority districts
in contrast to only one Muslim majority district, at the time of India's independence.
What is more worrying is that this sudden increase in population is not seen
among the Assamese Muslims, who for centuries have lived together in harmony
with their Assamese Hindu counterparts.
The large-scale immigration has led to an
acute unemployment problem with almost 20 lakh unemployed youths in Assam,
many of whom have taken to guns. Besides, it has had a disastrous effect on
the environment with the denudation of forests and killing of endangered wildlife.
The state and the central government have been largely ignoring this problem,
out of concern for their 'vote-banks'.
Very few of the illegal migrants are caught
and even fewer are deported due to various loopholes in the law. Migrants,
after entering India through Assam have moved to various Northeastern states
and other parts of the country, proving to be a security nightmare. Illegal
migrants now have a decisive say in almost 50 of the state's 126 assembly
constituencies. The indigenous people of the state are in serious danger of
becoming a minority in their own land. The former governor of Assam, Lieutenant-General
(retired) SK Sinha, had warned in a report that if the demographic invasion
of Assam was not tackled, the survival of the Assamese people will be at stake
and their employment opportunities will be undermined.
Several Islamic fundamentalist outfits operate
in Assam. The presence of lakhs of illegal Bangladeshi migrants in Assam has
provided fertile recruiting and breeding ground for these terror outfits.
The growth of radical Islam in neighbouring Bangladesh, has also helped these
terror outfits operating in Assam. The Supreme Court had repealed the Illegal
Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act. However, the amended Foreigners
(Tribunals for Assam) Order 2006 contains the very provisions of the IM (DT)
Act, which make the detection and deportation of illegal Bangladeshis from
Assam so difficult.
Unlike many of the Northeastern states, Assam
does not have the inner-line permit system, which makes it easy for anyone
to settle down in Assam. The border fencing along the Indo-Bangladesh border
in Assam is proceeding at a very tardy pace. It does not need a soothsayer
to predict what lies in store for Assam and the entire North East if the 'jehadists'
were to succeed. The central and states governments and the ordinary citizens
have to work in unison to tackle this threat. As they say, a stitch in time
saves nine.
