Scrap N R C!
- Aloke Mukherjee
Now after the National
Registration of Citizenship (NRC)
for Assam has primarily been
published and more than 40 lakh
of people are found to be not
registered, voices are being raised
by all opposing the sinister aim with
which it has been used by the
rulers at the centre as well as at
Assam level . It is clear that 40 lakh
of Indian people have been
declared ‘stateless’, although those
at the helm of the power are adding
insult to injury of those people by
giving them another ‘chance’
through further application or
objection. Who are these 40 lakh
people? Mostly Bengalis; then
Jharkandis, Biharis, Nepalis and
others. Of the 40 lakh more than
80 per cent are Muslims.
The whole thing has not
happened suddenly which the
opposition politicians and even a
large number of politicians of
revolutionary variety are trying to
make the people of India outside
Assam believe. The source of it
could be found in 1983 Assam
movement when a chauvinistic
section of Assamese led by Assam
Ganatantra Parishad (AGP) and
Pranta Parishad (PP) started
arming themselves against
“foreigners” and/or “outsiders”. At
first it was a movement against the
central government to force
‘foreigners/ outsiders’ out of
Assam. Then they started attacks
on non-Assamese people. In
September 1983, India witnessed
the worst ever massacre of
minorities, even the killing of
Naokhali or the Punjab cannot be
compared with it, where nearly
3000 people of linguistic and
religious minority were killed on a
single day in two adjacent villages
of Nellie. The state authorities
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even though knew that such a
satanic act was going to be
performed remained silent and
blind observers.
But that did not satisfy the
chauvinists. Murder, arson,
terrorization went on. Both the
Congress and BJP fomented the
chauvinistic acts for their own
gains. To carry on these
indiscriminate killings ULFA were
formed. These killers would not
leave even any democratic voice
from within the Assamese. Saurabh
Bora, a student leader, was killed
at the campus of the Dibrugarh
University since he opposed the
chauvinistic movement. There
were dozens of killings.
What actually could mobilize the
youth in Assam? The problem was
that Assam being a cauldron of
various nationalities and tribes,
having separate language and
religions, was kept under-
developed by the centre. The
educated youth of Assamese origin
had to face unemployment.
Moreover, agriculture in the valley
of Brahmaputra was not developed
by the Assamese. During the
British rule, the rulers brought
large number of Muslim peasants
from the then Bangal (Mymemsingh
of present Bangladesh) to till the
land of Brahmaputra valley which
was a forest laden swampy area.
These peasants were experts in
tilling water-logged areas. Within
50 years the area became the
granary of Assam. So when
unemployment grew up in a critical
scale the children of Assamese
origin found that they could not fall
upon the agriculture either. So the
educated youth wanted hegemony
in all employments of the state. At
the same time, due the crunch of
capital, bourgeoisie of Assamese
origin could not grow even. Most
of the tea garden owners were
either foreigners (British) or from
outside Assam. So only a small
petti bourgeoisie could develop,
who could thrive upon government
contracts and large scale plunder
of state exchequer. Mainly these
people utilized youth to foment the
Assam agitation. They were
instigated by both Congress and
BJP. Accordingly their demands
differed. Those instigated by the
Congress demanded expulsion of
“outsiders” mainly Bengali Hindus
and Nepalese who at that time were
tilting towards left parties of both
varieties –parliamentary and
revolutionary. Those instigated by
BJP demanded expulsion of
“foreigners” –mainly Bengali
Muslims – to start a Hindu Muslim
divide.
Once the Frankenstein was
erupted, it became almost
impossible to stop it. Months after
months killing, arson and plunder
went on. Within this period, the
death of Indira Gandhi loosened
the grip of Congress on the
agitation. So government of Rajiv
Gandhi signed “Assam Accord” with
the leaders of Assam mov