Demographic threat' to indigenous inhabitants

Nirendra Dev *

The good old and also the pretty bad 'demographic threat' to indigenous inhabitants is back in public debate. NSF president Kegwayhun Tep and general secretary Siipuni NG Philo expressed concern that lack of stringent implementation of the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation (BEFR), 1873 had made the Naga homeland a safe haven for illegal immigrants.

In general sense the reference could be about Bangladeshi influx, which stands as a big menace for the state of Assam, the rest of north east India and also the rest of India. It may not be erroneous to suggest that Bangladeshis have found 'home-stays' even in places like Delhi, Mumbai and parts of Kerala.

The NSF statement had an interesting line the -- “need for a tough and honest government run by tough and honest leaders, tough and honest bureaucracy backed by tough and honest general public". In other words they are calling for a vigilant society. And here is the catch.

In fact, Assam’s Nagaon to Daboka belt bordering Dimapur in Nagaland was already flooded with Bengali Muslims and also the Hindus even in the nineties and sons of the soil (Assamese) have been outnumbered. Natives believe that there is a sinister design in this demographic explosion; and sadly this got a huge bolster during the 1971 Bangladeshi struggle for freedom against Pakistan.

The modus operandi is following a fixed pattern. Once the 'illegal immigrants' are out from human reservoir called Bangladesh to this side of the border they settle for any manual work including household chores, daily wages on a comparatively much lesser wages than other Indian labourers.

Within five years they would own a pan shop, start egg or fish business even taking stuff on four-wheel carts (thela) and in another 10 years they club themselves with influential middle class and soon become culturally organized and politically threatening to political parties. Women and children also get employment at cheap rates as domestic help and household chores.

There are a huge number of madrasas and several NGOs helping them directly or indirectly to find jobs, necessary government papers, residential proof certificates etc.

Till hitherto only RSS raised the bogey called 'Love Jehad' in Kerala, now there is general talk about that and several tribal communities closer home have encouraged or fallen prey to 'wedlock jehad'.

The need for social vigilance came long back but none took the issue seriously. In mid-nineties Hiteshwar Saikia of the Congress party (Assam CM) had said there was no Bangladeshi infiltrator in his state.

Some of us had questioned the then Nagaland Chief Minister S C Jamir on the matter in his Half Nagarjan house. The veteran Jamir though a Congress man was candid - “Bangladeshis are increasing like rabbits. We are worried about such illegal entry”.

But nothing much moved on ground. Even the media report was halfhearted. I remember arguing with a few colleagues in a Dimapur-based newspaper (now defunct) to convince them that the story deserved better treatment.

There is yet another 'Assam angle' to the agony and here too the issue was pushed under carpet. The Tarun Gogoi ministry in Assam that also had Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (now BJP's star and Neiphiu Rio's friend in arms) was particularly soft towards Bangladeshi 'guests'. The reason was vote bank.

There was more to it and the complexity ought to be comprehended in their totality.

The apprehensions about greater Muslim hegemony in the region gained currency when in Silchar belt along the Barak valley, a new slogan emerged among the Bengali Muslims --- allegedly at the instance of Miyaland Demand Committee.

Assam Governor Lt Gen [Retd] S K Sinha had said, Bangladeshi influx has a lot to do with insurgents and their operations. “ULFA speaks on every issue under the sky. They join issue with me even on frivolous subject. But they maintained a thundering silence on the influx. Reason is obvious,” Gen. Sinha had noted.

Around 2005, it was discovered that many ULFA leaders ran profit making hotel business in Dhaka and other places in Bangladesh. Other insurgent groups in north east also have always enjoyed the hospitality and strategic support of East Pakistan and also Bangladesh later. The ISI of Pakistan and its cahoots -- the Jamait group in Bangladesh and a section of 'intelligence agencies' also played their roles.

Surrendered ULFA lieutenant Abhinash Bordoloi had interacted with some visiting journalists from Delhi in 2000. “ULFA just could not take any step regarding influx of Bangladeshis.

The ISI-Bangladesh nexus to help ULFA continued for long and so is(was) the ULFA dilemma. ULFA has hardly targeted Bangladeshi Muslims while they did not hesitate to eliminate several Marwari, Bihari and other north Indian cutting across professions,” Bordoloi had told some of us.

However, the politics of Muslim appeasement seemed to have dominated the politics of Assam for quite sometime.

Lt Gen Sinha was immediately dubbed as a "BJP-RSS mole”.

The moot point in 2023 vis-a-vis Nagaland is that every effort should be made to delink the illegal immigrants issue from helpless Bihari rickshawallahs. The Biharis and even those from Rajasthan will come back to the backyards in their states one day; the Bengali Muslims are permanent guests and future/present voters.

A book by a retired Naga bureaucrat known for his flamboyance style says that the Bangladeshi Muslims have been perhaps "recklessly" harboured in the Dimapur region and hence the cautioning -- "Today they are our obedient servants. Tomorrow it will be our optionless turn to serve them".