[Assam] Coming from an ex-Union Minister, Indian culpability in turning Assam to Pakistani/Bangladeshi haven is irrefutable now. India must clean up Assam to the last scrap of this dirty mess she created and leave Assam to the Assamese alone.

[Bartta Bistar]

*Assam carnage: Paying for the sins of vote-bank politics—I*
*By Jagmohan*

http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=169&page=30

*The policy of virtually enfranchising Bangladeshi infiltrators found its
most brazen expression in 1979-80 when parliamentary elections were held on
the basis of 1979 electoral rolls, which had been highly inflated by the
inclusion of Bangladeshi infiltrators.

Infiltration from East Pakistan continued. The extent to which the security
was jeopardized could be seen from the fact that during the Chinese invasion
of 1962, a sizeable section of infiltrators displayed Pakistan's flag. *

For the ghastly drama enacted during the last few days in Assam, in which
about 70 innocent persons were done to death in cold blood, the United
Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) is squarely responsible. But no less
responsibility rests upon those who, by virtue of their vote-bank politics
and acts of misgovernance, have brought this organisation into being and
allowed it to develop its lethal fangs. It is they who need to be tried at
the bar of history, punished and thrown in the dustbin of Indian polity;
otherwise such heinous crimes would continue to be perpetrated and the
country would be adding many more chapters to its blood-soaked grammar of
turmoil and turbulence.

ULFA was born in 1979 in the disturbed atmosphere created by
anti-immigration movement, which was primarily directed against what was
perceived to be a "de facto Indian government policy of admitting and
enfranchising foreigners".

In 1950, the issue of infiltration came up for consideration of Parliament.
Its serious nature was recognised by the Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel. He took speedy action and got the Immigrants Act (Expulsion from
Assam), 1950 passed. But soon after Sardar Patel's death in December 1950, a
number of side-issues were raised with regard to the said Act. It became a
dead letter and was formally repealed in 1957. This was the first major
setback to the efforts to safeguard Assam's interest as well as security of
the nation.

Consequently, infiltration from East Pakistan continued. The extent to which
the security was jeopardized could be seen from the fact that during the
Chinese invasion of 1962, a sizeable section of infiltrators displayed
Pakistan's flag. In view of happenings of this nature, a plan—known as
Prevention of Infiltrations Plan—was formulated. The plan provided for
identification of infiltrators by Tribunals on the basis of National
Register of Citizens, 1951. It was vigorously implemented by the Chief
Minister, B.P. Chaliha. From 1964 to 1970, 240,000 infiltrators were
identified. Another 20,800 were spotted from 1967 to 1970. But then narrow
political considerations came into play. A group of MLAs, led by Fakhruddin
Ali Ahmed, started propagating that if B.P. Chaliha continued with his
campaign, the Congress party would lose Muslim votes not only in Assam but
also in the rest of the country. The vote-bank politics prevailed. The plan
for prevention of infiltration was virtually abandoned and Tribunals
dissolved. This was another victory for the pro-infiltrators forces.

The policy of virtually enfranchising Bangladeshi infiltrators found its
most brazen expression in 1979-80 when parliamentary elections were held on
the basis of 1979 electoral rolls which had been highly inflated by the
inclusion of Bangladeshi infiltrators. No less an authority than the Chief
Election Commissioner had publicly attributed high increase of 35 per cent
in the population of Assam in the period, 1961-71, to "the influx from the
neighbouring country". Consequently, resentment amongst Assamese mounted and
mass movement erupted.

Though the movement was led by All Assam Student Union, it was ULFA which
injected violence in it. The 1983 State Assembly elections added fuel to the
fire and the period, 1980-85, saw some of the most brutal incidents, such as
the infamous massacres of Nillie and Gohpur. Tragically even during this
period of bloody turmoil, there was a marked reluctance on part of the
ruling party at the Centre to give up its narrow political consideration of
keeping a vote-bank intact. On the other hand, it proceeded to provide a
stronger legal protection to those who were suspected to be "illegal
aliens". In 1983, the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) Act was
passed. The new law was so designed that it made the task of identification
and deportation of "aliens" extremely difficult.

Following the Assam Accord (1985), fresh elections to the State Assembly
were held. This brought, Assam Gana Parishad, the political outfit of AASU,
to power. Peace seemed to have returned to the state. But the AGP ministry
turned out a highly disappointing performance. Its worst failure was in
detecting and deporting illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators. It neither
effectively pressurised the union government to amend or repeal the IMDT Act
nor took energetic action to achieve whatever could be achieved within the
limitations imposed by the said Act. Out of an estimated three million
infiltrators, not more than 500 were deported during the regime of AGP
(December 1985-November 1990). Clearly, the Parishad proved as unprincipled
as other parties in sacrificing national interests at the altar of the
vote-bank politics.

The attitude of the Union government was still more deplorable. It proved
insincere in implementing the Assam Accord. Its petty politics made it
surrender an excellent opportunity to evolve a unity of minds, adopt a
coordinated approach, tackle the problem of infiltrators in its entirety and
help the state government in acquiring a broader vision about Assam's place
in the Indian Union. Unpardonably, the union government went the other way.
It created hurdles and even egged on the plain tribals to embarrass the
state government by raising all sorts of demands, including the demand for
Bodoland.

Consequently, notwithstanding all the noises that were made in the media and
other fora, infiltration of Bangladeshis into Assam continued. During the
period 1971-91, the population of Assam increased at the rate of 52.44 per
cent as compared to the all-India rate of increase of 48.24 per cent. But
more revealing than the general increase was the increase in the population
of certain areas. Between two revisions of 1994 and 1997, a three-year gap,
there was more than 30 per cent increase in 17 Assembly constituencies and
more than 20 per cent increase in 40 Assembly constituencies. The all-India
average growth of electoral rolls over this three-year period was seven per
cent, while for Assam it was as high as 16.4 per cent.

One of the unwholesome features of the Indian State in the post-independent
period has been to follow hard and soft line alternatively in its attempt to
solve problems of national security. In the process, it has been falling in
between the two stools. Both the Army operations—Bajrang and Rhino—were
called off halfway. The Saikia ministry even released about 400 hard-core
militants, including those involved in heinous crime and whose arrests had
been effectuated by the armed forces at heavy cost of men and material.

A scheme was also put in operation under which ULFA militants who
surrendered could secure extensive rehabilitation benefits. While the
positive aspects of the scheme were limited, its negative impacts were
fundamental. An impression was created that the way to get a job or obtain
loan or set up a remunerative business was not through hard and honest work
but through subterfuge and subversion and even through spilling of blood of
innocents. A cardinal sin was committed by the Saikia's ministry by playing
with the fundamental purpose of the state and causing birth and growth of
SULFA which, apart form violating the basic principles of justice and rule
of law, created social tensions and administrative complications on a large
scale, and prolonged the collective agony of the law-abiding citizens. To
provide a line of retreat to the members of ULFA and to grant them amnesty
for their past lawlessness was understandable; but to grant them special
privileges was nothing short of providing incentives for committing crime
and encouraging other ethnic groups in the state to resort to violence to
get their demands, justified or unjustified, fulfilled. The bull, it was
forgotten, could be tamed only by taking him by horns and not by letting him
loose on the promise of good behaviour. (The second part would cover two
judgments of Supreme Court, Bangladeshi links and ways to retrieve the
current agonising conditions.)

*(The writer is a former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir and a former Union
Minister.)*
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