Going beyond the violence : Of influx and its impact
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: July 27, 2012 -

Round up the ring leaders. The instruction is precise and to the point.

Already forty dead and nearly two lakh people displaced in the clash between Bodo tribals and minority immigrants, correction, illegal Bangladeshis, at Kokrajhar and the adjoining districts in Assam and while it is anybody's guess when the body count will stop, Delhi and Guwahati cannot afford to leave it to the realm of guessing, if the issue is to be addressed fittingly.

Or it may well turn out to be a case of 'Assam is not burning' if one takes Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi seriously.

Sure there must be ring leaders orchestrating the violence but such leaders do not sprout in a vacuum.

It is the condition which has led to the emergence of such people that the Centre and the Assam Government should study with the political willingness it calls for.

Static or even dwindling resources and multiplying human population, more so when it is deemed that the factor for the multiplying population is due to rampant influx and the recipe for a human disaster to unfold has just been concocted.

This is what is happening in Assam today. By all means troops should be deployed to put the situation under control and all those who fan communal sentiments should be penalised.

There is no doubt about this, but yet there is also the pressing need for the Government, both at Delhi and Guwahati, to look beyond this and address the issue on a bigger canvass-large scale influx from across the border which has threatened the identity of the indigenous people of Assam.

The problem of large scale influx from across the border has dogged Assam for decades with successive Governments unable to stem the rot and the unwillingness of the political leadership to address the matter is writ large over the violence that is unfolding there.

There is also a lesson for the other States in the North East region.

In Nagaland the large scale influx of outsiders has literally given birth to a category of people known as the Sumiyas, who have blended with the local population and which has led to more pressure on the scarce local resources besides impacting on its demography.

In Manipur deep concern has already been raised over the influx of outsiders and while the decadal head count has not reflected this, it would be foolish to brush aside the voice of concern nonchalantly.

As noted earlier, there are enough documents and examples on how large scale and unchecked influx can impact on the local population and it is not for nothing that Nations across the world have such strict immigration rules.

Violence is certainly not the answer to influx but while dealing with the ongoing series of clashes at Assam, Delhi and Guwahati need to go beyond the body bags and try to address the core issue.

Politics as understood in the context of vote banks is one major factor for political parties hesitating to rise to the occasion.

A damning statement of seeing politics only through the prism of being in power and enjoying the trap¬pings that come along with it.

Today it is Assam and tomorrow it could be any other State in the region. This is the uncomfortable reality.