Assam – another ‘valley’?

Udalguri and Darrang districts of Assam have been burning for the last three days due to the clashes between the ‘minority Bodo Tribals’ and the ‘majority Bangladeshi Muslims’, who are illegal migrants. More than 30 people have lost their lives, hundreds injured and thousands displaced. Despite the order of curfew, the illegal Bangladeshi migrants have unleashed violence.

 

Though it is suspected that HuJI and ISI are behind the conspiracy of creating unrest, the connivance of the locally but illegally settled Muslims could not be ruled out, as many villages have hoisted Pakistani & Bangladeshi national flags. The consistent harassing of the minority Bodos and stealing of cattle from them by the majority illegally settled Muslims has also been reported. The violence has reportedly erupted after the Muslims attacked the Bodo village officials.

 

 As the violence has spread to Baksa district, ten companies of Army have been brought in addition to the Para Military Forces and they have conducted flag marches and they have been given ‘shoot-at-sight’ orders too. As the state government was trying to push under the carpet the issues of Muslims hoisting hostile countries’ flags and their involvement in violence and trying to put the blame on the NDFB (National Democratic Front of Bodo Land) for the instigation & escalation of violence, the NDFB has stoutly denied that it has not fired even a single round since the 2005 ceasefire agreement with the government.

 

Even while the Congress Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi was pointing his finger at the NDFB, the AUDF (Assam United Democratic Front), an alliance of Muslim outfits, accused the state government of hatching a conspiracy with the NDFB to drive out Muslims from the Bodoland Territorial Council areas. This charge by the AUDF gains significance in the sense that, it has been the Congress party, which has been helping the illegally settled Bangladeshi Muslims, going out of the way, to give them a ‘legal’ status through unconstitutional laws such as the IMDT (Illegal Migrants Determination by Tribunals) Act and Foreigners (Tribunals for Assam) Act.

 

The IMDT Act, which was enacted by the congress government in 1983, was to provide for the determination of illegal migrants and their deportation, applicable only to those foreigners who had entered into Assam after 25 March 1971 without possession of valid Passports or travel documents or other legal documents. The indigenous Assamese naturally & rightly didn’t like the idea of illegal migrants settling in their state and the young & newly formed AASU (All Assam Students Union) took the responsibility of negotiating with the state and union governments and on 15 August 1985 the ‘Assam Accord‘ was signed to consider the demands of the AASU and after years of negotiations in January 1990, the union government agreed to repeal the Act before February 1991.

 

After having got fed up with the successive Congress, National Front and United front governments delaying the repeal of the Act in parliament, the AASU felt relieved under the hopes that the BJP led NDA government would finally do it. Even while the issue was ‘under the active consideration’ of the NDA government for more than two years, the AASU approached the Supreme Court in March 2000 and after prolonging for five years, the IMDT Act was finally struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional in July 2005. In an act of brazenness exhibiting ugly vote-bank politics, the UPA government tried to incorporate certain sections of the IMDT Act into the ‘Foreigners Act’, so that the illegal Muslim migrants could be legalised through the ‘backdoor’. Again on 5 December 2006, the Supreme Court struck down the Assam specific rules made under the Foreigners Act to the total discomfiture of the UPA government. 

 

Meanwhile, the influx of illegal Muslim migrants had increased in leaps and bounds and both the union & state congress governments have done nothing to deport them. This ineptness of the Congress party has led to the audacious hoisting of Pakistani and Bangladeshi national flags by these anti nationals. These antinational elements are also in collusion with ULFA in attacking, killing & driving the Hindi-speaking people out of Assam. These illegal Muslim migrants from Bangladesh have reportedly usurped the lands from the local Assamese and Bodos and are creating problems for the Indian citizens in connivance with the Islamic terrorists from across the borders.

 

Unless these illegal migrants are deported enmasse, Assam would become another ‘valley’ soon with separatist elements with the help of ULFA, ISI and HuJI playing havoc for the detriment of peace, harmony and national integrity.    

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