IMMIGRATION IN ASSAM

-Ibu Sanjeeb Garg

Discussion

1. Introduction2. Immigration myth or reality the

Numbers game3. Why?4. Climate Change and Bangladesh5. The question of Chars6. Consequences 7. What can be done

Introduction

Assam has a long history of immigration

British conquered –Tea garden workers came from Orissa ,Bihar region Land hungry Muslim peasants came from Mymensingh districts (again

encouraged by the British to cultivate virgin lands in Lower Assam) In 1941 Sir Sadullah gave a further fillip to this in the pretext of growing

more food(Lord Wavell remarked Grow More Muslims campaign) Post partition large number of Hindus migrated Post 1971 again another wave of Hindus migrated

In the light of the above history it is often argued that immigration continues often today .

AASU Movement -1978

Why???

The reason : Long standing call Fear of being minorities in their own land

.Case in point - Tripura

Sikkim

East Bengali Hindus displaced the tribal peopleHindu Nepalis displaced the Buddhist Lepchas

Immediate reason

Death of Mangaldoi MP(Member of Parliament) Hiralal Patowari –reelection declared -79000 extra voters in a spate of 2 years.

Fears of the people of Assam came true .AASU gave call for 12 hour satyagraha and soon the movement picked up momentum

6 years movement picked up speed culminating in the signing of the ASSAM ACCORD in 1985.

Not without faults

Assam Accord failed –not able to solve the problem even today

Biggest blots Neille Massacre

2. Immigration Myth or Reality The Numbers Game

White Paper –truth or lie?

Shown that overall the growth rate of Assam (16.9%)is lower than national average(17.8%) in the 2001-2011 decade

But when districts like Dhubri (24.40%),Nagaon(22.09%),Barpeta(22.09%) ,Darrang(21.07%) –all distrcits have above national average

Tribal distrcits like Kokrajhar(5.9%) Chirang(12%),Nalbari(11.74%) are the ones below national average

Does this mean that tribals are any less virile ?

The answer of course is NO …the answer lies in the fact that there has been large scale immigration in this areas!

3. Why??Pull factors :

Economic Loose Policies in North East Transit point for El Dorado Lebensarum theory Porous border

Push Factors

Rising populationGlobal economic crisis downturn

Religious and cultural homogeneity with previous settlers'

Pressure on land in Bangladesh

4. Climate change and Bangladesh 40% hit by floods(National Geographic) By 2050 Brahmaputra annual runoff

decrease by 14% High population make it more vulnerable

to disasters Stliting Erosion

Sea level rise and Bangladesh

1m rise in sea level

2 m rise in sea level

3 m rise in sea level

The route for migration

5. Question of Chars

6. Consequences

Demographic change Future threat to national integrity and

security Vestiges of AASU movement to be

carried out by ethnic groups. Violence in BTAD area an example

Pressure on Land in border areas

7. Measures to be takePolitical Measures

Debate and make people aware Assure the older generations the

benefits if they cooperate and not become mere vote bank

Keeping a tab in constituencies numbers

Administrative Measures

Char Development Commission Use of multipurpose cards like AADHAR Work Permits Monitoring of the work permit holders

Security Measures

Border fencing and patrolling char area Floodlighting Decrease distance between border

outposts No firing policy strictly implemented Detection and Deportation changed to

Detection and Verification

Long Term Measures

India develop border areas of Bangladesh

Help Bangladesh with climate change Help Bangladesh with population control