Assam situation could escalate, say experts
Assam situation could escalate, say experts
New Delhi: The current situation in Assam could escalate to the level of a sustained conflict if not handled with care, panellists warned at a conference held on Monday at Jamia Millia Islamia University.
Calling the current situation the “single biggest tragedy post-partition in terms of the people displaced”, Hazarika warned that the oversimplification of complex issues by the media and politicians, and the “imposition of mainland narratives where there are many shades of grey” has led to the emergence of sharper fault lines in the region. “A range of key issues are at the heart of the problem, including competing identities, competing pressures of land as well as concerns over illegal migration,” he said.
Professor Udayon Misra, national fellow at the Indian Council of Social Science Research, Guwahati, gave a concise history of the region, and emphasized the importance of the gradual loss of tribal land as one of the key sources of tension in the region. He also emphasized the heterogeneity of the region, pointing out that, while illegal immigration is certainly an issue, many Bengali-speaking Muslims have lived in the region for generations, making it difficult to separate “immigrants” from those who identify as Assamese.
Several panellists raised concerns about the potential of recent incidents spilling over into a longer-term conflict, citing the unchecked accumulation of arms by various groups in the North-East.
Behal of the North East Network, a civil society organization in the North-East, also raised concerns that the collapse of schools and a poor economic opportunity is a recipe for violence.
“The rate of school dropouts is much higher due to violence,” she said, “so this generation of children who grow up in educational darkness will find new leadership coming from militant groups.”
Wajahat Habibullah, chairperson of the National Commission on Minorities, emphasized that there needs to be more coordination and dialogue between the local and Union government, and also said that the commission was contemplating issuing identification cards to help sort out residents from non-residents in an effort to ease the rehabilitation process.
“It’s a double tragedy that we are seeing,” said Hazarika at the event. “The groups that have fled Bangalore and Pune may be going back, but it’s also a signal of how insecure people felt even in the places where they have been living for years. It tells us something about India, and where it is today.”
malia.p@livemint.com
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First Published:4 Sep 2012, 01:07 AM IST
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