Page 45 - June2018

migrants

exploit them in all conceivable way, of- local indigenous people or the police es, it either demolishes the existing char
ten treating the victims as animals,” said authority. Once they successfully grab or takes the easier route to maintain its
the report. the new lands/ areas in the community, unobstructed course by eroding new
they take the full benefits of the flood villages on its banks.
Gravity of the Problem relief under the disaster management
The Char villages spreading from Dhu- department of Assam government. How different Assam sandbars from
bri to Sadiya comprise a total area of They, however, are different from Bangladesh?
3,609.27 sq. Kms (2003-04) and ac- the large population of indigenous The report said the basic features of
counts for 4.60 per cent of the state’s Muslims in Assam. In fact, indigenous the chars of Assam and Bangladesh are
total geographical area. There are 2,251 Muslims continue to complaint of fear same except that the average cropping
Char villages spread in 14 of the state’s of losing their identity from the Bengali intensity of the chars of Assam is more
36 districts and occupying 3,609. 27 sq. speaking Muslims from Bangladesh. than that of Bangladesh probably be-
Kms of land with the Char area being cause unlike in the chars of Bangladesh,
the largest in Dhubri followed by Jorhat Detection of illegal migrants the seawater alkaline components in
district, suggesting that the demogra- Assam, meanwhile, is about to update the chars of Assam are non-existent.
phy of Assam was fast changing due to the National Register of Citizens 1951 And, with the plentiful growth of luxu-
high population growth rate in the char to segregate its citizens and illegal mi- riant vegetation, high cropping intensi-
areas. The total population of the char grants, mainly from Bangladesh. The ty with minimum labour, fishing, boat-
areas in 2003-04 was 24.9. lakhs, with NRC is being updated with Mach 24, ing and thatching opportunities, and
an explosive growth rate of 195.83 per above all, the absence of government
cent in Dhubri (between 1992-2003) administration and encouragement by
98.85 per cent in Nagaon, 51.58 per cent Some Muslim both the “communal politicians and the
in Jorhat, 58.30 per cent in Sonitpur Government of Assam, lured by vote
and 59.25 per cent in Tinsukia. organisations, bank politics, the chars of Assam have
“The most distressing point of con- see this report become the paradise of illegal Bangla-
cern is that almost all the settlers are deshis. Interestingly, human habitation
either immigrants from erstwhile East as ‘a ploy by the in the chars of Bangladesh is known to
Pakistan or Bangladesh, a section of government’ be banned by Bangladesh government.
whom has now become citizens as per
the Assam Accord, 1983, or they are il- to tag all char Who are the members of the
legal Bangladeshis coming after 24 committee?
March, 1971- all living together without dwellers as The report was submitted by five mem-
the illegal Bangladeshis being identi- illegal migrants bers of the committee — former IAS
fied,” said the report. officer Rohini Kumar Baruah, Gauhati
University Law College dean Ramesh
The ploy to grab Assam land 1971 as the cut-off date under the su- Borpatragohain, senior Gauhati High
The report says as the chars are in to- pervision of the Supreme Court, which Court advocate Anil Bhattacharya, for-
tal control of the illegal migrants, they directed the Centre to complete the ex- mer Assam MLA Ajoy Dutta and a com-
often wander in other places in Assam ercise by June 30 this year. missioner and secretary of the state
for jobs and new areas for encroach- This means those proving their/ revenue department.
ment. “While so wandering, they have their forefathers’ stay in Assam (with
their ploy handy and plead that they documents) till March 24, 1971, will be What do Muslim organisations say?
are flood and erosion-affected people enrolled as Indian citizens and those Some Muslim organisations, however,
displaced from their home Barpeta or failing to do so will be identified as ille- see this report as “a ploy by the BJP gov-
Dhubri districts. They take advantage gal migrants from Bangladesh. ernment” to tag all char dwellers as ille-
of the fact that the illegal Bangladeshis gal Bangladeshi migrants. They said the
of Assam have not been identified and Threat to ecology chars are mostly inhibited by Muslim
pose that they are citizens of India.” The chars or sandbars are temporary migrants who were either brought by
“The fact, however, remains that they accretions formed due to deposits of the British to grow food items in Assam
neither understand anything of the lo- the silts carried by the river Brahmapu- or had settled in Assam before March
cal language nor are they acquainted tra and are highly susceptible to demo- 24, 1971, the cut-off date decided in the
with the locality they want to grab. Their lition due to strong river current during 1985 Assam Accord, for detection and
invisible leaders guide them and teach the high annual floods. As the report deportation of foreigners.
them one or two things about the local said, “When human habitation in the
language or culture to hoodwink the char obstructs its natural or new cours- letters@tehelka.com

Tehelka / 15 june 2018 45 www.Tehelka.com

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