From the Sentinel
Whom should we blame it on? Thanks to illegal immigration from Bangladesh, the demographic profile of Asom has been reversed. By a Staff Reporter GUWAHATI, June 18: Do the formation of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and its leaders taking shelter in Bangladesh have anything to do with the present demographic trend in Asom? Though these two are seemingly different issues, yet the religion-wise population figures of census reports compel one to look at the current demographic pattern of the State from that angle too. The ULFA was formed on April 7, 1979 with the demand for a “sovereign Asom”, and ULFA leaders took shelter in Bangladesh in 1989. Census reports reveal that Muslim population in the State — thanks to illegal immigration from Bangladesh — started to rise steeply since the ULFA was formed and its leaders took shelter in Bangladesh. According to sources, an ULFA cadre first went to Bangladesh in 1989 and met a minister belonging to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), and that meeting paved the way for ULFA cadres getting arms training under the ISI in Peshawar in Pakistan, in 1990-91. Of course, the first batch of 40 ULFA cadres, including ‘commander-in- chief’ Paresh Baruah, got arms training under the NSCN at its camps in Myanmar in 1983. The second batch of 90 ULFA cadres, including Arabinda Rajkhowa and Kalpajyoti Neog, got arms training under the NSCN at Kachin in Myanmar, in 1986. The census figures, on the other hand, say that Hindu population of Goalpara district in 1971 was 50.11 per cent against 41.50 per cent Muslim population, but after 20 years — in 1991 — Hindu population in the district fell abruptly to 39.89 per cent, while Muslim population rose steeply to 50.18 per cent. In Dhubri district, Hindu population in 1971 was 38.80 per cent against 60.46 per cent Muslim population, but in 1991, Hindu population declined to 28.73 per cent while the Muslim population rose to 70.45 per cent. In Barpeta district, Hindu population in 1971 was 51.12 per cent against 48.65 Muslim population, but 20 years later, Muslim population rose to 56.07 per cent leaving the Hindu population behind at 40.26 per cent. In Hailakandi district, Hindu population in 1971 was 47.48 per cent against 51.40 per cent Muslim population, but 20 years later, while Hindu population fell to 43.71 per cent, Muslim population rose to 54.79 per cent. In most of the other districts, Hindu population registered a slight fall, while Muslim population registered a rise. As per the 2001 Census report, the overall Hindu population in the State was 64.9 per cent against 67.1 per cent in 1991, while for Muslim population the figures for the corresponding years stood at 30.9 per cent and 28.4 per cent. It may be mentioned here that The Sentinel published a report recently quoting intelligence reports that over 20 jehadi groups have tied up with the ULFA so as to carry out subversive activities in the State. Circles concerned in the State think that after the emergence of the ULFA, there has been a large-scale infiltration from Bangladesh to Asom. Repeated attacks on Hindi-speaking people, who comprise a large part of the labour force in the State, are an attempt to create job avenues for illegal Bangladeshis. Now the demographic trend in some lower Asom districts has reached such a pretty pass that an AUDF MLA even went to the extent of raising the demand for an “autonomous council” for the “minorities” of those districts. Circles concerned in the State feel that the ULFA’s goal of an “independent Asom” has virtually turned into a goal for a “greater Bangladesh” comprising Asom as the most cherished territory. On the other hand, the BSF has also failed to check infiltration from Bangladesh as also other illegal cross-border activities, thanks to the porous border that is yet to completely fenced. Had the Government of India been awake to the urgent need for completely sealing the Indo-Bangladesh border, with the same promptness as shown in respect of Jammu & Kashmir or Punjab in relation to the border with Pakistan, one could have hoped for a bit of action on the ground against illegal immigration from Bangladesh. But that is yet to happen. If the ULFA is a gainer of sorts by having to get a safe sanctuary in Bangladesh, the illegal Bangladeshis in Asom are also an equal gainer — thanks, of course, to the ULFA’s silence on these illegal lot, and thus its silence on the process of reverse demography in the State. _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
