After the recent (July) riot in Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District Council (BTC) areas involving members of Bodo tribe and Bengali-speaking Muslims, most of whom have been suspected to be illegal migrants from Bangladesh, the issue of illegal migration has once again come back to the Centre stage of public focus in the State. It has been firmly believed that the riot was the outward reflection of the prevailing undercurrent of tension between the two communities over land rights.

The fresh realisation of among the people about the danger posed by the infiltration from Bangladesh – a fact admitted by chief minister Tarun Gogoi too — or the whole issue about the influx has manifested in the series of mass protests that have rocked the streets of  different districts of Assam  in  the post riot period. There have been at least 15 public protests, at multiple locations, in less than a month demanding early detection and deportation of illegal infiltrators to Assam.

It is because, post BTC riots, many indigenous communities in Assam have felt that influx has threatened not only the right to land and resources of all the indigenous people of the State but also their very existence. The problem is not confined to only the BTC areas of the state, but in various other parts too.

In fact the clashes have apparently united various ethnic communities in Assam against the major issue of  illegal migration from Bangladesh. Organisations representing various ethnic groups have vowed to make the government  drive away illegal Bangladeshis who they see as a common threat to their ethnic identity. The common realisation has been  if the Bodos are suffering today, it could be anyone other ethnic group tomorrow including  Koch-Rajbongshis, Rabhas, Garos, Karbis, Dimasas, Tiwas, Nagas, Kukis, Hmars, Morans, Mishing, etc.

Organisations representing Bodo, Dimasa, Tiwa, Deuri, Karbi, Garo, Rabha, Sonowal Kachari and other tribal communities have also decided to form a coordination committee for championing the cause. The decision was taken at a convention of non-political organisations  organized by the Coordination Committee for Bodo National Organisations (CCBNO).

Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, however, has stated that agitation on the street is not going to solve the problem of illegal migration which needs to be tackled in a pragmatic manner. He said such agitation would create insecurity among a section of genuine Indian citizens and this in turn would create bad blood in the State.

“The protests will continue. We are not going to rest unless illegal migrants from Bangladesh are deported, the border is fenced and the NRC in Assam is updated. The people are worried about becoming minority in their home under the pressure of burgeoning population of llegal migrants,”

Gogoi has fired a broadside at Opposition political parties , BJP and Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), of adding fuel to the fresh agitation against illegal migrants for their narrow political gains. The chief minister has promised that the ruling Congress would bring about a white paper on  October 7 next to give details about what the ruling party has done so far to solve the problem of illegal  migration. He has also promised that the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the State would be updated in next three years on the basis of 1971 voters list to make detection of illegal migrants easier.

The issue has this time prompted the North East Students Organisation (NESO) to take agitation path in the greater interest of indigenous people of the entire region.  The NESO induced a total  bandh in all the six N-E States on September 6 last and organised a massive rally in Guwahati the same day mainly demanding immediate detection and deportation all the illegal Bangladeshis from the North-Eastern States, there has been no let up since then.

The participants in the protest march were holding placard which  read – “Illegal Bangladeshi  go back”, “Implement all clauses of Assam accord”, “provide land rights  and constitutional safeguard to ethnic people of the N-E’,  “Update National Register of Citizens (NRC)”, “Refrain from rehabilitating Bangladeshi citizens who have come after 1971 in the name of rehabilitating violence-displaced”.

“The protests will continue. We are not going to rest unless illegal migrants from Bangladesh are deported, the border is fenced and the NRC in Assam is updated. The people are worried about becoming minority in their home under the pressure of burgeoning population of illegal migrants,” NESO chairman Dr Samujjal Bhattacharrya  said .

The NESO chairman said former Prime Minister Late Rajiv Gandhi had facilitated signing of Assam Accord in Nineteen Eighty-five as a culmination of  six-years-long Assam Agitation that started in 1979, but the incumbent UPA chairperson and his wife Sonia Gandhi has failed to implement the provisions of Assam Accord.

The Assam Agitation of 1979 and 1985 culminated in signing of Assam Accord in 1985 with a promise among others for detection and deportation illegal migrants from Bangladesh who had come to Assam after March, 1971

All the leaders of NESO constituents including Manipur Students Union, Naga Students Federation, Mizo Students’ Union, All Twipra Students Union, All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU), Khasi Students Union and Garo Students Union of Meghalaya, and AASU of  Assam while addressing the massive rally emphasized that all the indigenous people of the Northeast should remain united in the tirade against the problem posed by illegal Bangladeshi migrants swarming the region.

Twenty-six organisations of various ethnic groups in the region have sent their representatives  to take part in today’s massive rally and add decibel to the fresh shouts on the street against illegal migrants.

The NESO leaders  have demanded immediate action on part of the governments concerned to seal the India-Bangladesh border in the region to stop infiltration across the border, updating of the National Register of Citizens immediately, land rights and constitutional safeguards to indigenous population that is under threat from unabated illegal migrants and implementation all the clauses of Assam Accord.

The NESO has called upon political parties in the region to do away with their general tendency to bank among the illegal migrants to win election and better focus on protecting the rights and facilitating welfare of indigenous population. The students’ body appealed to all the MPs from the region to raise the burning issue of illegal migrants in the Parliament.

The people of Assam sacrificed a lot during the Assam Agitation, which was against the issue of illegal infiltration. A total of 855   persons including students died in the movement. However, the core issue of the movement - infiltration from Bangladesh - is continuing till today even after 27 years of signing of Assam Accord that marked the culmination of the mass agitation. Apparently, another phase of such intense mass movement looks looming over the state unless the government acts in time to assure action in ground to detect and deport illegal migrants from Bangladesh.