BETWEEN LAND ALIENATIONS, SONS OF SOILS AND REGIONALISM
By:Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBurman , Category: General, Posted on:2009-12-04 22:30:47

Pradyot Bikram Manikya DebBurman It is good to hear that the centre has started speaking the language of the common man, at least when it comes to national integrity, especially when it comes to Arunachal Pradesh. According to many people in the Northeast the centre, at times, seems too far away or we matter too inconsequential to them.

A lot of critics say that is a perception and not truth, well, to set the record straight it is because of the lack of addressing the local and sensitive issues that regional parties have come about. The son of the soil issue is extremely dear to the Northeast and this topic cannot be pushed under the carpet for the larger assimilation of the nation.

While nation building is very important, it cannot be seen from a myopic point of view especially from a perspective which ignores the aspiration of the simple and the neglected. Far too often ideologies and isms are the motivating factors in implementation of schemes and not the distinct nature and identity of the problem.

In the Northeast, we have seen the maximum displacement of the native people. But unlike Punjab or Bengal where migration was largely due to partition, we have faced a large influx of people in the region post independence, all in the name of rehabilitation. We have forgotten that while it is good to have a humanitarian cause our priority is first to the people of the country (in this case the original inhabitants).

Democracy has its fallacies and resettlement is the biggest tool to ensure a victory in the electoral ballot. Assam, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh and to an extent Meghalaya, has seen this to an alarming effect. Most of the states that either have Inner Line Permit, Restricted Area Permit or 6th Schedule Protection, at some point of time has faced large scale alienation of land. The voice of the unsettled does not speak about Nuclear energy, Eco or IT Parks but that of possession of land and insecurity of annihilation in the name of assimilation. What has happened in Dumbur (Tripura) is a national shame and the move to amend the forest act rights, whereby the cut off year will be changed from 1930 to 1984, is very alarming. Before this amendment was proposed a debate between the stake holders should have taken place, where matters should have been agreed upon. These moves often seem arbitrary and could lead to insecurities among the affected Tribals.

When Sonia Gandhi asked for the scrapping of the SEZ (Special Economic Zones) across the country there was not much talk of it, but today one can see that in the name of development large scale land had been acquired without taking the local population into confidence. I fear that the insurgencies in the Northeast may resort to Naxalism, as seen in Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and Andhara Pradesh, where the issues are the same - that of land alienation and systematic deprivations of the local government.

When Rahul Gandhi came to Tripura and visited Monu a small village in rural Tripura, it was a welcome change. Overnight the face of the sleepy village changed and it was given a facelift. There were scores of Congress workers who did a lot of ground work to ensure that the visit was a success and there was fresh building of cadre strength in the Youth Congress. This visit will only be seen as a success when the party can sustain the momentum and clean up its act on a few fronts. The party today has no seats in the Schedule Tribe and Schedule Caste belt which roughly constitutes 50% of the seats in the state assembly. Unfortunately, even now the party fails to raise issues dealing with the rural and neglected population and seems to concentrate on the Living room politics.

The problem in Assam seems to be even more fluid as the population of Assam does not know if the ruling national party will go into the next election alone or with fundamentalist parties like AUDF led by Baddaruddin Ajamal. While there are short term gains for the Congress if they go with AUDF, the BJP and AGP will definitely be a winner in the longer scheme of things. An alliance between Congress and the AUDF will be similar to that of the Mayawati-Rao understanding in 1995 or the Kerela Congress tie up with the Muslim league. Either way, such alliances have demoralized the rank and file of the grand old party and has enthused the rivals, something which the Chief Minister of Assam, Tarun Gogoi knows very well. My only plea would be to let Assam politics be handled by people like Tarun Gogoi rather than the so-called well wishers from Delhi, who have no base in their own state. The BJP-AGP combine will also need to rethink their strategy - of only looking at the Hindu vote bank and factually ignoring the large scale Muslim population. While as long as Tarun Gogois stance remains firm we can look at the Bodo parties remaining faithful allies with the Congress.

If this happens we will see the consolidation of a regional leader from a national party after a long gap, along the lines of LPN Bordoloi, Willaim Sangma and SC Jamir.

While the problems of different states vary, the problems in Meghalaya are also to be treated with caution. The uranium mining problem may be of national importance but a consensus must be built and the interest of the people should be the priority. UCIL has pledged 209 Crore for the development of the area, my question is, has the government done so little that a company needs to provide basic infrastructure after 62 years of independence? If the mining is related to the lack of development in the area, then the job of the state government is to provide work and take responsibility and not depend on a mining company to provide basic amenities like water and roads to the people of the area. The Khasi Students Union also needs to develop a more holistic approach rather than having like road blockades (in the national highway) and burning Government vehicles. A public debate should be the order of the day and let this be televised through out the state so that the common person knows what the future holds for them. Disinformation is the only way we continue to be enslaved, and through a public debate, where issues are discussed comprehensively, there will be clarity in resolving the issue. The same should also be the way to deal with the power projects in Garo Hills, which is taking place at the expense of bio diversity. On one hand, we allow uranium mining for modern nuclear energy, yet on the other, we contradict by getting into ancient thermal (coal based) energy in Balpakhram, thereby endangering the rich flora and Fauna.

The endgame here is that until the national parties have a strong sense of regional issues and resolve them, they will always be looked at with suspicion and the son of the soil card will always be played by the regional parties. One should also realize that dams, mining and the so-called forest rights have bought no development to the rural person. Land displacement is a major issue whether it is Teesta, Dumbur, Domasiat or Darrang. Ethnic tensions are bound to flare up and the people can clearly see, that in the name of democracy only numbers are being respected and not diversty.

The issue here is not that of development but that of responsibility. And while In the northeast we Definately do not need a Thackeray,a space for one may be createdlargely due of the lack of vision and blue print by . The danger in this is that this maybe a perfect recipe of voting a Frankenstein largely aided by insecurities of polity.

Till we do not address issues which are largely that of Land alienation and underdevelopment India's growth will remain lop sided.And my only plea is to the so called Babu's in the South Block that Northeast should be viewed as the intergral part of India and not a stategic part ,something which is too obvious to to see.

In the end there is definately too much of talk and no action which needs to take place as we said in our school days facta non verba -in deeds(action) not words.The same rule applies here

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