Yet another election is knocking at the door where the people of twipra will wage war against each other through the ballot box. Looking back on the territory formally becoming a part of India in 1947AD the most significant turning point for the Boroks it can be hard to see what the fuss is all about. Many of the younger generation are inclined to assume, as history is consciously avoided, that the existing set up was inevitable, a system whose time had come. After all, many prominent Boroks, who consider this to be a toxic issue, occupy ministers offices and legislative seats in the law making house.

 

But are they the whole story? Of course not the reality is unpleasant and the entrenched disagreement continues. The explosion of violence in 1980 and late 1990s (98-2001) were the reliable indicators of the enormous discontentment that had built up underneath the democratic regimes.

 

So what went wrong? The answer is here.

 

Soon after partition in 1947, we saw the exchange of statements by Md. Ali Jinnah and Sardar Patel. Imprudent Muslim league leaders said, Pakistan is for the Muslims. Indian agents have no place here. The Hindus were termed as communists, traitors, enemies of Pakistan and so on. In reply, Sardar Patel said, Ok, if the Hindus have no scope to live in Pakistan, let them come to Hindustan. And let the Muslims go to their separate homeland, Pakistan. Accommodating one or one and half crore people is not a problem if 10(ten) crore people leave the country. Realising the flaw, Muslim league leaders tried to mend their ways. But when Jinnah tried to impose Urdu as the state language in Pakistan, the Bangalis (both Hindus and Muslims) in East Pakistan (EP) that constituted 56% of the total population of Pakistan raised alarm. They viewed it as an aggression on their culture and identity. Jinnah died in September 1948. But his successor Liaquat Ali khan followed his footsteps and used religion as trump card to divide the Bangalis on religious lines. The Muslim league leaders from West Pakistan (WP) incited communal violence in 1950 to ensure that anti-Urdu sentiments do not turn into volcano-like situation. Many leading figures and elites from the Hindu community from EP took shelter in India.

 

This was followed by more than 10,000 active communist workers and leaders as Pakistan under the US influence became harsh on them. Many of them came into contact with saint Dasarath and his Gana Mukti Parishad (GMP). These elite Hindu communists hijacked Dasaraths popularity and extensively capitalized it to promote communal tolerance to the new arrivals into the territory. They were the brains and spirit behind the emergence of communist power and the settlement of refugees in the state. They talked about democracy and equality by day and grabed lands by night for the refugees.

 

Far more important, and in later years, these elites determined not only what Dasarath could do, but what he could say. Uttering the word Tripuri Boroks refugeebecame sin for him.What a pity !

 

Then came the communal riot of 1964 in which a relic of the prophet Mohammad was said to have been stolen from Hazarat Bal shrine in Kashmir which was followed by immediate and retaliatory attacks on Hindus in EP leading to waves of Hindu bangali refugees taking shelter in all the states of India that share comman border with the then EP.

 

The international border was open till 1952 to let the people choose. As the population movement continued, permit and migration certificates were introduced in 1956. From 1958 onwards, Indian govt; tried to discontinue relief and rehabilitation assistance. But the Hazarat Bal incident in 1964 and the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971 changed these measures.

 

The communist strategy was simple. With Congress controlling both the Centre and the territorial council, they had no chance for power. They raised the slogan refugee punorbason chai (rehabilitation of refugees) to flock around the refugees behind them, It worked, and the communists harvested a rich dividend in 1978 when they secured a landslide victory. They still owe their power to the intense feeling they stirred up among the refugees.

 

The Congress too, particularly the PCC, is not less responsible. The PCC shared the view with the refugees or bastuharas-as they called themselves-their rehabilitation was not to be considered as an act of mercy, but as the repayment they deserve as freedom fighters of India and victims of partition. This was proved beyond doubt in the land reform act of chief minister sachindralal singh under the infamous doctrine Langal jar bhumi tar, as if the territory was no- man's- land.

 

The following table shows the influx from East Pakistan. Figures numbering less than 50,000 a re not included here.

Year Numbers Causes of influx

1947 -3,34,000 - Partition

1948 -7,86,000 - Police Action in Hyderabad

1951 -1,87,000 -Kashmir issue

1952 -2,27,000 -

1954 -1,18,000 -

1955 -2,40,000 -Unrest over imposition of Urdu in EP

1956 -3,20,000 - Islamic constitution

1964 - 6,93,000 -Hazarat Bal riot

1970 -2,50,000 -Election in Pakistan

 

Meanwhile, the war of liberation broke out in EP in 1971. This was a terrific year for the state. Further refugees were squeezed into the already over populated territory. This was reported by the TIME.

"Though Islamabad has ordered the military command to ease off on its repressive tactics, refugees are still trekking into India at the rate of about 30,000 a day, telling of villages burned, residents shot, and prominent figures carried off and never heard from again.

It is now officially estimated that refugees will swell to 12 million by the end of the year. The cost to the Indian government for the fiscal year ending next March 31 may run as high as $830 million. The US so far has supplied $83.2 million for the refugees, and $137 million in humanitarian relief inside East Pakistan. Two weeks ago, the Nixon Administration asked Congress to grant additional $250 million TIME, Monday, Oct 15, 1971 .

 

The story, at this point, is straight forward. The key thing is that all these have pitted the immigrants and the Boroks against one another.

 

Nehru viewed the refugee rehabilitation as a national responsibility and he described it in a public speech that this was not merely a humanitarian act on the part of the state (free India) for the welfare of the displaced alone , but a pragmatic one on which the future and welfare of India depended, - The Statesman , January 25th 1948. However, he made this statement in the context of the refugees from West Pakistan.

 

But this is not by any means a sufficient explanation for providing the lever of power to the refugees in a territory that had a different entity till 1949. Much more important are the measures required to ensure the well being of the Manikya territory and its citizens.

 

The states power sharing needs to be rebalanced so that the benefits are shared more widely and equitably . What is most important right now is to recognize this central issue and begin seriously considering the most effective and constructive options. The lawmakers of the country must understand that this dreadful state of affairs that has bestowed hyperconcentration of power into the hands of the new arrivals is crushing the Boroks.

 

As for the Boroks , it is important to note what Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore once said "Je jati nijer itihas janena , se jati osovyo "( person that does not know its history are uncivilized).

 

Do we know our history ?