The North East Students’ Organisation (NESO) has written to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah highlighting the crisis in Bangladesh and the anticipated repercussions in North East India whereby four states share a common international boundary with Bangladesh. Tripura share a boundary of 856 kilometers with Bangladesh, Meghalaya shares a 443 km long boundary, Mizoram shares 318 km long boundary and Assam has a common boundary of 262 km with Bangladesh.
The NESO is a conglomeration of eight students’ bodies representing the seven states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura and comprises of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), Khasi Students’ Union (KSU), Garo Students’ Union (GSU), All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), Naga Students’ Federation (NSF), All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) and Twipra Students’ Federation (TSF).
“The ongoing crisis in Bangladesh will and may lead to an exodus of its nationals into our country especially in the North East region. Past events indicates that whenever there is a civil war or a riot in Bangladesh, the North East region always had to bear the brunt of mass illegal immigration from the country. During partition in 1947, lakhs of Bengalis from East Pakistan illegally crossed the border and forcibly occupied lands in Assam and Tripura (then a Union Territory),” mentioned the NESO. Similarly in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, lakhs of East Pakistanis, migrated into India territory including North East India creating a demographic imbalance especially in the states of Assam, Tripura and Meghalaya (then a part of the composite state of Assam). This unabated flow of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh (East Pakistan) brings forth an air of tension and stiff competition in the North East, expressed the NESO.
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“The North East region is home to a plethora of indigenous communities which are microscopic in numbers and lives amongst their own communities in traditionally marked territories. The arrival of millions of illegal foreigners from other countries led to a contestation of space, forced cultural assimilation, economic competition and distrust between the indigenous populace and the foreigners. These illegal foreigners settled in the lands of the indigenous communities without the consent of the community leaders and thus creates a sense of animosity between the two groups,” opined the NESO. It further asserted that the illegal settlement of the foreigners led to a drastic alteration of the demographic structure in most regions of the seven North Eastern states.
Owing the small populations of indigenous communities, the NESO viewed that the illegal foreigners overwhelmed the minuscule indigenous populace overnight. The NESO stressed on the various ramifications of the past Bangladesh crises had on the NE region such as land grabbing, marginalization of indigenous population, dominance of political power.
“It is worth noted that Assam has and is still experiencing mass influx of illegal migrants which led to a six year long Assam Movement, causing martyrdom to 860 lives which eventually led to the signing of the historic Assam Accord which promised to deport illegal Bangladeshis from Assam,” added the NESO. Similarly, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh witnessed mass movements in the past and till date demanding the immediate deportation of all foreigners from their states after migrants overwhelmed the indigenous communities in many pockets of their respected states.
“Such unabated flow of immigrants into the region thus led to insecurity, agitations, riots and clashes between these foreigners and the indigenous people,” stated the NESO appealing for the Indian Government’s immediate intervention to ensure that no illegal enters the North Eastern states from Bangladesh.
The NESO also requested that Bangladeshis should not be granted asylum or rehabilitated in the entire North East region. “At this juncture, it is also imperative for the Government of India to ensure that the border between North East India and Bangladesh should be thoroughly and strictly manned so as to detect attempted illegal migration from across the border,” appealed the Organisation.
It affirmed that the appeal has been made for the overall interest, welfare and safeguarding of the microscopic indigenous people of North East India and NESO.
