08-24-2012, 11:29 AM
Above url = EDLANGMARI VILLAGE (DHUBRI DISTRICT OF ASSAM): Bedlangmari is a stunningly beautiful patch of land on the periphery of Kokrajhar, populated by Bengali-speaking Muslims. And almost all of them are today in refugee camps, accused of being illegal Bangladeshi immigrants.
But the entire lot is armed with reams of what look like valid government documents - from electoral rolls with their father's name in it to birth certificates, ration cards and judicial stamp papers signed by easily identifiable magistrates. Some even have land tax records and live in Indira Awas Yojana houses. If they are illegal immigrants, who gave them valid papers? And if the documents are fake, then where did they get them from and who are the signatories of what is clearly original data?
'Powerful patrons help migrants get ID papers'
It's a question that both the Bodo Territorial Council in Kokrajhar and the Tarun Gogoi government in Guwahati will soon need to answer if they want to see the end of Bodo-Muslim conflicts that can spiral out of hand any time. For, if Muslims are illegal occupants of tribal land, who gave them the various papers attesting their Indian citizenship? And if, like them, the documents, too, are fake, where did they get it from and who are the signatories of what are clearly original data? Is there a staggeringly huge business in these parts of providing such papers to new Bangladeshi entrants or is there a larger, more sinister force at play here that no one can pin?
Illegal immigration of Bangladeshis, for long a divisive issue in Assam with its nearly 30% Muslim population, is once again at the heart of communal clashes that have ravaged large parts of Lower Assam, driving out lakhs of people yet to find the courage to go back home. But while those from Bangladesh entering India through Dhubri and other places illegally may already have made their way to the cities ââ¬â as no one can stay undetected in the villages for too long, what with local groups after the formation of BTC keeping an eye on the movement of people and the areas crawling with intelligence menââ¬âmany who've suffered are poor, genuine Bengali-speaking Muslim citizens.
People like Kalimuddin Sheikh. The 62-year-old, for instance, has a paper signed by the electoral registration officer at Dhubri that says Sheikh is eligible to cast his vote at 29, Bilashipara, East Constituency. There's another paper signed, this time by the Gaon Panchayat, which certifies his Indian citizenship. Then, from a plastic bottle he uses to store all these things that might some day stop him from being expelled or even killed, he takes out a 1966 voters list that has the name of his father Ramzan Ali Sheikh at entry number 20.
As people crowd around Sheikh armed with their own sets of papers, Mohammad Kholil, small and gaunt, reeking of beedi smoke and sweat, pushes his way to the front to show a laminated document that is signed by the executive magistrate, Bilashipara. In it is written: "I, Md. Kholil Sk, s/o Afazuddin, aged 37, by caste Muslim, by profession daily waged labour, a resident of village Bedlangmari, PO Silgara, PS Chapar, Dist Dhubri (Assam), do hereby solemnly affirm and declare that I am a permanent resident of the aforesaid locality and a citizen of India by birth..."
The Bodos, however, aren't convinced. Kampa Borgoyari, deputy chief of the Bodo Territorial Council, asks, "If the number of Muslims in Kokrajhar is 2.36 lakh and only half have been displaced, how come there are over 4 lakh Muslims in refugee camps? They are all filled with Bangladeshi infiltrators pushed into these parts by anti-India agencies, helped in the documentation process by powerful patrons."
But the entire lot is armed with reams of what look like valid government documents - from electoral rolls with their father's name in it to birth certificates, ration cards and judicial stamp papers signed by easily identifiable magistrates. Some even have land tax records and live in Indira Awas Yojana houses. If they are illegal immigrants, who gave them valid papers? And if the documents are fake, then where did they get them from and who are the signatories of what is clearly original data?
'Powerful patrons help migrants get ID papers'
It's a question that both the Bodo Territorial Council in Kokrajhar and the Tarun Gogoi government in Guwahati will soon need to answer if they want to see the end of Bodo-Muslim conflicts that can spiral out of hand any time. For, if Muslims are illegal occupants of tribal land, who gave them the various papers attesting their Indian citizenship? And if, like them, the documents, too, are fake, where did they get it from and who are the signatories of what are clearly original data? Is there a staggeringly huge business in these parts of providing such papers to new Bangladeshi entrants or is there a larger, more sinister force at play here that no one can pin?
Illegal immigration of Bangladeshis, for long a divisive issue in Assam with its nearly 30% Muslim population, is once again at the heart of communal clashes that have ravaged large parts of Lower Assam, driving out lakhs of people yet to find the courage to go back home. But while those from Bangladesh entering India through Dhubri and other places illegally may already have made their way to the cities ââ¬â as no one can stay undetected in the villages for too long, what with local groups after the formation of BTC keeping an eye on the movement of people and the areas crawling with intelligence menââ¬âmany who've suffered are poor, genuine Bengali-speaking Muslim citizens.
People like Kalimuddin Sheikh. The 62-year-old, for instance, has a paper signed by the electoral registration officer at Dhubri that says Sheikh is eligible to cast his vote at 29, Bilashipara, East Constituency. There's another paper signed, this time by the Gaon Panchayat, which certifies his Indian citizenship. Then, from a plastic bottle he uses to store all these things that might some day stop him from being expelled or even killed, he takes out a 1966 voters list that has the name of his father Ramzan Ali Sheikh at entry number 20.
As people crowd around Sheikh armed with their own sets of papers, Mohammad Kholil, small and gaunt, reeking of beedi smoke and sweat, pushes his way to the front to show a laminated document that is signed by the executive magistrate, Bilashipara. In it is written: "I, Md. Kholil Sk, s/o Afazuddin, aged 37, by caste Muslim, by profession daily waged labour, a resident of village Bedlangmari, PO Silgara, PS Chapar, Dist Dhubri (Assam), do hereby solemnly affirm and declare that I am a permanent resident of the aforesaid locality and a citizen of India by birth..."
The Bodos, however, aren't convinced. Kampa Borgoyari, deputy chief of the Bodo Territorial Council, asks, "If the number of Muslims in Kokrajhar is 2.36 lakh and only half have been displaced, how come there are over 4 lakh Muslims in refugee camps? They are all filled with Bangladeshi infiltrators pushed into these parts by anti-India agencies, helped in the documentation process by powerful patrons."