Lets accommodate no space for communalism!

I read newspapers. And sometimes there are articles that originate from inexplicable desire 'to be seen secular'. The end result is loathsome and nasty, to say the least. 

Some opinion makers and people with influence, make a living out of abusing and cursing 'the majority' 24 hrs, 7days a week and, 365 days a year!

Incredible freedom of speech! But that's the beauty of our Constitution.

One of the most prominent dailies had an article on the unprecedented exodus of the 'North-east Indians' (stop calling them chinkies or nepali!) away from Pune and Bangalore.    

And that lady writer, went on and on, 'apologizing' to all the people. Reason? She claimed the 'Hindu majority' had threatened to retaliate and hit the NE people after a festival.

It was so obnoxious. She claimed we all, should 'apologize' to (almost) everybody! To the best of my knowledge, it was some fringe and anti-social elements from a 'prominent minority', who had been determined to take 'revenge'.

Revenge of events of Assam and (this is a so ridiculous!) Myanmar.

Whatever followed in Mumbai,  in the name of 'peaceful agitation' by Raza Academy, was one the most atrocious things, happened in last few years.

Media, and Police were attacked, ruthlessly. Lady police constables molested. In the name of protestation. Hideous!              

And action taken? Lets not even talk about it. In theory, there is a Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra. (even if you feel absence of it, practically!)

MNS Chief, capitalized on the pent-up anger. And widened the political base of his party, in the process. Nice masterstroke.

But, there are more serious repercussions. When secularism means to keep quiet on issues inconvenient to the minorities ignoring the evidence, it is no secularism at all. And the majority is treated as fourth class citizenry, in their own country!

Some of the ugliest leaders, want to have situation like 1992-93, create wedge, fuel the circumstances and have Hindu-Muslim divide.

Never mind, there are so many issues pending of good governance and inclusive development. On the state level and national level.      

Assam Violence, it seems, is refusing to come to an end. And this spells bad news for not only North-east but our own India, 'the emerging superpower'.   

The least we can do, is, not to entertain, these communal thoughts. And, same good-old thing - unite in our diversity. That is the idea of India!

Assam Violence, a shocking wake-up call

Some problems for the Indian state are so frequent and overdrawn, that they constitute permanent concern.

Case in point is Assam violence.

The latest incident of ethnic violence happened in Assam on July 19. Four Bengali-speaking Muslim settlers were killed.

On July 20, four former Bodo Liberation Tigers men were killed. The Bodos retaliated by attacking Bengali-speaking settlers and the clashes began.

53 people are dead and almost four lakh are homeless in the clashes so far.

And then there is usual game of 'fixing-the-blame'. Mr. Gogoi, the CM of Assam, claimed he had no intelligence input from the Central Govt. He ultimately sought Army's help. The CM has, almost, been universally condemned for what is being called his inept handling of a sensitive situation.

On the other hand, Central Govt. asserted that they had shared intelligence reports.

Interestingly, both in Assam and Delhi, there are Congress-led governments.

Central Govt. on its part, ordered to deploy 65 paramilitary companies and Prime Minister exhorted to 'provide a healing touch' as the 'Assam violence is a blot on the country's face'.

What they effectively end-up doing, is announce, another relief package of 300 crore for the violence-hit state. PM also announced Rs. 2 lakh to families who've lost its members and Rs. 50,000 to those who are seriously injured from PM's fund separately.   

Surely, the issues run far deeper. It is not a secret that there are thousands of illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Every day, there is influx across the porous border.

Bodos take exception to the fact that these migrants will develop into a majority in forthcoming years. They claim in the 80s and 90s

the Muslim population (mostly Bangladeshi Migrants) was so less. Today the indigenous population is facing a real and cruel threat for their own existence.

Bodo leaders resent the lack of opportunity, resultant deprivation of development and years of neglect accompany constant fight about their legitimate rights, 'as citizen of India', not alone claim over land and local resources.   

A crude reminder: Bangladeshis form the largest group of migrants in India. As per 2001 census there are 3,084,826 people in all over India who came from Bangladesh, mostly in Assam, Northeast states and West Bengal. In 2012, some estimates suggest, there are 20 million Bangladeshi migrants!

Let us not forget that, in Assam, agitation against immigrants started as early as 1979, led by All Assam Students Union.

And the almost counter-productive and suicidal strategy of 'secular Congress party' of converting the illegal migrants into a safe vote-bank needs a critical rethink, 'if not a complete termination'.

There is an urgent need to review the entire internal security scenario in Assam. The entire law and order situation needs an evaluation and reorganization to instill confidence among our own people.  

Postscript: on Sunday, 5 Aug. 2012 - five people are killed in fresh violence; toll went up to 61 dead. Also three people were seriously injured when a bomb exploded in Goreshwar area of Baksa district in lower Assam.