Rumour Mongering About Threat To Northeast People:
A Vicious Communal Agenda
By Vidya Bhushan Rawat
17 August, 2012
Countercurrents.org
‘Tell everyone not to go anywhere because Muslims are attacking our Northeast people for Assam Case. Just now 4 people were killed in Nelsandra.’ says an SMS to a north eastern friend of mine living in Banglore. Such messages are coming across the city and elsewhere also. Media, internet, blogs too are buzz with events where one community is being seen as villain of peace in the entire process. No doubt, that Muslims have faced brunt of the violence in Assam and it is not usual as they have been victim of Indian nationalism most of the time, yet this time the rumor mills are working in a different way. They work as if Muslims have decided to take action against the North Eastern people.
As the rumor mills working overnight to spread the communal hatred in the entire country the media is only adding to it rather than stopping it. According to news reports over 6000 people from North East left Banglore after they received threat of being targeted after Ramzan. There are over 20,000 people living from North East in Banglore who are working in various international organisations, software companies. Many students also come to Banglore for better opportunities and suitable courses and get settled here. And now they are living in deep threat to their life and security and the authorities of Indian states have not been able to stop the panicking which has been gripped in the minds of the people. The incidents of threat against the North Eastern friends are not just emerging from Banglore but Mumbai and Pune saw the primary face of it and now it is also reported that Hyderabad too have joined in the bandwagon of anti-north eastern sentiments where about 1000 Bodos who used to work mostly as security guards have already left for their homes.
Such things cannot happen in Karnataka without the effective help of the state to rumour mongers. The dirty tricks department of the communal mind is in operation and must be investigated. All those SMSes being send anywhere must be investigated and people behind them should be charge-sheeted. In Hyderabad too, there are deliberate efforts to create communal disturbances so that politicians can make their castles on the dead bodies of the people. It must not allow to be happened and hence the state authorities should be held responsible for any incident that happened as a ‘reaction’ to incidents in ‘Assam’.
There are genuine fears among various people about the incidents of North East and hence they will respond to every alert which is coming from the media or smses. However, it is now the duty of the government to take active help of media to contain this volcano which will be uncontrollable in case of any mishap. These incidents related to Assam are actually unrelated in other way and are a great fodder for the communal organizations like the Sangh Parivar who thrive on such a situation. Even when people of Assam would like the impact of this incident confine to their state yet there are forces who want to use these events to spread their vicious political propaganda and therefore the secular human rights activists have a bigger agenda at hand to contain this virus spreading the other parts of the country.
As Assam continue to burn even today with nearly 4 lakh displaced people in Kokrajhar and other areas of Bodo council continue to live in relief camps, the impact of the violence and its ethnic roots are now being felt elsewhere in India. A few days back the Prime Minister Dr Man Mohan Singh and later UPA chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi too visited the area and assured the victims with immediate help but the situation is still tense though peaceful.
The issue of Bodos and non Bodos in the Bodo Council area is a delicate one and need to be handled with utmost care. It is an open secret that a large number of non Bodos too are living in the region for centuries but there are stark realities too that a number of non-Bodos have infiltrated in the region. Whoever is there, it is time for authorities to settle this issue once and for all. The Assam government, the political parties and Bodo leaders should sit together and settle this issue as the country cannot continue with such victimization of its own people which can actually take a threatening posturing by the rightwing forces in rest of the country.
Unfortunately, political parties have not been able to look beyond their stated positions on the issue and media particularly the vernacular media has communalized the entire issue without understanding the enormity of the issue and the destruction it has brought in the lives of the people. The government at the center must initiate process by taking into confidence all the political parties of the state as well as the country about the situation in Assam. The meeting of National Integration Council is essential now as the issue is growing out of dimension and has already taken communal overtones all over the country with reports of North Eastern people being targeted elsewhere.
The communalization process has always ghettoized communities and given opportunities to rumor mongers to have their field day. When the situation went out of control, the government should have taken the immediate action but now even after this flare up, no effective measures have been taken up by the government. How is this happening that a well-coordinated network of people are sending SMSes to each in Hyderabad and Banglore ? Why are media not verifying fact before broadcasting any incident? Why have we stopped short of being proactive in such cases?
Assam violence must be doused immediately and all the Bodos and non Bodos must be brought to rehabilitation level. Let this issue does not become a propaganda war for the religious organizations spreading their poison. Whether it is Gujarat or Assam, the ultimate victims of Indian nationalism happen to be Muslims and this dark reality has to be kept in mind. No issue could be resolved by pushing people further to marginalization socially and culturally. Porous border with Bangladesh must be closed and all the people living must be given identity cards. Let the process of citizenship begin at the earliest so each person is protected and get opportunity to grow. It is also time for the government of states and Central government to speak one language and assure people for their protection. North Eastern people or any one for that matter living in India is an Indian Citizen and must be protected. Let the government look for opportunity of mending fences with people without politicizing the matter. The first priority is rehabilitation of people and ensuring their safety at their home. We cannot allow people to live in the tents and camps for ever.
For years, people from North East have faced discrimination in rest of India which violates their personal liberty and choice of life style. When we were coming close to understanding their values and cultural system, such communalization of an incident in Assam cannot be justified at any cost. India must do everything to protect its citizens of North East in other parts of the country from being victimized by racist slur or communal hatred against them. Assam cannot be allowed to go like this and the communal discord in Assam will only damage India’s secular values and democratic system.
Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social and human rights activist. He blogs at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com twitter : freetohumanity skype : vbrawat Facebook : Vidya Bhushan Rawat
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