Keep building bridges

Considering the nasty politics over citizenship amendment bill in the backdrop of NRC update in its final stage, all efforts in keeping the communities of Assam genuinely together must be encouraged. After all, sinister political forces are working overtime to convince people either to unite in the name of religion or language or ethnicity or what not, so as to keep out ‘the others who don’t fit in’. There has been an orchestrated attempt to exploit the Assamese vs Bengali fault-line, more so after the cowardly attack at Dhola targeting Bengali speakers. While the ULFA(I) has denied involvement, a top State police official recently said that the militants are out to profit from the trouble brewing over citizenship amendment bill, as it earlier happened during the anti-foreigners movement in the Eighties and the language movement in the Sixties. But there are so-called leaders who don’t care two hoots how their utterances are aggravating divisions, so long as they can rouse their flocks. If the likes of Shiladitya Dev of BJP or Ardhendu Dey of Congress do all they can to stir things up here, away in West Bengal the Trinamool has its NRC stick and the BJP its citizenship bill to play vote-bank politics. Even the chairman of the joint parliamentary panel, due to submit its report on the bill in the coming Winter session, pointedly asks newsmen in New Delhi about protests in Assam whether “Barak Valley supporting the bill” is not part of the State! Across Assam, meanwhile, AASU and 28 indigenous organisations are meeting people’s representatives and taking out torchlight marches, which will culminate in a people’s meet on Friday, the 16th of November, to seek advice in taking the movement forward. On this same day, 70 organisations including KMSS are planning to hold a public protest in front of Janata Bhavan in Dispur. Even as a siege-like atmosphere is developing in the State capital, the KMSS has alleged that the government through its soft stance vis-a-vis AASU is trying to drive a wedge between the two agitations. However, as the two agitations gather steam, some intemperate speakers have publicly questioned the “lack of enthusiasm” of Bengali groups in supporting their cause. In the midst of such pulls and pushes, it is a positive sign that representatives of some Bengali organisations of Assam and the pro-talks ULFA faction met recently in Guwahati to thresh out issues and clear misunderstandings. The meet has to be seen in the light of arrest of former ULFA leaders Mrinal Hazarika and Jiten Dutta for alleged inflammatory speeches before the Dhola attack. While a resolution was taken to oppose the citizenship amendment bill that seeks to regularise Bengali Hindu refugees, other resolutions in the meet opposed harassment of people in detention camps and affixing of ‘D voter’ tag on citizens, while calling for harmony between Bengali speakers and other indigenous peoples. Keeping in mind elections round the corner and the mischief evil political quarters can unleash, there should be more such meets between bodies representing various communities. Let it be clear that the citizenship amendment bill should be opposed on the ground of principle. Its votaries justify differentiating between refugees on the basis of religion with the argument that India must be the “natural homeland of all Hindus”. This blatantly seeks to negate the secular ethos of our Constitution, and is repugnant to human values besides. Those with divisive agendas are trying to frighten indigenous people of this State by raising two doomsday scenarios — to choose between ‘eventual domination either by Muslims or Bengali speakers’. It is to the credit of the people of Assam that they have mostly refused to buy such spurious talk. The only way to do the right thing in the face of such provocation is to stand firmly on principles.