The government should set up a political think tank to sort out the problems faced by the ethnic groups of the State. But the State must remain intact
T he recent decision of the Union Cabinet to create a new State of Telangana by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh has stirred a hornets’ nest on the expected lines. The State of Andhra Pradesh was created by taking out a number of areas that earlier belonged to the Madras Presidency, following an indefinite fast by another Telegu leader, thereby setting a precedent of sorts decades ago. So Gandhigiri has worked wonderfully in these two cases at least, though it has miserably failed to soften the hearts of the powers-that-be in New Delhi in respect of the Manipuri lady Irom Sharmila who has been fasting for the last nine years demanding revocation of the notorious Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 and the Disturbed Areas Act that have terrorized the people of Manipur, thanks to the blatant misuse of their provisions.
More than 50 per cent of the MLAs of Andhra Pradesh Assembly belonging to different political parties (Congress included) and hailing from the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions have already resigned in protest against the Centre’s Telangana decision. Following large-scale violence and huge public protests by anti-Telengana forces, the Centre has found itself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea, without any tangible, peaceful resolution of the issue in sight. So it has hastened to state that there is no immediate plan to implement the decision.
But the question remains as to whether the Centre would be able to defer implementation of the Cabinet decision for an indefinite period without provoking fresh and more virulent stir by the advocates of Telengana. There is talk of a second commission for reorganization of States, as some States are so large that the State governments concerned are no longer in a position to effectively maintain law and order and carry out developmental activities to benefit all sections of the populace and in the interior and inaccessible areas.
Outside Assam, there are already strong demands for two more States — Bundelkhand and Purbanchal — to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh, which have the support of UP Chief Minister Mayavati herself. The extinct demand for a State called Gorkhaland by dividing some areas of West Bengal has not only been revived, but has also gained momentum.
It is quite incomprehensible to many as to why a sagacious and diplomatic Prime Minister like Dr Manmohan Singh succumbed to a single pressure and agreed to the decision regarding Telangana without thoroughly assessing the likely fallout. We in Assam are terribly worried about the days ahead and the likely chain of agitations in support of similar demands that the peace-loving common man simply abhors.
After the announcement of the Centre’s Telangana decision, the very next day (on December 11), the MLAs of Bodoland People’s Front (BPF) — a constituent of the present Congress-led coalition ministry in Assam — raised the demand for a separate Bodoland State in the State Assembly. Reacting to the demand of the AGP leader Chandra Mohan Patowari that the government must clarify its position on the demand for Bodoland by one of its coalition partners, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi rightly ruled out any further division of the State. In his reply, Gogoi said: “There have been demands for separate Kamatapur, Bodoland, Dimaraji and Karbi Anglong from the respective ethnic groups, but we want to stay together. The State Government doesn’t want further division of the State. If the ethnic groups demanding separate States have any problems, the government is ready to solve them” (The Sentinel, December 12, 2009).
We feel relieved to know that “the AGP supported the stand of the Chief Minister in what may be called a convergence of the ruling Congress and the principal opposition to prevent the State from being divided further.” At the same time, we believe that a mere convergence of views is not good enough. The saner sections of the people of Assam, belonging to all ethnic as well as non-ethnic groups, would look for a resolution being adopted in the State Assembly by making an outright rejection of any demand by any group for further vivisection of the State, which already stands truncated with the creation of the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
While the Bodos got BTAD after a long spell of destructive, bloody agitation which cost thousands of lives of common, peace-loving people with many of them still living in extreme misery in relief camps, no such agitation can be allowed any more.
Ethnic groups like the Koch Rajbangshis, Ahoms, Chutias, Morans, Motoks and Adivasis have so far been demanding Scheduled Tribes (ST) status, which alone, they believe, would uplift them culturally, educationally, socially, economically and politically. Apart from historical justification, their grievances are genuine if one goes by the overall socio-economic status of these communities, in spite of six decades of development planning.
Mind it, except the Adivasis who have their tribal ethnicity outside Assam, where they are given ST status, the other ethnic groups have had a long history of independent kingdoms. They have not been demanding separate States to be carved out of Assam; they have been only asking for ST status by surrendering their claim to separate States. The Koch Rajbangshis, who were granted ST status by way of three Central Ordinances, were later deprived of that status in a clandestine manner. Had they gone wild and indulged in violence as the Bodoland agitationists had done, including creation of an armed wing for subversive activities, ST status would have been restored to them, which many of them are now arguing among themselves. Before it becomes too late, the State government and the Centre should retrospect, change their age-old, imperialistic strategies of ‘‘divide and rule’’, heed the people’s voice, sentiments and long-felt grievances, and settle the pending issues by honouring their peaceful means.
As for big and inaccessible districts like NC Hills and Karbi Anglong, the State government should increase the number of districts and subdivisions there for speeding up the development process and ensuring good governance to ameliorate the condition of the people.
It is high time the government set up a standing political think tank to start a dialogue process with the representatives of the ethnic groups to sort out their genuine grievances in a time-bound manner. At the same time, the State government must ensure that normal civil life is not hampered any more due to bandhs and other forms of agitation. The public also must remain ever vigilant and muster courage to defy bandh calls. They should take up cudgels against antisocial elements, for which the district authorities need to come up with their helping hand.
Otherwise we are afraid there would be volcanic eruptions in the near future, which must be avoided.
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