Vous êtes sur la page 1sur 26

ETHNIC PLURALITY AND POLITICS IN NORTH EAST INDIA

(A Study of the Bodoland Movement)

CHAPTER - 1

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

Today across the globe, we generally find that very

few states have ethnically homogenous populations. Most of the

population groups are composed of many ethnic communities,

jostling for influence and power, or living in an uneasy

harmony, within the same state borders, at best of times, and in

the worst scenario, committing ethnocide. It can be safely

concluded that world is 'plural' and the so called 'nation-

state' is rarely a true appellation. As a result of this,

ethnic conflicts have become more intense and endemic in the

twentieth century; no less than at any other time in modern

history.

India is a vast land, comprising myriad ethnic groups,


multi-religious communities, numerous castes, and people
practising varied beliefs, following rituals of their own
'tribes', 'jatis' or communities. In the prevailing scenario of
developing India, as is expected, there is unequal development
across the board. In this democratic matrix, out of the
national cake, everyone wants an equal share, an equal
opportunity to develop and an urge not to be dominated by others
and if any of it is denied to anyone, it results in a turmoil-
almost in all spheres-society, religion, politics, economy and
ecology. We, in our country, have ethnic minorities almost
everywhere and the nation has had to face ethnic explosions since
independence in varying degrees, in some regions, but the North

East region of our country which is a frontier region, having


common borders with China, Burma, Bhutan and Bangladesh, has

continuously held a dependent position. The long period of


domination not only alienated the majority of population from
the land and associated resources, but it also introduced deep

cleavages and differences between and among the various ethnic


groups and sub-groups in the region and between these and the
rest of the country as represented by the Indian Nation.

North East India now comprises seven states namely, Arunachal


Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,
Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and
o / o
Tripura. This region extends from 22 N to 29 18 N latitudes and
o / o /
from 89 46 E to 9-7 40 E longitudes. It covers an area of
2,55,083 square kms and a.population of 26,607,199 (1981 census)

with an average density of 104 persons per sq km. 1 The size of


the population might not be enormous, what is of particular
concern is the marked diversity, which this region acquired due
to the inflow of numerous migrant population groups during the
last few centuries. The last century, in particular introduced
in the region its most alien features. The population which

moved into this region during this period, was of an entirely


different stock, adding a new dimension to the already existing
cultural diversity. To-day no other region in our country, is as
ethnically and culturally diverse as the North East. It may be
noted that the movement of population in various parts of this
region has been far from even. The various tribes inhabiting
this region are not homogenous. As many as 14 major tribal
groups live in the state of Nagaland,' 12 in Arunachal Pradesh, 5
in Meghalaya, 29 in Manipur, 19 in Tripura, 7 in Mizoram and 23
in Assam2.

In spite of this significant diversity, there are two broad


population features - tribal and non tribal - which generally
coincide with two distinct physical features of the region,
namely the plains and the hills. The plains are made up of three
separate tracts ie, the Brahmputra Valley, the Barak Valley and
the Imphal Valley. To-gether, they constitute about 30% of the
region's area. The rest of the region is hilly; in fact states
like Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Mizoram are
almost entirely hill states. It is only in Assam that the plains
area far surpasses the area under the hills.

The policy of British, in governing the tribes of North East


India, was guided by a consideration of uprisings and revolts
that British rulers had to encounter, particularly defiant Mizos
gave tough fight to the then rulers. Some of them are great
historical accounts, which have been aptly brought out by an
earlier Governor of Assam, in the book titled 'Mizo Freedom
Fighters'. 3
Tribal areas were protected and safeguarded from the very
beginning, either by special administrative measures or acts.
One such act was the Scheduled District Act of 1874, which
enabled the Government to notify what laws would be enforced in
the scheduled districts. By another act passed in 1935, tribal
areas were classified into two categories, namely, excluded and
partially excluded areas.
However, with the adoption of the constitution in 195Q this
classification was replaced by a new one in the form of
scheduled and tribal areas. The scheduled category applied to
most of the tribal dominated areas other than North East India.
The tribal category applied to compact tribal populations in
North East India. The former were brought under the
constitutional provision of the Fifth Schedule while the latter
was placed under the Sixth Schedule. 4

If we peruse the British period carefully, they had to face


fierce rebellion from the tribes of the North eastern region of
our country. Just to quote an example in January 1862, the
people of the Jaintia Hills were subjected to the payment of
house-tax. This roused deep resentment among the tribal
population, since they had paid nothing for generations, either
to their own Raja or to the British Government and had been left,
since annexation entirely to themselves. Similarly, in the case
of Nagas, after the successful expedition against Nagas, the
British Government did not interfere with the internal affairs of
Angami Nagas. The Governor General, Lord Dalhousie, wrote in his

Minute of the 20th February 1851 .


'Hereafter, we should confine ourselves to
our own ground; protect it as it can and must be
protected; not meddle the feuds or fights of these
savages; encourage trade with them as long as they
are peaceful to-wards us; and rigidly exclude them
from all communication, either to sell what they
have got or to buy what they want, if they should
become turbulent or troublesome. These are the
measures which are calculated to allay their
natural fears of our aggression upon them, and to
repel their aggression on our people. This
will make them feel our power both to repel their
attacks and to exclude them from advantages they
desire, far better, at less cost, arid with more
justice, than by annexing their country openly by
a declaration, or virtually by a partial
occupations.

It is thus seen that with the exception of


Assam, the North Eastern states, were loosely knit
under the British administration. Hence the
entire management of land and forests, was found
on different lines, in the North East region, as
compared to the rest of the country and even from
the plains of Assam. With the Inner Line
Regulation, as operative in these regions, the
entry of the plain's people in tribal areas in
general and their encroachment in particular, was
prohibited. Thus the Naga Hills Jhum Land
Regulations of 1946 and Arunachal Jhum Land
Regulation of 1947 (then called NEFA), safeguarded
and regulated the rights of the tribes engaged in
jhuming (shifting/slash and burn cultivation).
There have been many changes after
independence. For example, chieftainship was
abolished in 1954 in Mizoram, forests were
categorized in Arunachal Pradesh, many land
reforms were introduced in Tripura. Even the
tribal reserves earmarked for the native ruler
(Maharaja), were done away with6. In Manipur,
Land Reforms Act was passed in 1960 and was
modelled on the same lines as was done in Tripura.
Thus it would be seen that there was little
interference in the way land and forests were
managed during British rule. However, after the
independence, things changed quite a lot. First
of all the North East region saw much greater
penetration of state-policies, government
administration and the market forces. All these
factors set in motion the process of change and in
the early fifties damage to forest wealth was so
evident that the tribals were placed under the
control of the Forest Department. This also
curtailed the rights given to tribals earlier on.
With this, the forests were classified into four
categories namely, reserved, protected, village
and free lands. The emphasis was on regulating,
policing and revenue earning. This led to the
involvement of contractors, which resulted into
the exploitation of forests. In spite of the
government involvement, the situation has not
improved and the exploitation of the forest wealth
is going from bad to worse. As a part of this
policy, a memorandum was issued restricting the
right to jhum within or near the vicinity of
reserved forests. After this order was issued, a
few months later came the first scheme of Jhumia
Settlement. Subsequently, many more limitations
were put upon jhuming practices.7 There is a
requirement of a strong National Forest Policy, as
the issues connected with it are vital for
development of tribal population and have
implications of national development at large.

The present North East India which was


formerly a single administrative unit ie,
undivided Assam, can easily be termed as miniature
India. The strategic location of Assam, which for
centifries, has been attracting immigrants,
settlers, labourers from neighbouring states and
majority of other population groups in search of
better job opportunities and a host of .other
reasons, has been mind-boggling exercise, either
for state or the authorities at the Centre.
In this, the very first problem is that of
migration of population. To get a broad idea,
Myron Weiner, in his book 'Sons of the Soil' 8,
says that "for more than a century, Assam has not
only been a border state of India, touching Burma,
Tibet, Bhutan and Bangladesh, but also as a new
land attracting millions of settlers from other
regions of the sub continent". He further says "
that Assam was not an empty land; it contained
the Assamese and Indo -Aryan agricultural people
living in the plains of Brahmputra Valley, and a
variety of tribal population in the surrounding
hills, all of whom have lived for six centuries
under the rule of independent Ahom Kings. Ahoip
rule was brought to an end, after a short lived
Burmese conquest by the British in 1820 and for
the first time Assam was politically a part of
India". He goes on to say that "in this low
density region came millions of settlers from
Rajasthan, Bihar, Punjab, Nepal and most of all
from Bengal, occupying land, moving into tea
plantation, entering the bureaucracy, starting new
business and trade, taking up the modern
professions of . teaching, law, medicine and
journalism".
He has given a comparative table of increase in population in the
state of Assam, vis-a-vis India, which is as under:-

Assam India

1901-1911 16.8 5.7

1911-1921 20.2 0.3

1921-1931 20.1 11.0

1931-1941 20.5 14.2

1941-51 20. 1 13.3

1951-61 35.0 21 . 6

1961-71 34.7 24.6

As per the Encyclopaedia of India - (Assam), by Majid


Hussain the major sources of immigration into Brahmputra Valley,
may be classified as (i) Tea Garden Labourers (ii) East Bengal
Immigrants or Mymensinghias, (iii) Nepali Grazers (iv) East
Bengal displaced persons and (v) others.

After the partition, as per 1951 census the total number of


refugees in Assam was 2>74,455. Out of this 2,72,075 came from
East Pakistan, only 647 from West Pakistan. The density of
population rose as high as 254 persons per sq km in 1981 census
as against only 186 in 1971 census. 10

Assam has been traditionally a province of peace and


harmony. The first words that any stranger would learn while
entering the land of Assam, are 'Lahe - Lahe' - meaning 'slowly-
slowly'. Assam, also has been land of plenty. As there was no
need to create any hustle and bustle as land was plenty and soil
rich. This also, presumably, led to the life of lethargy and
indolence. But this idyllic scene got disturbed, when the
population increased in the adjoining districts of Bengal.
They cast their greedy eyes on the fertile, alluvial and vast
lands of Assam. Muslims from the over populated Mymemsingh
district started flowing into Assam. Gradually Assam lost all
the hill areas one by one and its aspirations got shattered. 11
It must be remembered that the formation of separate states
out of the erstwhile Assam only represents the continuation of
the historical and pre-historic process of change of rulers,
governments which has been going on in this region since time
immemorial.
From very ancient times. North East India has been linked to
10

the overall Indian context and there have been common links
between India and her eastern and North eastern neighbours,
Burma, China and Tibet. North Eastern region has been adequately
depicted in various 'epics' and the 'Puranas'.

It can be safely said that tribes of present North East


India belong to ancient civilisation. For an instance the
Kachari Kingdom extended along the South bank of Brahmputra from
Dikhou to Kallang, including a large part of the Sibsagar
district and Nowgong districts of present day Assam and included
also the valley of Dhansiri and the tract which now forms the
autonomous districts of North Kachar Hills. The early history of
Kachar or Hiramba is extremely obscure. It bears the same name
as that of a section of the Bodo population of Assam.

It would appear that it belonged to the kingdom of Tippera


or Tripura, since it is stated to have been acquired by the
Kachari King, who had his capital at Maibong. They are,
themselves of the Bodo stock, and very near Kinsmen, not only of
the Kacharis, but also of those of the Brahmputra valley and the
Garos of the Garo Hills. 12
The Tippera, the Mech, the Rabha, the Boro Kacharis, the
Deuri, the Chutiya, the Moran, the Lalung, the Sonowal, the
Dimasa, who spread over almost the entire of the Brahmputra
valley. North Kachar Hills and Tripura are the remnants of the
people who once ruled over almost the whole of the eastern
Brahmputra valley. North Kachar Hills, Cachar plains and
Tripura. It is said that the Ahoms brought no women with them
in their invasion into the country and found the daughters of the
land so fair that they deemed it quite unnecessary to send for
11

the girls they had left behind them.13


Ahoms swarmed into the valley in the 13th century and ruled
Assam for more than six centuries. Ahoms belong to Shan tribe of
Upper Burma. Ahoms created unique civilisation in the Brahmputra
valley by blending three sets of elements ie Tai tradition, Indo-
Mongoloid and'the Aryan tradition. This lasted for six hundred
years. The remnants of this civilisation can still be found in
Ahoms, the Khamptis, The Turungs and the Aituniyas, who now
inhabit Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur and Sibsagar districts of Assam and
the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh.

PS Datta in his recently published book, 'Autonomy


Movements in Assam' has given an account of the indigenous
society and the reasons for the downfall of Ahoms in the state
of Assam. He argues that for than seven hundred years, Assam
was ruled by three dynasties, namely Bhauma-Naraka, Salastambha
and Palas. All of them were of Indo-Mogoloid origin. It can be
safely assumed that as the Bodos were the early settlers in the
region, and were of Ijido-Mongoloid origin, all the three
dynasties could have owed their origin from the Bodos.
It has been seen that land-grants numbering twenty seven
bearing inscription in favour of some Brahmins found of the that
period, were indicative of the fact that Brahaminical Hinduism
had taken its roots in the Kamrupi society. It is believed that
Brahaminical Hinduism was responsible to play a dual role.
Firstly, the indigenous people were brought under plough
cultivation, as it was humanly not possible for the Brahmins to
plough the vast areas of agricultural land, which they got as
12

land grants. Secondly those who initially came on these lands,

automatically went down as pioneers, as missionaries of the

Brahminical Hinduism. Thus, for posterity these pioneers

assured that agricultural hands were available to them as well as

to the lower strata of society, which was equally important if

the Brahminical social structure was to stay in that society.

One significant observation, which social scientist have

made is that numerous sections of Assemese society as it existed

at that point of time, were left out of this Brahminical fold,

which also included the tribal population living in the

adjoining forest region. They further observe that as opposed to

the development in the neighbouring Bengal, the situation was

different. One could notice that feudalism was operative in

Bengal as early as the days of Sasanka and Palas. It was found

that there were no traces of tribal pockets even during the

famous survey of the Todermal. Tribals could be found only on


t

the periphery. So, it could be concluded that, as opposed to


Assemese nationality, Bengali nationality was on a firm footing
from the very beginning and the Assemese nationality issue to
that extent, suffered a setback from the very beginning. Even
then the Assamese society as a whole could not be brought under
the feudal mode of production.
Keeping the aim of bringing tribals in the feudal fold,
another great reformer and a leader of the tribals was Sankar
Deva. Sankar Deva was rejected by the Ahoms, but adopted by Koch
King. . He had a well devised programme of absorbing the tribals
in the Hindu fold. This process of absorption could not fully
succeed because it did not find support from the Ahom monarchy
13

and secondly the successors to Koch Kingdom got disintegrated


due to various reasons. Thus we see that feudalism did not grow
fully in the Western Assam and so much so that in the Eastern
Assam, it was not even given a fair trial. Tribal system called
'Khel' was retained by the Ahoms, which delinked production from
land revenue. In its place they adopted the system of physical
labour as a unit of royal revenue in stead of share in the
agricultural produce. The Ahoms, in this way completely
disregarded the potentialities of this indigenous religious
creed. This transformation was then not possible. On the other
hand they brought in 'Saktaism' from Bengal which was ill suited
in the scenario of Assam and rather proved counter productive.
This rather late attempt on the part of Ahoms became a major
cause of friction between 'feudalism from above' and 'feudalism
from below'. This, it was felt, was responsible for the downfall
of Ahom state. 14

Basically, the material culture of all the communities of


North East India is based on paddy cultivation. Many of the
tribes like the Bodos, the Mishings and the Lalungs are plough
cultivators and like any other peasants in India, are no
different than them. In 'Kalika Purana' 'Kamakhaya' has been
depicted as 'Pitha', which is a famous pilgrimage for the whole
country. Sankar Deva tried to bring the tribes into the fold of
Vaishnavism. By this process the Noctes of Tirap district of
Arunachal Pradesh have been brought under the influence of
Assamese Vaishnavism. That is how the whole country can be
linked.
14

Islam entered North East India towards the close of the 12th
century AD. In fact, the population of Muslims got mixed with
the local population and easily adopted the local language and
culture.

The advent and spread of Christianity is a recent


phenomenon. This came alongwith the British occupation.
Initially plain dwellers of Brahmputra valley were not impressed
by Christianity favourably. However, the missionaries did a
great deal of work to develop the language and literature of
Assam. Conversion to Christianity got a very favourable
response in the hills and one after the other tribes started
embracing Christianity and the process is still continuing.
Primarily, Christianity got fertile ground in the hills because
it has become an important factor in modernising the tribes and
in providing them a consciousness of identity. As a matter of
fact, our priests never made any sincere attempt to convert^ the
hill people to Hinduism. 15

It is quite evident that, except for some casual attempts


made by some Vaishnavite perceptors, there was never any sincere
attempt made by our priests, to convert the hill people to
Hinduism. On the other hand, the Christian missionaries gave
them the opportunity to accept one of the major religions of the
world and the tribals responded wholeheartedly.
North East India contributed towards the coming together of
two great civilisations, that of China and India and the
synthesis out of this encounter took place in North East India,
The art of silk-weaving seems to have travelled from China to
India, through the Indo-Mongoloid people of North East India.
15

North East India and China are entwined by thousands of years of.
contact and underlying conflict. The region is inhabited by
nomadic Mongoloid tribes who have close ethnic and cultural
connections with their cousins in China, Tibet and Burma.

VIK Sarin in his book titled "India's North East In


Flames" has said that the North Eastern region remained
virtually neglected till the Chinese invasion of 1962. People of
this region openly express their gratitude to the Chinese for
waking up the authorities at the Centre from their slumber to
attend to the needs of this sensitive frontier area. He further
opines that although large investments have been made for the
development of this region in the post -1962 era, the area
generally is economically backward. 16

In the North Eastern region of India, particularly Assam,


since the middle ages, held a unique and distinctive place. Even
today Assamese speak with a lot of pride that they, meaning
Ahoms, (who gave present name of Assam) resisted the "Muslim
aggression" when the Muslim influence and control was at the
zenith elsewhere in the country. Assam was not a part of the
Moughal Empire at that point of time. Hindu Vaishnavism was
spread with great success by the Hindu sage Sankardeva in the
Brahamputra Valley. 17
At the time of independence to India, MA Jinnah, the founder
of Pakistan, demanded that Assam be included in Pakistan. Assam
would have been handed over to Pakistan, but for the timely
action of Gopinath Bordoloi, the then Chief Minister of Assam,
and who was backed by Mahatma Gandhi, when the crucial hour
16

came, Gandhi defended Assam's right to provincial autonomy and


its crucial fight for maintaining its political and cultural
identity. He wrote in "Harijan" on December 29, 1946 :

No one can force Assam to do what it does not want


to do. Not only a province but even a single
individual can rebel against Congress and by doing
so, serve it, assuming that the Province or the
individual is in the right. I have done so
myself. That would be a kind of Satyagraha
against the Congress for the good of the

Congress for the independence of India it is

the only condition. Each unit must be able to


decide and act for itself. 18
Thus Assam was saved from going to Pakistan.

At the time of Chinese aggression in 1962, when the Chinese


soldiers, after crossing the Himalayas, were nearing Tezpur, the
Muslim immigrants, who came from East Pakistan, raised the flag
of Pakistan to welcome the Chinese. It is said that Jawahar Lai
Nehru had virtually abandoned Assam. He made a pathetic farewell
address over the radio on November 12, 1962 "My heart goes out to
the people of Assam"., However, for some unknown reasons the
Chinese pulled back. Assam remained with India but acceleration
of the invasion by the civilians of Bangladesh and Nepal began.
Since 1963, Assam has been split into five states. 19
Assam has accommodated millions, who left Bangladesh and
took refuge in this land. In spite of popular movement like the
Foreigners Issue, which started in the year 1979, the flow of
illegal immigrants continue. This phenomenon has created a
17

serious demographic imbalance in this region. The Assamese fear


that if the influx continues the time will not be far when they
will be reduced to a minority in their own state and lose their
cultural identity. The resettlement of refugees, is a national
responsibility. Assamese and the hill tribals are ready to
accept the settlers on human grounds; but there should be some
limit to the inflow of population. It is unjust to expect only
those states to settle such a vast population just because states
'are bordering Bangladesh. It is also unjust to put pressure on
those very regions, who have been defined in the constitution,
requiring special safeguards for their social and economic
survival. If such population pressures are not checked, this can
result in their cultural annihilation. 20

We have to remember that our North Eastern borderlands


remained in turmoil throughout and the war for self-identity is
as old, as independent India. Twenty four hours before the
country achieved freedom, the Nagas declared themselves
independent. A decade or so later, Mizos rose in armed revolt
against the Union. At about the same time, the Meitie Hindus of
Manipur Province, who had been living on the fringes, suddenly
became important when they discovered that they were Mongoloid,
as opposed to their Hindu brethren in the plains of India. They
also decided to have a separate homeland. As time went on,
other groups and sub groups came out openly and demanded separate
independent status to themselves. Some were fighting for a
socialist state, some for Christianity and yet some others to
preserve their tribal identity. Out of these groups, some of
18

them also fought ( ather - not on major issues but it seems


simply to prove who was stronger.

Emergence of the North East as a discordant identity in the


body - politic with its Mongoloid root, is a post-independence
phenomenon. A new identity is, indeed, discernible - an identity
born of years of dilemma and dichotomy, confusion and conflict,
slowly leading to an unique awakening in time with the
compulsions of history and geography. Recent times have
witnessed many volatile quests in the North East for self
discovery and the convulsions associated with these exercises
hangovers of which still haunt the region. In this process, or
rather as an outcome of it, the North East is facing turmoils in
all spheres - society, religion, politics, economy and ecology.
It is now the land of seven sisters, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. In this
ethnic zone, Sikkim is the latest entry. Though politically
separated from the academic angle of ethno-sociological dynamics
and geopolitical logistics, Bhutan, Chittagong hill tracts of
Bangladesh and Chin hill- Patkoi region of Burma are intimately
linked with the North East. It is not only that these regions,
make a compact geographical and ethnic zone, but they also play
important roles, directly or indirectly, in shaping the events in
this ethno-political, ethno-social and ethno-cultural, fragile
mosaic of our sensitive and strategic North Eastern borderlands.

There has been a general feeling in the minds of some of the


North Eastern leaders that because of the isolated nature of
their struggle, none of them has been successful. So, they have
realised that they should have a united front, Students Union.
19

A concept of provisional Government of NAMAT - of Nagaland,


Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoi*ain, Arunachal and Tripura has
also been developed probably by some Marxist Nagas. General Mawu
Angami, the former Commander-in-Chief of the Naga Federal Army
reportedly said; "It is quite possible that after som^ time the
concept will grow". 21
Nari Rustomji, has said, '

The unrest on India's north eastern borders has


arisen not from want of goodwill on any body's
part, but from a failure of understanding. The
hopes and aspirations, of the Assamese that they
could absorb the hill districts of Assam within
their own cultural stream were doomed from the
very outset. They did not realise that people
however primitive, resent the imposition of an
alien culture. And so, one by one, the hill
districts broke away from the parent state.
Assamese, have since found themselves, in their
turn, faced with the threat of cultural
annihilation'. 22

It may be emphasised that no tribe, howsoever small or


insignificant likes the imposition of an alien culture and/or
their political domination. Another significant scenario is that
immigrants to this region of the Northeast, have always clung
tenaciously to their own culture. Each tribe wants its own
cultural identity protected. All this has resulted into a
20

demographic imbalance, particularly in Brahmputra Valley. Apart


from the immigrants from the neighbouring Bangladesh or Nepali
grazers, swarms of labour came also from Bihar and Orissa.
Traders came from Rajasthan and Punjab. Assamese economy is
being dominated now by the following migrant groups :-

(a) Enterprising Marwaris from Rajasthan control the entire


trade, commerce and tea, jute and plywood industries.

(b) Punjabis dominate in the field of government


contracts, supplies, transport, furniture and sports goods.
(c) Bengalis corner a sizeable portion of the 'white
collar' jobs and outshine the natives in various specialised
professions.

(d) Entire labour force and rickshaw and cartpullers are


the migrants from Bihar, Orissa and U.P. Sweepers are
mostly Namdhari Sikhs from Punjab.

(e) Majority of truck drivers are either Punjabis,


Nepalese, Bengalis or Biharis and carpenters, masons are
either Punjabis, Biharis or Bengalis. .1ml
Altogether, we can say that Assam and the North East to-day
is almost dominated by a combination of migrant groups.
Myron Weiner, who is considered an authority on migration
and ethnic conflicts in India, is of the view, as under :-

So long as the Assamese are unable to compete


effectively in the employment and investment
market against non-Assamese, who remain culturally
distinct, it seems likely that the Assamese will

r": qf^crix
21

continue to remain nativist in their politics and

protectionist in their policies. Regional

antagonisms to the central government, socialist

attacks against the alien business community, and

aggressive cultural minorities are variant

political orientations of a people, who suffer

from status deprivation, feel culturally

threatened, and lack the skills and outlook to

compete in the economic market place. 23 .1ml

In this scenario, the locals suffered throughout and are

still suffering.

Out of the Seven Sisters, as these newly carved entities are


now known, Assam is the most important state of the region, which
continues to be an ethno-political conglomerate, partly as a
legacy of the British rule. In spite of hill districts going
away from the undivided Assam, peace has not returned to this
truncated state. Thus for last few decades we have been reading
and hearing about the Nagas, Mizos, Meities, Tripuris, Khasis and
now in this simmering ethnic cauldron of Assam, we hear of Bodos.

For the past few years, Assam has been passing through a
trauma, caused by the violent agitation for a separate state of
Bodos. This movement has been led by Upendra Brahma, of the
ABSU, a Gauhati University student, who has since died and the
leadership since then has been hanging in balance in the fight
between S.K. Bwismutiary and Prem Singh Brahma, basically pro and
anti Hiteswar Saikia factions.
22

It may be recalled that the Bodo leaders opposed to the pro-

Saikia, Prem Singh Brahma faction of the Bodoland Peoples Party

(BPP), are reported to be mobilising the people, to be back on

the war path and though signatory to the last years' Accord, are

now threatening to back out of it and press for the separate

statehood.

The objectives of the Movement were spelled out in a demand


charter containing 92 demands, one of which was, for a separate

state called 'Bodoland' on the North of Brahmputra River.

In the following chapters, we shall go into greater detail

of the various facets of the Movement, encompassing the place of

Bodos in the mosaic of North East, factors behind their

aspiration for a separate identity, causes of Bodo militancy' the

details of demand charter and the efficacy of Bodo Accord.


23

NOTES AND REFERENCES

1. R. Gopalakrishnan, Ideology. Autonomy And Integration In the-


North East India Delhi, Guwahati, Omsons Publications. 1990-

P5.
2. Virginius XaXa, 'In the North East' SEMINAR No 412, December
1993 PP 34-36

3. P.R. Kyndiah, Mizo Freedom Fighters Delhi,Sanchar Publishing


House, 1994.

4. R.C. Verma, Indian Tribes Through the Ages Govt of India,


New Delhi, 1990 PP 170-171. There is a difference between the
Fifth and Sixth Scheduled areas. The Fifth Scheduled Areas are
under the overall administrative control of tribal Advisory
Councils, 3/4th of its members belong to tribal communities.
Sixth Scheduled Areas enjoy a certain amount of autonomy and come
under the administrative setup of district councils. Broadly,
tribals living in hill areas of the North East come under this
adminstrative category. A fair proportion of tribals live in the
plains,especially in Assam where in some parts the provisions of
the Fifth Schedule have been extended. Some special provisions
are operative in certain parts of the region. Thus, articles
371-A, 371-C and 371-D, applicable to Nagaland, Manipur and the
tribal areas of Assam respectively, extend special privileges
under the constitution.
5. Report .on the Administration of North East India. Govt of
India, Delhi Mittal Publications, 1984, PP 42-43.

6. Virginus xaxa. Seminar No 412 December 1993 P35, "In the

Northeast". Also see JN Das, 'Land, Land Relations and Land


24

Reforms in the Plains and valleys of North East India'.

"Paper presented at the NEICSSR seminar on Land, Land relations

and land reforms in the Plains and valleys of North East India,

Shillong, 17-18 April 1987".

7. Ibid, P 36 also refer to BP Misra, Socio r: Economic

Adjustment of Tribes. Peoples Publishing House, New Delhi, 1976

PP 52-54.

8. Myron Weiner Sons of the Soil Delhi, Princeton University

Press,1988 P 80.
9. Ibid Opcit P 82.

10. Majid Hussain Encyclopaedia of India- Assam. New Delhi,


Rima Publishing House, 1994,P55-57.

11. Nari Rustomi i.Imperilled Frontiers Delhi,1983 PP 9-11.

12. Report on the Administration of North East India. Govt of


India, Delhi, Mittal Publications, 1984, Op cit P 37.

13. Ibid ...Op cit P 33.

14. PS Datta, Autonomy Movements in Assam ±_ Documents. Delhi,


Omsons, 1993, Introduction, pp 2-3 (Note - This part is a
reproduction by the writer from the articles published by Dr
Sujit Choudhury, see "Assam : Genesis of the present ethnic
crises", circulated in August 1990).

15. D.N. Majumdar, 'The Great Indian Tradition And the Cultural
Heritage of North East India', Bulletin Nov 1984 The Tribal
Research Institute, Assam, Guwahati PP 50-53.
On this issue, I would 1 iTce to quote a small incidence, from
my personal experience during my tenure in Nagaland. In the year
1966,• I attended a school function, close to our post near
25

Kohima.^ I had an opportunity to talk to some students, at the


time tea was being served, after the function was over. I
happened to ask students if they knew anything about Indian
traditions. To my surprise, none of the students knew anything
about the Indian traditions or its rich culture. Some of the
students spoke out and remarked, "When no one ever taught us
anything about Indian traditions or culture, how can we know
about it". And perhaps, they were right. Christian missionaries
had reached the remotest portion of these misty hills and were
successful in spreading Christianity. Same was not the case
with Vashnavites, who could take these tribals in their fold and
make them aware about Indian traditions or its rich culture.

16. Sarin, VIK, 1980 'India's North East In Flames' Vikas


Publishing House, New Delhi.

17. Myron Weiner, Sons of the Soil University Princeton Press,


Delhi, 1988 Op cit P 84.

For an account of Assam's connections with the rest of India, see


Suniti Kumar Chatterji,
The Place of Assam In the History and Civilisation of India.
Gauhati University, 1955 also ref to E.A. Gait, History of Assam
(rev ed) Calcutta, Thacker and Spink, 1963, PP 91-92.
18. A.K.Das, Assam's Agony Lancers Publishers, 1982 Op cit P-15
19. Ibid Op cit P 17.
20. Nari Rustomji Imperilled Frontiers Delhi, 1983 Opcit P 14.
21. A.K. Das, Assam's Agony Lancers Publishers, 1982 OP Cit PP
287-288. also ref V.I.K. Sarin, India's North East In Flames New
Delhi 1980 P 97.
26

22. Nari Rustomi i.Imperilled Frontiers Delhi 1983 Op Cit P-1.

23. Myron Weiner, Sons of the Soi1 University Princeton Press,

Delhi 1988 Op cit P 136.

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi