Political Diary
New Delhi, 18 August 2012
The Political
Terrorists
SHAMELESS VOTE_BANK
POLITICS
By Poonam I Kaushish
Till yesterday Mary Kom was an unknown 29-year old Manipuri.
Today, Magnificent Mary, bronze medalist in boxing at the London Olympics has
won national accolades. Undoubtedly, she has put distant Manipur on the world
map, but as the adage goes, one swallow does not make a summer. Even as the
country rejoices in her achievements, her fellow brethren from the North East
are fleeing Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad etc to the safety of their
homes. Knocked out by hate SMS, “Leave immediately or face unspecified action.”
Socking ‘secular’ India
a deathly communal body-blow!
Clearly, the chickens have come home to roost for our polity
in picturesque and neglected North-East. Wherein, the en masse exodus of North Eastern people from various States is the
backlash for the large-scale violence in Assam which rendered over four lakh
homeless in Bodo-Muslim immigrants clashes since July. Underscored by Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s blunt
assertion: “Assam
is sitting on a volcano, you don’t know what happens where.” Leaving a shaken and dumbfounded Centre
red-faced.
The tragedy of it all is that even now our polity continues
to take a blinkered myopic view. Cutting across Party lines, our Right
Honourables in both Houses of Parliament united in one voice to express concern
over the safety of the people from North
Eastern States
and their right to live anywhere in the country. Said Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh, “What is at stake is unity… and communal harmony of our country.”
Sic.
Alas, none wanted to address the most critical questions. Who
are the perpetrators behind the hate mails? What action is the Government
contemplating against the various Muslim organizations responsible for the
North East people’s flight?
Undeniably, this sad state of affairs is because asli Bharat is in the vicious grip of
the Political Terrorist. Borne out by our netagan’s
diabolical machinations of vote-bank politics resulting in a
secular-communal divide. Illegal immigrants have been allowed to don a communal
face to satiate the greedy Indian political animal. Most political parties have
recklessly imported them into North Eastern States from neighbouring Bangladesh to
inflate their vote banks. So what if it’s slowly turning the country into Asia’s waste paper basket.
Brushing under the carpet the brutal truth that the recent
violence in Assam
is just ethnic cleansing of non-tribals (read illegal migrants), reminiscent of
the Nellie massacre of 1994. Already, murmurs of ‘Assam for Asomese’ are gaining
ground and could explode into a ‘people’s anti-foreigner war’ reminiscent of
the 1970’s. Equally dangerous is that the illegal immigrants are not taking
this lying down but retaliating against the asli
Bharatvasi.
Undeniably, the genie of unbridled and unabashed Muslim
appeasement unleashed by successive State Governments has virtually led to a
situation where the genie itself is threatening to gobble up Assam. Think.
Eight of Assam’s
27 districts have a Muslim majority population and hold the key for 60 of its
126 Assembly constituencies.
Over 85% of the total encroached forest land is with the
Bangladeshis. According to intelligence reports, “In the 70 years between 1901
and 1971, Assam’s population
increased from 3.29 million to 14.6 million – a 343.77 % increase” over a
period when the population of India
went up by only about 150 per cent!
Illegal migrants have settled in various other Indian States,
including West Bengal, Nagaland, Manipur, Bihar, Tripura, UP, Rajasthan,
Maharashtra and even Delhi.
Further, the Muslim growth rate in areas bordering Bangladesh was more than 60 per
cent compared to the districts far away, where the growth rate varied between
30 and 50 per cent (1971-1991). Needless to say, this unnatural growth reads
illegal migrants. Any wonder that all parties talk about the need to put a stop
to this. But when push comes to shove, mum is the word.
But more worrisome is the fact that Pakistan’s ISI mercenaries are slipping into the
country from Bangladesh
in the garb of immigrants. With no method of differentiating between a militant
and an immigrant, it poses a grave security threat. Even madrasas have been infiltrated by the ISI which is using these as their
addas of propagating hatred leading to
proliferation of Islamic fundamentalism.
Where do we go from here? Pander to rabid rabble rousers?
Pander to the politics of vote banks? Allow the Push and Pull theory of
illegality continues. The Push back to poverty vs. the Pull of India’s rich pastures. The option is narrow. The
solution must be clearly dictated by India’s primary interest --- its
integrity and stability. Pakistan’s
long-term designs against India
need to be sternly thwarted. The proxy war from across the border stands
testimony to this. Kashmir must not be
repeated elsewhere.
For starters, the Home Ministry should come out with a White
Paper disclosing the harsh facts and spelling out the Centre’s plans to combat
this grave threat to India’s
freedom and integrity. More importantly, to protect the interests of the
genuine citizen. All bonafide Indians must be issued multi-purpose identity
cards to establish their national identity, mere ration cards will not do.
Today, most Bangladeshis flaunt these to avoid deportation.
If necessary, work permits could be issued to the migrants for, say, two years.
With a firm rider: No voting rights and no permanent settlement. North Block
also needs to look at its immigration laws and plug the loopholes urgently.
For the long-term, our politicians will have to cry a halt
to vote-bank politics. True, this is easier said than done as power is
indivisible from politicians. However, in matters of national security there is
no place for communal agendas or narrow sectarian politics. In practical terms, strict policing and
border management is needed.
The time has come for the Congress-led UPA Government to
apply its mind to drawing up an agreed “Common National Programme”, in
consultation with all other Parties. For it can be nobody’s case to support the
cause of the illegal migrants who are slowly but surely changing India’s
demographic landscape. And threatening the livelihood of citizens and the
identity of the indigenous people. Leading to a serious identity crisis.
Is the Government capable of defusing this treacherous power
keg? Mere assurance of being pro-active will no longer do. The Centre needs to
brace itself for a long and hard struggle ahead. The poison of vote-bank must
end. No sane and self respecting country allows foreigners and their protectors
to play ducks and drakes with national integrity and security.
Remember, even in a globalised world one needs one’s own
identity. A sense of belonging to one’s roots. The need of the hour is to
understand the seriousness, deal assertively with the issues and set up
time-bound measures once and for all. When vote-bank politics dictate our
leaders’ political ideology and their attitude and stance on everything is
weighed on the voters’ scale there is no hope in hell for the aam aadmi. Will our leaders heed? ---
INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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