Events & Issues

New Delhi, 3 September 2012

Assam Lessons

NO BODO OR MUSLIM, FIRST INSAAN

By Syed Ali Mujtaba

Tragically there has been no positive story in the recent past that was reported in the recent Assam imbroglio, except one. But before sharing that lets first count the negatives that has shaken us from within.

First was the mass exodus of the Bengali-speaking Muslim population from their shanty homes residing in the lower Assam valley? It followed the armed raid by the murderous Bodo tribe. There was much of blood letting and mayhem in this tragedy that triggered one of the largest displacements of population in the independent Indian history.

Unfortunately, Assam is too far from New Delhi, the seat of power and also far from the so-called national media that’s more comfortable in reporting Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev. Even though five lakh people left their homes and over 100 perished, the tragedy did not move the national media to report it like a national crisis.

The second important development was the angry and violent protest by Muslim youth at Azad Maidan last month in Mumbai and the subsequent violent protest. It sparked off the question, why Muslims in Mumbai should protest for the happenings in Assam, when after all they are too far away and have no connection except common religion.

The argument may sound fair enough, but living in Chennai, and witnessing protest in support of Tamils in Sri Lanka, who are citizens of another country, the Mumbai protest sought to definitely make sense to me, at least.

The protest was to send a strong message to the Government and the media to do something to address the issue and ensure not to let it recur. This has to be seen in the context of 1983 Nellie riots in Assam, when more than 3,000 people died and not a single FIR was lodged against such massacre.  

However, there is no denying that the act of the Mumbai protestors to become violent and go on a rampage is something that should be condemned. It would be prudent that those indulging in acts of vandalism must be given exemplary punishment. But, the Mumbai protest also exposes the laxity of the police force that did not anticipate the situation and did not make adequate preparation to handle the possible fall out if the peaceful crowd became unruly.     

Continuing with the negative news, the story of rumor mongering mills then came in. The so-called national media that could not cover the Assam story properly started giving live commentary of the fleeing northeast people from various metropolitan cities. The citizenship issue of Assam became unfortunately secondary, and the focus primarily shifted to unearthing the rumor mongering factories in the country.

It was discovered that the rumors were spread through the internet using social media and the mobile phones, the modern day tools of communication. This triggered another debate on how to control these from having damaging influence on the society, while others argued that such mediums should not be controlled.

A rattled Government then took an easy way out and decided to put restrictions on these two sets of communication and set a precedent for the future as well. Do we like to remain under such control and restrictions in a democratic country, is a question that requires a national debate.       

Oblivious of all these facts, a youth organization, in New Delhi took a bold step to cool the social tempers that were rising due the problems related to recent developments in Assam.  It assembled a large number of it volunteers at India Gate in solidarity with the people of Assam in particular and the North East in general. Youth gathered there shouted slogans of peace and non-violence and harmony. They joined hands and formed a human chain near Amar Jawan Jyoti to express the solidarity for the North East people.

The slogans shouted were “we are one.” Many placards were displayed condemning the violence and riots in Assam. One of these read: 'Na Bodo Na Muslamaan, Sabse Pehle Hai Insaan' (no Bodo, no Muslim, we all are first human beings). Many present at India Gate also joined the human chain to stress on the message, the need for restoring unity and harmony.  

“This human chain is a way to show our unity and solidarity, we also want to say that such violence and riots cannot disintegrate our society and we through our unity will rise every time together,” stated Shekhar Jain, of Mission Bhartiyam that organized the peace initiative.  “We are really hurt by the recent ongoing violence and thus we feel that it is us (youths) who have responsibility to come forward and to show that we are against all violence and riots,” he had further reiterated. 

Ansaar Ahmed from the National Confederation of Human Rights Organizations (NCHRO) who had joined the human chain had this to say: “This is the time of national emergency, our society is in danger and people must know that they are humans first, not the Bodos, Hindus or Muslims.”

“We were hurt by this violence in Assam and its after-effects. Though some organizations and individuals went there and helped in relief works, we also have responsibility towards our fellow citizens. It will be a good gesture if we all can come together to tell that we are one,” was another voice of a Mission Bhartiyam activist.  It pleaded: “We, as citizens of this country and as human beings, condemn riots and violence in all forms. We also condemn the shock, the pain, the terror that the people had to face. We empathize with the people of North East and show our solidarity and extend our support to them.”  

Importantly, such developments are powerful narratives of contemporary India. It lives up the adage, that what is true of this country, the opposite of it is also true. Among the stories of hatred and violent protest this little tale, was hardly reported anywhere in the media. Should it not have hit the front pages or the news hour of the TV Channels to help the message go nationwide? 

As this story sends a positive message-- a message of peace and harmony; a message of being human first; a message that we all are Indians and we share our joys and sorrows together, it at least deserves a glance.---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)