For a long time, Assamese politics has centred on the hunt for “illegal Bangladeshis” who threaten the three pillars of “indigenous” Axomiy...
For a long time, Assamese politics has centred on the hunt for “illegal Bangladeshis” who threaten the three pillars of “indigenous” Axomiya identity – jaati (ethnicity), maati (land), bheti (hearth or homeland).
Since 2014, when the Supreme Court pushed for the completion of the National Register of Citizens, the Indian state has spent over Rs 1,200 crore to identify “illegal immigrants” in Assam.
But it is not “illegal Bangladeshis” who have siphoned off Assam’s natural resources without consulting its people, imperilled the lives of Assamese people by imposing a draconian security regime, raided Assam’s verdant forest lands for oil, gas, coal, and thrown Assamese activists behind bars for exercising their democratic right to protest.
That has been the sole domain of the Indian state and its corporate allies, which have been in the business of extraction-appropriation-imposition for a long time.
From oil to ayurveda
Five specific instances from the past five years, three within the last three months, reveal the extraordinary threats faced by the people of Assam. None of them involve “illegal immigrants” from Bangladesh.
In April, a standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife gave the green light for coal mining operations in the Saleki Proposed Reserve Forest area, which sits dangerously close to the eco-sensitive Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary....
