Commentary

IMDT Act and Immigration 23,420 cases (Editorial, The Sentinel,

December 16, 2004) and have till January
2005 declared 12,424 persons illegal

in North-Eastern India migrants. Only 1,538 of them have been

deported [Staff Reporter, The Sentinel,
July 13, 2005].
The political parties claim credit for the
The Supreme Court’s verdict on the Illegal Migrants (Determination judgment that some AASU leaders called
by Tribunals) Act, 1983 as unconstitutional has closed one chapter a “success of the indigenous people of the
north-east” (The Sentinel, July 13, 2005)
of a long saga, but it will not bring to an end the issue of ‘illegal but in practice, the change of governments
immigrants’. The court judgment has actually polarised Assam as has made no difference to the issue. For
much as the act had done for two decades. example, the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP)
that was born out of the Assam movement,
WALTER FERNANDES The main demand of the Assam move- has been in power twice during the past
ment was detection and expulsion of for- 20 years. During its first term, 1987-90,

T
he Supreme Court judgment eigners in the state. Its focus was on the 2,477 illegal migrants were identified and
(July 12, 2005) on the public interest Bangladeshis though according to some 782 of them were deported. And in the
litigation filed by a student leader- estimates they were only around 40 per second term, 1996-2000, 902 persons were
turned-AGP MP, Sarbananda Sonowal, cent of the immigrants, the rest being from identified and 179 deported [Staff Re-
struck down the Illegal Migrants (Deter- the Hindi-speaking region or of Nepali porter, The Sentinel, July 13, 2005]. Little
mination by Tribunals) Act, 1983 (IMDT origin. It began as a secular movement of wonder then that the chairman of the north-
Act) as unconstitutional. That closed the all the Assamese, but always ran the risk eastern students’ organisation “lambasted”
chapter of a long saga, but did not bring of turning communal because of the reli- the ruling Congress “as well as the oppo-
it to an end. The reaction to the verdict gious slant given to it since most Bangla- sition AGP and BJP for the failure to
was on predictable lines. There was gloom deshi immigrants were Muslims. The protect the rights of the indigenous people”
in the Congress circles and joy in the BJP, Nellie massacre of more than 300 Bangla- (The Sentinel, July 13, 2005).
which claimed that it always wanted to deshis in 1983 did give it a communal An immediate effect of the judgment is
repeal the act. The All Assam Students’ angle. A VHP leader even said that Bangla- that it has deprived the state parties of a
Union (AASU) rejoiced at the verdict, but deshi infiltration was a Pakistani con- major issue on which they have fought the
some of its leaders cautioned against the spiracy to turn Assam into a Muslim state elections for two decades. The Congress
possible victimisation of the minorities. and that they “are supporting all kinds of has been accused of using the Bangladeshi
The Muslims feared reprisals and two of terrorist activity” (Staff Reporter, Assam immigrants as a vote bank, while the AGP
their bodies called for a bandh against it. Tribune, December 23, 2001). However, and BJP have allegedly used it as an
Thus the verdict polarised Assam as much now most of the AASU leaders have emotional issue but have not repealed the
as the act had done for two decades. It may appealed to the people not to communalise act and have not taken its implementation
continue till the assembly elections due this issue (The Assam Tribune, July 15, seriously [Dutta-Choudhury 2005]. The
next year. 2005) and even told the BJP recently that small number of immigrants expelled
they would not tolerate such a communal during the AGP regime is one of its ex-
Background of the Act slant. amples. The failure of the BJP to get this
The act applies only to Assam. The rest central act repealed during its years in
The IMDT act was enacted in 1983 in of India has the Foreigners’ Act 1946 power at the centre is another case of not
response to the Assam movement of 1979- which puts the onus on the accused to going beyond promises.
85 that began when the electoral rolls were prove his/her Indian nationality. The IMDT
being revised. Amid allegations that a defines foreigners as those who settled Immigration and the Communal
large number of Bangladeshi Muslim im- down in Assam after March 25, 1971 and Issue
migrants were being included in the rolls, puts the onus on the one who denounces
the Election Commission asked the Assam a person of proving that he/she is a for- Because of the communal bias given to
government to identify constituencies with eigner. Because of this stipulation many it, many fear discrimination against the
a big rise in the number of voters, but the consider the latter ineffective [Bhatta- Muslims. In fact, chief minister Tarun
state allegedly dragged its feet on the issue. charyya 2001: 154-55]. The experience of Gogoi claims that this fear was the main
Some state that the electorate had grown the past 22 years has proved them right. reason for enacting the IMDT. One of the
by 10.2 per cent between 1970 and 1971, Five tribunals set up under this act in the clauses of the Assam Accord 1985 was
10.42 per cent between 1971 and 1977 and districts bordering Bangladesh from Janu- that the National Register of Citizens
by a further 10.3 per cent during the ary 1983 registered 423,021 cases, dealt (NRC) 1951 would be updated to include
following year [Bhattacharya 2001: 90]. with 65,000 cases and have disposed of all the Assam inhabitants and their

Economic and Political Weekly July 23, 2005 3237

descendants on or before March 25, 1971, December 18, 2004). This figure was 2001 is probably because of the lower
but no government has done so until now. promptly rejected by the opposition. The influx in the 1990s.
Identity cards were promised but have been report in The Times of India, July 13, 2005 Also the above average decennial popu-
issued in only one circle in Karimganj on the repeal of the IMDT act began with lation growth in these states confirms
district. AASU has been demanding the “Uncertainty haunts the 1.5 crore illegal immigration. For example, the Nagaland
issue of the ID cards after completing the migrants from Bangladesh” thus giving population rose by 39.88 per cent in the
NRC (Editorial, The Sentinel, March 23, an impression that all of them came 1960s, 50.05 per cent in the 1970s, 56.08
2005). The Muslims fear harassment in the under the repealed act which applies only per cent in the 1980s [D’Souza 1999: 16]
absence of NRC and ID cards and the to Assam. and 40.08 per cent in 1991-2001 [2001
communal atmosphere some parties Census CDs], obviously because of immi-
create. Those born and brought up in Facts about Immigration gration, not natural growth. Also data on
India may not be able to prove their na- religion confirm it. For example, the tribal
tionality in the absence of birth and death Most ignore the crucial fact of a majority population of Arunachal Pradesh declined
registration. According to some news of the immigrants in the region being from 90 per cent in 1951 to 64 per cent
items many of the alleged Bangladeshis Hindus from the Gangetic plains. When in 2001. They belong mainly to the Dony
deported from Mumbai during the Shiv mentioned it is given a communal colour. Polo or tribal religion, but 37.64 per cent
Sena regime in Maharashtra were Hindi- For example, during the Assamese-Bihari of the population was Hindu in 1991. It
speaking Biharis and who spoke no conflict of November 2003 a VHP leader more or less coincides with the non-tribal
Bengali. They fear that the same will happen is reported to have said that it was an proportion which is 36 per cent. As stated
in Assam also. ISI conspiracy to drive away Hindus and above, the 2001 Census shows a substan-
The communal bias is also a reason for turn Assam into a Muslim majority state. tial rise in the proportion of Muslim majority
confusion on their numbers. Some speak However, the census shows that the districts in Assam. Because of Hindu
of 12 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam [Bhuyan immigrants of Bangladeshi origin as well Bangladeshis entering Tripura, its tribal
2002]. According to the census, the pro- as those from the Hindi heartland live proportion has declined from 58 per cent
portion of Muslims in Assam rose from in all the north-eastern states. For example, in 1951 [Sen 1993: 22] to 30 per cent in
24.03 per cent in 1971 [Saikia 1976: 97] in 1981 5.68 per cent of the Arunachal 2001 [Census 2001 CDs].
to 30.02 per cent in 2001. The number of population was of foreign origin (in-
Muslim majority districts in Assam has cluding the Chakma) and 14.13 per cent Immigration as an Economic
risen from four in 1991 to six in 2001 were immigrants from other Indian states Issue
[taken from Census CDs, 2001]. The outside the north-east. In Assam their
difference between 24.03 per cent and proportion was 6.68 per cent and 3.61 per Though it is given a communal bias,
30.92 per cent gives an additional Muslim cent, in Meghalaya 3.3 per cent and 5.93 immigration as well as the Assam move-
population of 18 lakhs in Assam’s 2001 per cent and in Nagaland 1.6 per cent ment are primarily economic issues. In the
total of 266 million. Not all of them are and 8.92 per cent, respectively. Only in 1970s persons from outside the region
immigrants since the Muslim population Tripura the immigrants of foreign controlling its economy neglected produc-
growth rate is relatively high because of (mostly Hindu Bangladeshi) were 22.67 tive investment in Assam. Consequently,
low female literacy. That gives us around per cent of the population and those unemployment was high. For example, the
15 lakh Bangladeshis in Assam where the from the rest of India were 1.66 per cent refinery for oil produced in Assam was
total number of immigrants is estimated [D’Souza 1999: 7]. shifted to Barauni in Bihar. Though it
to be 30 to 40 lakh – about 40 per cent We give the 1981 figures though no grows jute, Assam does not have a jute
of them are Bangladeshis and the rest are census was conducted in Assam because mill. Besides, most industrial jobs went to
from the Hindi speaking region or Nepali. of the emotions generated by the Assam outsiders. For example, in the 1960s only
The census figures also counter the stand movement. The figures were extrapolated 27 per cent of the employees in the indus-
of those who deny the very existence of from the 1991 census. The census figures tries in Assam were locals [Chattopadhyay
Bangladeshis in the region and of those show that immigration continued after 1990: 101]. To it should be added the
who put their number at more than 40 lakh 1981. Also the sex ratio of some states identity search of the Assamese after
[Bhattacharyya 2001: 120-121]. confirms it. For example, the studies show Nagaland and Meghalaya were formed by
The numbers game is an example of that the sex ratio of the indigenous popu- separating some of its districts. The Mizo
changing figures to suit ideology. lation of Arunachal Pradesh is higher than struggle was continuing in the 1970s. These
L K Advani stated in the Lok Sabha in the national average, but it is much lower states were formed because the tribes
2003 that India had 1.5 crore Bangladeshi when these states are taken as whole. For inhabiting the districts felt that the
immigrants, 50 lakh of them in Assam and example, in our 2001 study the sex ratio Assamese majority was submerging their
57 lakh in West Bengal. In December 2004 was 955 among the Angami of Nagaland identity. The Assamese found them-
the UPA minister of state for home affairs and 1,095 among the Aka of Arunachal selves on the defensive both against the
Jaiswal repeated this figure in the Lok Pradesh [Fernandes and Barbora 2002a: tribes and the outsiders controlling their
Sabha, but a few days later Manik Rao, 76-78]. However, in 1991 it was 890 in economy.
the other minister of state said in the Rajya Nagaland as a whole and 861 in Arunachal The fear of the immigrants has to be seen
Sabha that the figure was taken from the Pradesh and rose marginally in 2001 to 909 within this overall context of economic
previous government and that Assam and 901, respectively [2001 census]. The neglect, threat to their identity and fear of
had only 80,886 Bangladeshis (‘Trouble reason for their low overall sex ratio is being outnumbered by outsiders. To it
with Numbers’, Editorial, The Sentinel, single male migration. The slight rise in should be added the fear of losing land to

3238 Economic and Political Weekly July 23, 2005

the immigrants, not all of them Bangladeshi. Immigration came to be linked to the tea encroach on the land. Much of the land
Most outsiders killed in the Karbi Anglong industry which was built on indentured in the tribal areas of the region is commu-
district of Assam are Biharis. A recent labour from Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and nity owned according to tribal customary
study showed that many Biharis have other regions where the Permanent Settle- law, but Indian land laws recognise only
‘pattas’ at Lanka in Nagaon district, but ment 1793 and the zamindari system had individual ownership. This disjunction be-
their land is in the Karbi Anglong district displaced people on a large scale [Guha tween the systems makes it easy for the
which comes under the Sixth Schedule of 1977: 17-18]. Unlike the nomadic tribes immigrants to encroach on and cultivate
the Constitution that bans tribal land alien- that settled down in the north-east as its common land. Besides, most immigrants
ation to non-tribals [Fernandes and Barbora inhabitants, the tea garden management were agricultural labourers in their area of
2002b: 64-65]. kept their workers isolated from the origin, as such familiar with cultivation
This fear continues even today as one local people within a regimented work techniques. They prosper by using these
can see from a bill in the state assembly structure. As a result, they were unable to techniques on the land they occupy.
banning land ownership in Assam by integrate themselves with their surroun- Whatever the type of immigrants, for
persons from outside the state introduced dings and the local communities continue over a century they have encroached on
on March 15 by the independent MLAs. to treat them as outsiders [Fernandes, the land of the local communities. These
It was rejected (The Assam Tribune, Barbora and Bharali 2003: 5-6]. communities resist the alienation of their
March 9, 2005). There is also the fear of In the 1920s began the immigration into livelihood, but the country treats their
losing jobs. There are also indications that western Assam from East Bengal (present- resistance as insurgency and a law and
before the Assam movement most day Bangladesh) as a deliberate British order issue. The consequent land shortage
Bangladeshis were brought into the state policy to settle people in what they called has resulted in ethnic conflicts between
by big landlords who wanted cheap labour. wastelands that the Boro tribe considered various tribes of the north-east and has
Some of them were given land as tenants its livelihood [Bose 1989: 62-64]. Simi- added to the threat of land and job loss.
but lost it because of the Land Reforms larly, when there was an excess labour, Be it the Naga-Kuki conflict in Manipur
Act [Kar 1980]. some tea garden managers encouraged them [Fernandes and Bharali 2002: 52-55], the
A reason why the north-east continued to cut the forests in the neighbourhood, Bodo-Santhal [Roy 1995] and Dimasa-
to welcome immigrants is its more than create ‘bastis’ and settle down in what they Hmar tension in Assam (The Telegraph,
a millennium-long history of immigration called unoccupied land that the commu- April 23, 2003) or the Tripura tribal de-
of different nomadic tribes from south- nities like the Boro considered their liveli- mand for a homeland [Bhaumik 2003], all
east, south and inner Asia. Each tribe hood [Kar 1999: 27-28]. The type of migrants have their origin in competition for land
that entered the region created its own changed again with Partition which forced and result in massacres. Other conflicts
history and myths of origin, developed an a large number of Hindus to flee erstwhile like the one between the Assamese and
identity and settled down in the region as East Pakistan and come to the north-east Bihari have been for jobs [Fernandes 2003].
its inhabitants, not as colonisers ruling and many Muslims from the region to go Another pull factor is the local need for
the region on behalf of another country to East Pakistan [Nag 2002: 32-25]. cheap labour and services that the immi-
as the British rulers did. For example, the grants provide as barbers, shoe-makers
Meitei of Manipur claim their origin from Changes after 1947 and as unskilled manual workers. Con-
the Vedic times, so do some groups of struction and other contractors seem to
Assam [Barua 1985: 8-10]. The Ahom The post-1947 influx from the Hindi- have developed a vested interest in their
who ruled most parts of Assam before the speaking region and Bangladesh introduced cheap labour. For example, according to
British army defeated them came from the three changes in the type of immigrants. a news item, the main bidders for the
Shan region and assimilated the local Firstly, prior to 1947 most of them were Bogibeel bridge contract in upper Assam
culture. Besides, in pre-colonial times, mi- Muslims. Today most of those coming to were two organisations formed by former
gration rarely resulted in conflicts for re- Tripura from Bangladesh and other states AASU leaders who were in the forefront
sources because land was abundant from the Hindi heartland are Hindus. of the agitation against the immigrants.
[Bose 1989: 38-39]. Secondly, until 1947 only Assam and However, neither organisation was ready
The pattern of migration changed with Tripura attracted immigrants from outside to give an undertaking that it would employ
the British colonialists acquiring de jure the north-east. Today most states in the only Assamese workers, because the im-
control over the north-east with the Anglo- region experience such inflows. Thirdly, migrants were ready to work for very low
Burmese Yandabu Treaty of 1826. Colo- unlike in the colonial age when the state wages (The Assam Tribune October 22,
nialism changed the history of the region encouraged migration as cultivators of 2002). According to another report (The
and also established some commonality in wasteland or as indentured labour, the Sentinel, January 23, 2005) brick kiln
its economy by changing it to suit the needs Partition refugees were forced migrants owners at Mariani in Assam do not coop-
of the British industrial revolution. In the and the post-1947 immigrants come with- erate with the officials who are trying to
north-east an emphasis was placed on out overt state support. identify Bangladeshi labourers working
extractive enterprises like tea and oil for Common with the 19th and 20th cen- under them.
which much land was acquired, resulting turies are the push factors of poverty, Landowners also search for Bangladeshi
in the displacement and emigration of large landlessness, the feudal system and lack labour as cultivators. For example, a result
numbers. That is the basis of the beginning of land reforms in their area of origin of the Assam movement is the thrust given
of the fear of the immigrants and of the [Majumdar 2002: 107-108]. The pull to education and jobs in the administra-
ethnic conflicts that dominate the north- factor is the fertile land in the north-east tion. Those who are employed in the
east even today [Acharya 1990: 75-78]. and the legal system that allows them to administration continue to own land,

Economic and Political Weekly July 23, 2005 3239

but do not want to cultivate it. So they Bhaumick, Subir (2003): ‘Tripura’s Gumti Dam House, New Delhi.
employ immigrants, particularly of Must Go’, The Ecologist Asia 11 (n 1, January- Kar, M (1980): ‘Wasteland Settlement and Policy
March), pp 84-89. in Assam’, Social Action 30, (n 3, July-Sept),
Bangladeshi origin, to cultivate it or give Bose, M L (1989): Social History of Assam, pp 301-15.
it out to them on a share cropper basis for Concept Publishers, New Delhi. Kar, R K: ‘A Panoramic View of the Tea and Ex-
one year at a time, not beyond it, for fear Chattopadhya, Dilip Kumar (1990): History of the Tea Tribes of Assam’ in Thomas Pullopillil
Assamese Movement since 1947, Minerva, (ed), Identity of Adivasis in Assam, Indian
of losing it under the Land Reforms Act Calcutta. Publishers Distributors, Delhi, pp 21-46.
[Fernandes and Barbora 2002b: 52-54]. D’Souza, Alphonsus (1999): North East India, Majumdar, Anindiyo J (2002): ‘Human Movement
We have seen the Angami of Nagaland Kohima Jesuit Region (Mimeo), Jakhama. and the Nation State: Dimensions of an Indian
‘adopting’ Nepali workers to cultivate land Dutta Choudhury, R (2005): ‘New Chapter in Crisis in its North-Eastern Region’ in Joshua
State Politics’, The Assam Tribune, July 13. Thomas (ed), Dimensions of Displaced People
of those who have jobs in the town. We Fernandes, Walter (2003): ‘Why Is Assam in North-East India, Regency Publications,
were told that in the Phek district of Burning?’ The Hindu, December 8. New Delhi, pp 91-111.
Nagaland the educated people who do not Fernandes, Walter and Sanjay Barbora (2002b): Nag, Sajal (2002): ‘Whose Nation Is It Anyway:
‘The Socio-Economic Situation of Nagaon Nation Building and Displacement in Indian
want to work on their land ‘adopt’ District: A Study of Its Economy, Demography Sub-Continent’ in C Joshua Thomas (ed), op
Bangladeshis to cultivate it. Thus, the local and Immigration’, North-Eastern Social cit, pp 26-49.
people are ambiguous towards the immi- Research Centre, Guwahati (mimeo). Roy, Ajay (1995): The Boro Imbroglio, Spectrum
grants. On the one hand, they oppose them Fernandes, Walter, Sanjay Barbora and Gita Bharali Publishers, Guwahati.
(2003): Primary Education of Plantation Saikia, A K (1876): A Portrait of Population: Assam,
as encroachers on their land and jobs and, Labourers in Assam, North-Eastern Social Directorate of Census Operations, Guwahati.
on the other, their low wages have become Research Centre, Guwahati (mimeo). Sen, Sipra (1993): The Tribes of Tripura:
a vested interest with the contractors and Fernandes, Walter and Gita Bharali (2002): The Description, Ethnology and Bibliography,
Socio-Economic Situation of Some Tribes of Gian Publishers, New Delhi.
agriculturists. Bishnupur and Palizi, North Eastern Social Staff Reporter (2001): ‘VHP Vows to Launch Stir
Research Centre, Guwahati (mimeo). to Ward off Bangladeshis’, The Assam Tribune,
Guha, Amalendu (1977): Planter Raj to Swaraj: December 23.
Conclusion Freedom Struggle and Electoral Politics – (2005): ‘What Has the Act Done?’, The Sentinel,
in Assam 1826-1947, People’s Publishing July 13.
Will the repeal of the IMDT act solve
this problem? That ambiguity will prob-
ably continue because very few local people
want to do the tasks that the immigrants
perform. As a result, the demands for
sending the immigrants away will
continue, but very little will be done.
Political parties will find new ways of
using them as vote banks or of rousing
communal feelings around them. The fear
of losing jobs will continue to be used to
get the cooperation of the student body.
However, a solution can be found only
when student bodies come together to
demand another type of development that
creates jobs and motivates them to go back
to their land in order to cultivate it in
another form. The local communities have
to stand up to the vested interest of builders
and contractors in cheap labour. If enough
jobs are created and the youth is trained
to take up new jobs, they may not even
need to fight against the immigrants be-
cause there may be enough for all to share.
That requires a move away from a com-
munal to an economic and cultural
approach to immigration. EPW

Email: [email protected]

References
Acharya, S K (1990) ‘Ethnic Processes in North-
Eastern India’ in D Pakem (ed), Nationality,
Ethnicity and Cultural Identity in North-
East India, Omsons Publications, New Delhi,
pp 69-108.
Bhattacharyya, Hiranya Kumar (2001): The Silent
Invasion: Assam versus Infiltration, Spectrum
Publications, Guwahati and Delhi.

3240 Economic and Political Weekly July 23, 2005