The North Eastern states are not happy with the CAB and are out on streets protesting. Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura have seen some of the largest protests in the region. But what are they protesting against?
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| We don't want Bengalis |
To understand the reason behind their protest, one has to go back in time to 1873 when the colonial government imposed the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation to restrict long term stay of the 'British Subjects' in many parts of what is now the north east India.
The Regulation was amended in post independence India and 'Inner Line Permit' (ILP) was introduced in Arunachal, Mizoram and Nagaland. This essentially meant that non locals/tribals were not allowed for long term stays in these protected areas. The Modi govt. added Manipur to the list of states with ILPs.
The genocide carried out by Pakistan in the 60s-70s religious persecution in independent Bangladesh, led to a large scale migration of Bangladeshis in Assam and Meghalaya. The demographics changed and the illegal Bengalis slowly started capturing resources. The Assamese saw this as a threat to their culture and language.
The recent protests in Assam and other states of the north east are not against CAB per se. The protestors are against any settlers irrespective of their religion. Neither do they want Hindu Bangladeshis to settle in Assam, nor do they want Muslim Bangladeshis in their state.
If one looks from the Assamese's point of view, this makes sense. The people there want to preserve themselves against the drain on resources put on by the illegal immigrants. They are right when they ask, 'why should just Assam bear the brunt of this illegal immigration'?
On the other hand, the inner line permits and the protests by Assamese people can be labeled as Xenophobia. The people of these states do not want anyone to settle in their states. Much like some housing societies, which do not want non-vegetarians, Muslims or single men as their tenants. They too hide behind the excuse of preserving their 'values' and 'culture'.
These people do not want diversity. They want to impose their own version of majoritarian ideas of 'culture' and 'language' on the States. This is a sort of reverse racism (for the lack of a better word) in north east India against people from rest of the country.
So what does this mean? Where should rest the country stand on this issue?
Well, if one are in favour of uniformity and majoritarian views then one should support these protests. But if one is all for diversity and progressive ideas, then one should condemn these protests as majoritarian and xenophobic.
