Bangla influx still sore point for Meghalaya students

Shillong: The spectre of the Bangladeshi migrant continues to haunt Meghalaya. While political parties tread cautiously, student organizations – that have spearheaded anti-migrant movements in the state since the 1970s – still see the ‘influx’ issue as one that needs more attention.
BJP had been very vocal about the issue of illegal migration in Assam, but it has not raked up the citizenship debate in Meghalaya yet. “The situation in Assam and that in Meghalaya are different. In Assam, BJP knew it could not count on Bangladeshis, most of whom are Muslims, to vote for them. Their primary vote bank was the majority Hindu population,” president of the North East Students’ Organisation (NESO), the coordinating organization for all student bodies in the region, Samuel Jyrwa said.

In Meghalaya, amid suspicion about BJP’s agenda in the Christian-majority state, it is a section of non-tribals that sees hope in BJP and the party will not alienate them with an anti-migrant rhetoric. Besides, the BJP’s stand on migrants at the Centre – where it’s trying to push the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and grant citizenship to religious minorities from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan – and in Assam – where it promised to “weed out” all illegal migrants – are at odds with each other.

Congress chief minister Mukul Sangma has often spoken about the need to check illegal migration. It was under his government that the stringent Meghalaya Residents Safety and Security Act, 2016 – tightening rules for tenants – was passed to prevent illegal migrants from taking shelter in the state. The party’s election agenda, however, does not centre around influx and, instead, focuses on inclusiveness.

It is only regional parties – like the United Democratic Party (UDP), the Hill State People’s Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) – that have taken an aggressive anti-migrant stand, aligned with the student bodies’ demands. But student organizations are not too eager the jump the gun. “In the past, student bodies have expected more of certain parties, but it has not turned out favourably. So we are maintaining a safe distance,” NESO president Jyrwa said.

The debate surrounding non-tribal migrants has always been a volatile one. The state has witnessed three major periods of ethnicity-based violence – targeting Bengalis in 1979, Nepalis in 1987 and Hindi-speaking residents in 1992. The rhetoric switched between legality of their citizenship and the purported diminishing space for tribal identity because of their entry.

KSU president Lambok Marngar said, “From time to time, we demand laws from the government to control the influx of illegal migrants. If we allow illegal migrants to keep coming in, it will erode our ethnic identity.”

In the state, the number of non-tribals has actually been going down. According to the 2011 Census report, tribals constituted 86.1% of the state’s population, up from 80.58% in 1981 – when the first Census was undertaken after formation of the state in 1972. The year 1981 was when Census was not carried out in Assam due to “disturbed condition”, as the official reason goes. This was when the Assam Agitation, also spearheaded by a student body – the All Assam Students’ Union – was at its height.

So what do the student bodies want? “We need an Inner Line Permit (ILP) system, like Mizoram, Nagaland or Arunachal Pradesh. We want properly demarcated entry and exit points on the different routes leading to the state,” Jyrwa said, adding that the shared border with Assam is a vulnerability.

“Our immediate neighbour, Assam, is home to over 10 lakh illegal immigrants. The inter-state border becomes very porous and it’s difficult to identify persons travelling through Assam and entering Meghalaya, claiming to be Indian residents ... I think this problem has long been neglected. Congress is guilty of having indulged in appeasement of illegal immigrants,” UDP working president and former KSU president Paul Lyngdoh said.