Dr Nsungbemo Ezung
Wokha Town
At the 78th anniversary of the infamous partition of India, the people of South Asia, irrespective of their nationalities and ethnic groups, linguistic and religious identities, must be realizing the fact that the curse of the Partition of India continues to afflict the whole of the Indian subcontinent. The partition of India in August 1947 not only led to the unwanted division of India into two independent countries in South Asia based on religious lines, increased to three in 1971, but also shattered the historic bonds between countless families, religious communities and societies due to the tragic, unnecessary and abrupt territorial separation.
Millions of Indians were forcefully displaced and uprooted from their beloved birthplace, and many among those displaced were fell victims of the ensuing communal violence that rocked the whole of India and millions of fortunate ones who had survived the communal violence had to relocate themselves to a new place. Many painful stories are still told today of a lifetime longings of those uprooted Indians to return, if not to at least visit their birthplace once in their lifetime, but ended their lives without ever realising their dreams. Those painful stories left every right-thinking person in tears while at the same time left us furious for the wrong policies of those few Indian politicians and leaders at the time of Partition, which caused untold suffering to millions of innocent Indians.
The Partition had caused estrangement among the fellow Indians. One of the worst effects of Partition was that it turned fellow Indians into strangers and in some worst case scenarios, enemies to one another. It makes a fellow Indian illegal in the minds of other fellow Indians. Centuries of bonds, cordial and harmonious relationships and humanity among diverse Indians were all shattered in just a few years’ time when the leaders began to define the idea of India in terms of “religion”. This new definition of India created separation among the Indians on religious lines, and their once inspiring harmonious relationship that existed among different religious communities was replaced by fear, mistrust and hatred among them; the separation on religious lines among fellow Indians continues to survive and haunt the whole of the Indian subcontinent to this day.
Make no mistake! The present crisis in India's Northeast and Assam in particular over the question and issue of “illegal immigrants” has its roots in the 1947 Partition of India. Taking from the perspective of historical injustice, the present crisis in India's Northeast and Assam should be called the problem of human displacement, and not the problem of illegal immigrants.
Had partition never happened, those millions of historically Indian from India's Northeastern frontier whom we today consider as “illegal immigrants” would have been living in one undivided India, living with the same citizenship status, and with dignity and respect like the rest of the Indians. Without partition, nobody would have questioned their citizenship, their identity, their place of origin and their inalienable right of belongingness. But thanks to the disastrous impact of Partition, today they have become landless, without a homeland, without belonging and without identity. It is ironic to note that the transition of South Asia from colonial rule to self-rule would leave millions of Indians forcefully uprooted from their beloved homeland and let the posterity of those displaced Indians to permanently suffer the curse of Partition. And it’s tragic that the modern nations of South Asia built on the ideals of secularism, pluralism and inclusiveness of Mahatma Gandhi still could not able to find a solution to the problem of the displacement of millions of Indian nationals.
Those who are refer to as “illegal immigrants” may be migrating from one country to another, legally or illegally. And the reasons may be religious persecution, economic deprivation and extreme hardship due to a political crisis in their previous country. But history bears witness to the fact that they are Indians and they will always be Indians. And the Governments of South Asian are fully responsible for their crisis and the leaders of South Asia should not convert the sufferings of the unfortunate displaced Indians into a conflict between “legal citizens and illegal citizens” and “foreigners and natives”.
India cannot also let the whole problem of “illegal immigrants” be concentrated in one region and let the people of that region suffer on behalf of the whole of the Indian subcontinent. Northeast India did not create the problem of displacement, religious persecution and economic hardship that is happening elsewhere in the subcontinent. Then why should the entire Northeast region be converted into a single ground to address the crisis that is historical in nature, with the whole subcontinent responsible for that crisis?
It's not fair for the Governments of the South Asian nations to turn a deaf ear to the cry of the descendants of those who are victimised by the tragic policies at the time of the end of colonial rule. And it's not fair for them to turn a blind eye to the suffering of millions of Indians that is caused by the curse of modern Indian history.
If the Government of India is so generous while proposing a policy to accommodate in the country those persecuted religious minorities elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent, and even ready to grant them full privilege of citizenship, what about those displaced populations unfortunately dubbed as "illegal immigrants". Can the Government of India look beyond the idea or policy of “eviction” and instead find a humanitarian solution for the displaced Indians and grant them their right place and status in their legitimate homeland called the Indian Subcontinent? Can the Government of India in collaboration with the governments of other South Asian nations come up with joint humanitarian policies to address the plight of those "illegal immigrants" in India? And can the nations of South Asia concede to the fact that those "illegal immigrants" are victims of history with absolutely no fault of their own, and have a heart to bear their burdens collectively?
