Diminishing Assam borders? Governor writes to President

No matter how friendly a relationship India craves to maintain with Bangladesh, “we can ill-afford to ignore the dangers inherent in the demographic invasion from that country,” Sinha has said.

Blaming successive governments at the Centre for looking at the inflitration problem as a local or a regional issue, Sinha says that already the demographic pattern of Assam has changed reducing the indigenous population to a minority.

According to his report, the Muslimpopulation of Assam rose by 77.42 per cent between 1971 and 1991, compared to 41.89 per cent for the Hindus. The all-India increase in the Muslim population during 1971-91 is only 55.04 per cent, he says.

Sinha gives detailed accounts of how Pakistani leaders as well as the pro-Pakistani leaders of pre-Independence days, carried out systematic efforts to include Assam and the adjoining areas in Pakistan, adding that the same efforts were being also carried out by Bangladesh in the later years.

Governor Sinha has also lambasted the political parties for indirectly encouraging inflitration with a view to building up solid vote banks, an allegation which has been the central plank of the All-Assam Students’ Union since 1979.

Sinha quotes C S Mullan, the then Chief Superintendent of Census, Assam, who in his report on the 1931 census, had remarked that within 30 years, Sibsagar would remain the only district of the state wheer the Assamese will remain a majority. “The prophesy that except in Sibsagardistrict, the Assamese people will not find themselves at home in Assam, is well on its way to becoming true as reflected by the present demographic pattern of Assam,” says Sinha.

Sinha has also called for immediate repeal of the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983, saying the Act, instead of curbing influx was only helping infiltration. That only 9,599 persons have been identified under this Act proved how ineffective it has been, he said.