By Janice Pariat & Samrat Choudhury Even though it was determined today that the Meghalaya government has refused the Inner Line Permit (ILP) demand, what worries us is why this demand was put forward in the first place. Whether to serve as a playground for games of politics in a quest for power or genuine heightened discord, it seems that in Meghalaya, history repeats itself frequently, and almost every decade throws up a new ‘dkhar’ to agitate against. Some people fear that ‘outsiders’ will come, take over their lands, compete with them for jobs and even the affections of women, and generally make life more difficult for those who claim to be ‘sons of the soil’. There is a fringe extremist element that holds and perpetuates these fears in many places in the world. The newly appointed Australian Prime Minister largely based his campaign on anti-refugee/immigration policies (ironic when you take into account the continent’s history), while the UK Independent Party (UKIP) is scarily gaining support for its widely racist and anti-immigration, anti-EU stance. In India, outside the Northeast, the politics of such fear is particularly pronounced in Mumbai and Bangalore. Mumbai has the Shiv Sena and now the breakaway Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, and Bangalore has the Kannada Rakshana Vedike. The foot soldiers of every single one of these movements is of relatively poor locals from neighbouring villages and towns who find themselves at a disadvantage economically, socially and educationally. Lack of equitable development is therefore a contributing factor that causes and strengthens such movements. The targets for the migrants from the local communities are always other migrants who come from further afield. In the particular case of Northeast India, the most feared and hated migrant is the illegal Bangladeshi. There is no need for an Inner Line Permit to regulate influx of Bangladeshis, since as ‘foreigners’ they are already required to come with visas and passports. If they do not, they can be arrested and deported. It is up to the police to do it. No new law is needed. It has been argued that it is difficult to distinguish between Bangladeshis and Indians and the alleged Bangladeshis often pay bribes to procure Indian documents such as ration cards. This may be true. However, if one bribe can buy a ration card, surely another bribe would buy an ILP as well? There is also the nativist plea that outsiders are bringing crime and filth to the ‘pure’ homeland of the tribal. This claim is intellectually weak and offensive. Crime and filth occur as unwanted side effects of development when the local administration fails to do its job properly. The increasing ugliness of Shillong is because of boundless greed and corruption, which is leading to a construction boom without any thought given to town planning norms. Crime is partly because of greater greed and a police and court system that has not kept pace with the rapid changes in the world since the economic liberalisation of India in 1991. The costs and benefits of the ILP must be carefully weighed. The world is opening up. Myanmar and Bangladesh are critically poised and could turn a corner. If they do, China, India and the ASEAN will meet in Northeast India and Myanmar. It will be the biggest confluence of markets in the world with enormous transformative potential for the whole region. Shillong could position itself as a world city; all that is required is vision, and infrastructure. Shillong’s image around India and the world today is hugely positive, thanks to its musicians, sportspersons, writers, and professionals. This brand took a long time to build and has a value. It will be rapidly diminished if violence against minorities starts making headlines. The choice is clear: Shillong has to choose between being a scared, overgrown village and a real cosmopolitan city. In all real cities, politics of identity survives at the fringes, but the majority are usually those who want to go forward, not drag everyone behind. The greatest cities are those that manage to embrace people from around the world and make citizens of them. New York is full of Arabs, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, Indians, East Europeans, among others. They are all ‘New Yorkers’. Yet beyond all these arguments, and the core of what we believe in is that ethnicity as a basis for identity is hugely flawed. As even genetic testing has proved. In one classic example, which made headlines in 2006, Thomas R Robinson, an American associate professor of accounting at the University of Miami, turned out to be a direct descendant of the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan. So, the notion of ‘pure’ races is pure myth. If you trace back your own ancestry – sometimes just a generation or two away – you will find that your predecessor are also most likely immigrants. In fact, humans have always moved and settled across the world. Immigration is a natural, organic process. What is unnatural, artificial and arbitrary are borders. It would be more progressive and humane to fight borders, not immigration. In the context of Meghalaya, please remember that a minority in one place is a majority in another, and vice versa. The non-tribals are a minority in Shillong, but they are a majority in other places in India. Identity politics is gaining force in the mainland right now, with the rise of Narendra Modi and the BJP. If a cycle of violence is unleashed it could go much further than anyone imagines, with unpredictable consequences. In sum, the most important thing is to ensure that the wisest course of action, which brings the greatest good to the greatest number regardless of ethnicity, is followed. This requires informed and intelligent debate and discussion. Lobbing petrol bombs in Bara Bazaar, as it happened recently, is a regressive, needlessly violent act that serves as a grim reminder of the ‘bad old days’ in Shillong. History only repeats itself if we fail to learn from it. Samrat Choudhury is a writer and editor from Shillong. He is Editor of the Mumbai edition of The Asian Age. Janice Pariat is a writer based between the UK, Delhi and Shi
Posted on: Mon, 23 Sep 2013 16:51:37 +0000
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