TURA, May 12 ? Unabated influx from across Bangladesh and neighbouring Assam is threatening the very existence of the Garo people residing in the plain belt areas of West Hills. The issue continues to be sensitive and very little is being done by the government to check this menace that threatens to change the demography of the region. The vast porous border coupled with seasonal floods adds to this influx. The continuous influx can be realised from the last Population Census in which areas of Muslim settlers had dramatic increase in their population. In some areas the population had increased three-fold. While the population increase in tribal areas continued to raise to as little as ten to twelve per cent, in the plain belt areas it had risen to as high as sixty percent. This was most noticible in the assembly constituencies of Mahendraganj, Rajabala and Phulbari.
The most affected areas happen to be Boldamgre, Kalaichar, Mahendraganj, Purakhasia, Ampati, Garobadha, Rajabala, Selsella, Phulbari, and Tikrikilla, all in the West Garo Hills district. Tribals in these areas have been reduced to minority and are gradually getting their lands encircled by the Muslim invaders. The local inhabitants of these areas are constantly under the threat of violence. Cattle lifting, burglary and murder continues in these areas. Only a week ago a prominent teacher from Boldamgre village was murdered on the Assam-Meghalaya border, at Jhunjhuni, while proceeding to purchase cattle from Mankachar town. Police arrested five of the criminals. In 1997 Muslim infiltrators made an abortive bid on the life of another teacher and his family while they were asleep. The teacher?s entire house was gutted in a fire that was perpetrated by the attackers in the dead of night.
In Phulbari area illegal settlers had encroached on the excavation site at Bhaitbari where remains of an earlier kingdom were being excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India. Following pressure from students bodies and NGOs the government had to forcibly remove the settlers and fence the area. Despite this fact there continue to be attempts of illegal settlement in the area. The primary reason for such influx is due to the porous international border with Bangladesh. Also hardes of illegal settlers arrive in Garo Hills territory annually, during the onset of monsoons, to escape the flooding of the plain-belt areas. By the time the waters recede some of the refugees tend to stay back and create their own settlements. It has only been recently that the government has woken up to the grim reality of such happenings and now tend to use the police department for pushing back these refugees. Another aspect of influx is through the locals of the area. There have been several cases in the Garo Hills in which local Muslims have shielded their friends from across the border and helped in their conversion to a ?natural? citizens. These illegal persons purchase land by claiming to be a relative of another local of the area. When investigation is done by the police the local also plays along having been bribed by the foreigner.
Nokmas (village heads) and the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council are also to blame for the rise in influx. One particular Nokma from Phulbari area was severely reprimanded by the Police of West Garo Hills, couple of years ago, for frequently giving shelter to outsiders and selling land to these illegal settlers. The District Council has also failed to effectively check this crime. It neither conducts investigation into the activities of the Nokmas nor does it have proper guidelines to stop the selling of lands to dubious characters. There are instances where land was meant to be sold only to tribals have been sold to non-tribals.
The sole efforts to check this crime eventually falls with the police department which already has it hands full coupled with paucity of funds. There is presently only one Infiltration outpost in Garobadha town, near Tura, to check the entry of such people. Sadly it is a sorry state of affairs. Every day a number of buses and other vehicles pass through Garobadha enroute to Tura and other places but the infiltration staff look the other way for reasons best known to them. It is felt that a joint community-police effort is required to effectively stop this problem. Even if it does, what about the rest of the illegal occupants who entered into Garo Hills since the last many years and have settled down ? Will the government make any attempt to conduct an enquiry and remove those rightfully required to be removed ? Such a step is unlikely given the vast political ramifications it can have for any political party. With the District Council and the Parliamentary elections expected early next year it is unlikely any such step will be taken to look into this problem. One need not imagine a bright future about the consequences of influx after the elections as the issue will soon take a back seat for another five years.