History of the 1978-83 Assam Movement cast doubts if the updated NRC will end the stereotype. Consider the following FACTS:
Firstly, during the Assam Movement, AASU and Assam Gana Sangram Parishad leaders signed the famous Assam Accord 1983 that capped the Movement with a feather of success attached: the two leading bodies of the Assam Movement amalgamated to form a new regional party-- the Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) in order to consolidate the political gain from the Movement into State Power.
The AGP formed two successive governments since 1983 but it could not establish "Illegal Bangladeshi" status of "millions of Lungi-Cap" signature people that AASU-AAGSP earlier "thought" could be so established with the instrument they agreed to: The IMDT(1983) Act.
Therefore, AASU backtracked and moved the Supreme Court to torpedo the very Act that was created on its signed Agreement-- The Assam Accord 1983. This does not mean, however, that, there was no ground for the IMDT83 to be dismissed. The in-built weaknesses of the Act was the ground for its dismissal by the Supreme Court.
Secondly, therefore, even if the Updated NRC turns out to be free of defects, still the outcome may not be the "Sufficient Condition" to remove the stereotype alluded to by Victor Islam.
And for that, it will be no more than a wishful thinking to expect the stereotyped people to become acceptable to the Khilonjia people of Assam. However, this statement should not be construed to mean that the Khilonjia people harbor racial or linguistic or religious discrimination. On the contrary, the Khilonjia people of Assam are culturally superior and abhor and loath, for quite understandable reasons, WHY they do not want the people of East Bengal origin (pre 1951):
Reason No. 1:Unlike the Hindu community who also migrated to Assam before 1951, the Muslim Bengalis are despised for their perennial feuds with fellow Bengalis and even the Khilonjia over "Land and Women." This despicable, abominable things are so widespread that from their earliest settlement in Assam Valley till today, the criminal and civil courts of Assam are abuzz with these people with litigations that would scale a mountain if the case files are stacked. In fact, the practice of Law is so popular in Assam, thanks to these innately "quarrelsome" people. I know more directly because I hail from this community: it is education that has transformed me to the extent I have culturally migrated by marrying into Assamese family in upper Assam and my children speak Assamese at home. It doesn't mean Bangla is "less than Assamese" as a language. My prerogative is basically to provide a shield from falling back to the quarrel monger sect.
Reason No.2: On top of the above, the pre Independence Communal politics has created a very deep scar, more so in Assam than elsewhere in India, because the Muslim League of Assam that stood on the shoulders of the Bangla-speaking Muslims almost threw Assam to being dumped under the combined dominance of the then East and the West Bengals as one political unit under the earlier Group Scheme for Independence. Assam fought valiantly under the brilliant leadership of Lokpriya Gopinath Bardoloi. The legacy of Bardoloi's political battle to Save Assam will remain forever.
Even then the Khilonjia people of Assam welcomed the Bangla Muslims when the latter 'voluntarily' declared their Mother Language as Assamese, instead of Bangla. It is a well-known fact that the jumping the bus was anything but voluntary. It was a political gambit of the Assam Congress, to admit Bangla Muslim MLAs without creating discomfort for the Khilonjia MLAs in order to maintain majority on the floor of the State Assembly.
As can be expected, this patch could be short-lived at best, because Bangla Muslim men also started showing up in massive numbers at all other institutions: colleges, universities, services, etc. but without demonstrating an acceptable level of true assimilation.
Therefore, it was not a question of IF but when the Khilonjia would call the shots: Enough is enough!
And that happened with a bang that history records as the famous ASSAM MOVEMENT and all that followed.
I have researched out history and the data pertaining to the Movement and found that while the underlying two reasons were and are strong enough to accept the Khilonjia people's wish to protect their culture and maintain political leadership, the demand for evicting the "millions of illegal Bangladeshi" was and is all but preposterous.
Then is there a solution?
Yes, there is a Grand Solution, which the current political leaders will neither appreciate nor let go, for they are NOT for the people: Khilonjia and non-Khilonjia, yet it is they who will keep the corridors of power in Dispur and New Delhi.
Even if a new political party emerges from among the Khilonjia, the cheated and harassed people are in no mood to trust its leaders and election promises.
Before going to Election, the new Party must establish a bullet-proof record of credentials by engaging over a 5 to 10-year period in massive socio-economic projects that will positively impact the destitute, the poor, and the lower middle-class of the society: together these people constitute over 80% of the population.
However, one must not take the above Silent Program for Socio-economic Development from OUTSIDE the government light heartedly. Once elected to Power. The New Age political party MUST deliver more welfare and accelerate economic development by demonstrating ingenuity to leverage both internal endowments as well as those in the neighboring states and countries (example: Tripura Govt's Initiative to capitalize on Bangladesh, West Bengal and Andhra sea ports, land and river transport, etc.).
THE ROAD IN BETWEEN
In the interim, that is continuing with the a Status Quo, I developed the FIVE-POINT DEVELOPMENT SCHEME, which I released as AN OPEN LETTER to Prime Minister Modi, which I believe should be a WIN-WIN measure for the next Ten Years in which the NEW AGE POLITICAL PARTY should grow with enough credentials built to make a kill in State Legislatures Election 2028.
Also the Bangla Muslims MUST come forward to launch a massive internal initiative to correct their characteristic aberrations in individual and group behavior enunciated above. The silver lining is that they have shown signs of CHANGE, albeit in an area that may be counter productive on the road to TRUE assimilation: religious identity. There is nothing wrong with improving character via spiritual uplift. It helps. But it will harm if they confuse Wahabism for Islam!! In fact Wahabism is as much a political bogey for the House of Saud to keep its hegemony by leveraging global Muslim support to the Saudi royal family's undiminished grip over the wealthy country trough the false claim as "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques!"
I know. I lived in Saudi Arabia for 19 years as a professor and researcher, devoting as much time in socio-econo-political research of my own as in petroleum engineering profession.
I submit to the Peoples of Assam--Khilonjia and all others, to consider my Grand Plan and come forward to make it happen. God has given me a life of comfort and quality in the United States of America, for which I am and shall remain forever grateful to ALL peoples in Assam, whose tax money provided the entire cost of my superior education in Science and Engineering, and above all the LOVE and RESPECT they have given me, from Dhubri to Dibrugarh...
Mohammad Rafiqul Awal, Ph.D.
Lubbock, Texas, USA
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