Modi Shows his Hindutva Color
Well, when a bird flies like a duck, swims like a duck and
sounds like a duck it is no brainer that it is a duck. Narendra Modi, the BJP
leader, has for some time tried to sell his 'development' image that he is
pro-business, hiding his true Hindutvadi self until, of course, very recently.
In his recent visit to India's north-east corner, Assam, a state bordering Bangladesh, which always had a sizable number of Bengalis - Hindus and Muslims - for hundreds of years since before the British colonization and has been the scene of multiple pogroms against Bengali Muslims at the hands of murderous Assamese racists and bigots since the early 1980s, Modi sounded like a fanatic Hindu leader stoking fear amongst the state's Muslim population. The state has a history of denying citizenship rights to anyone who is Bengali speaking as if it belongs to its Assamese people only. As such, even the Hindus who had lived there for decades, or migrated to the region after the Partition of India in 1947, are viewed as outsiders. They continue to be denied citizenship rights, and can't vote. Modi wants to give that right to Hindu inhabitants of Assam but not Muslims in spite of the fact that historically many parts of Assam had sizable number of Muslims. [See below the 2001 Indian census data on Assam. Note that 2011 census shows that overall population has grown by 1.6% to 31.2 million.]
In his recent visit to India's north-east corner, Assam, a state bordering Bangladesh, which always had a sizable number of Bengalis - Hindus and Muslims - for hundreds of years since before the British colonization and has been the scene of multiple pogroms against Bengali Muslims at the hands of murderous Assamese racists and bigots since the early 1980s, Modi sounded like a fanatic Hindu leader stoking fear amongst the state's Muslim population. The state has a history of denying citizenship rights to anyone who is Bengali speaking as if it belongs to its Assamese people only. As such, even the Hindus who had lived there for decades, or migrated to the region after the Partition of India in 1947, are viewed as outsiders. They continue to be denied citizenship rights, and can't vote. Modi wants to give that right to Hindu inhabitants of Assam but not Muslims in spite of the fact that historically many parts of Assam had sizable number of Muslims. [See below the 2001 Indian census data on Assam. Note that 2011 census shows that overall population has grown by 1.6% to 31.2 million.]
# | District | Total Population | Muslim Population | % Muslim |
1 | Dhubri | 1637344 | 1216455 | 74.3% |
2 | Barpeta | 1647201 | 977943 | 59.4% |
3 | Hailakandi | 542872 | 312849 | 57.6% |
4 | Goalpara | 822035 | 441516 | 53.7% |
5 | Karimganj | 1007976 | 527214 | 52.3% |
6 | Nagaon | 2314629 | 1180267 | 51.0% |
7 | Marigaon | 776256 | 369398 | 47.6% |
8 | Bongaigaon | 904835 | 348573 | 38.5% |
9 | Cachar | 1444921 | 522051 | 36.1% |
10 | Darang | 1504320 | 534658 | 35.5% |
11 | Kamrup | 2522324 | 625002 | 24.8% |
12 | Nalbari | 1148824 | 253842 | 22.1% |
13 | Kokrajhar | 905764 | 184441 | 20.4% |
14 | Lakhimpur | 889010 | 143505 | 16.1% |
15 | Sonitpur | 1681513 | 268078 | 15.9% |
16 | Golaghat | 946279 | 74808 | 7.9% |
17 | Sibsagar | 1051736 | 85761 | 8.2% |
18 | Jorhat | 999221 | 47658 | 4.8% |
19 | Dibrugarh | 1185072 | 53306 | 4.5% |
20 | Tinsukia | 1150062 | 40000 | 3.5% |
21 | North Cachar Hills | 188079 | 4662 | 2.5% |
22 | Dhemaji | 571944 | 10533 | 1.8% |
23 | Karbi Anglong | 813311 | 18091 | 2.2% |
Total: | 26,655,528 | 8,240,611 | 30.9% |
Such a prescriptive formula for the Hindu
population while denying the same right to Assam's Muslim population is
discriminatory and cannot be the acceptable trait of a leader in modern India
where Muslims comprise nearly 15% of the population.
The Bengali population in Assam should have the same right of citizenship irrespective of their religion, caste or creed enjoyed by any other Indian who live or decided to migrate there. Surely, the decades of living as a refugee have earned them that right.
As I have noted elsewhere, Indian Muslims living in bordering states of Bangladesh are mistakenly and deliberately portrayed by opportunist political leaders within India as infiltrators, and more so during an election year to polarize the voters and use them as vote-banks. As I have also shown recently the facts are quite the opposite. There are half a million Indians illegally residing and working inside Bangladesh that are remitting nearly 4 billion dollars to Indian economy annually. These facts must be relayed by the politicians and concerned Indians to their fellow countrymen so that people are aware of the truth, and not become victims of propaganda to stir up communal, race and ethnic riots.
The Bengali population in Assam should have the same right of citizenship irrespective of their religion, caste or creed enjoyed by any other Indian who live or decided to migrate there. Surely, the decades of living as a refugee have earned them that right.
As I have noted elsewhere, Indian Muslims living in bordering states of Bangladesh are mistakenly and deliberately portrayed by opportunist political leaders within India as infiltrators, and more so during an election year to polarize the voters and use them as vote-banks. As I have also shown recently the facts are quite the opposite. There are half a million Indians illegally residing and working inside Bangladesh that are remitting nearly 4 billion dollars to Indian economy annually. These facts must be relayed by the politicians and concerned Indians to their fellow countrymen so that people are aware of the truth, and not become victims of propaganda to stir up communal, race and ethnic riots.
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