The D-Voter tag is like a loose dart that can hit an ethnic Bengali Hindu in Assam any time. D-Voter means Doubtful Voter and this is applicable only in the state of Assam. Nowhere else in the Union of India, can anybody be tagged as D-voter. Here there are no fixed criteria/guidelines to tag someone as a D-voter. It's just dependent on the whims and fancy of a brooding Govt. official-if he deems someone Doubtful, he can tag him as a D-voter and make his/her life a living hell. Once tagged as D-Voter, it's now upon the tagged one to give proof that he is indeed a citizen of India and has the right to vote. Often those tagged a D-voter are from the very lower rung of the society;like daily wage earners or petty shopkeeper/traders -who are more concerned about their next meal than anything else. The Partition of India and its subsequent turbulent period threw out millions of Hindu Bengalis from their ancestral homeland and many ended up in the State of Assam. Initially there was not much resistance from the indigenous people of Assam; and hence many did not felt the need to get their papers right. Just after Partition, they had become too busy to keep the kitchen fires burning. But after the 60's, they knew that they were for trouble in Assam. And after the long six years of Assam Agitation, a deal was made wherein the law said that people who had migrated to Assam from East Bengal upto 25th March 1971 were legal migrants whereas those migrating after 25th March 1971 are illegal migrants. Bengali Hindus fled their homeland as victims of religious persecution perpetrated by the state, covertly or overtly. The Partition of the Subcontinent was not done thorough a referendum where Hindu Bengalis of E.Bengal had any say; it was decided in some far off land without taking our consent. Then why are we to blame for it? We choose to come and settle in an alien land-not for economic reasons but to practice our religion and culture freely. Many a times people make us feel that we are to blame ourselves for the Partition. It is really such a painful experience when ethnicities and races that had nil contribution to Indian Freedom Struggle call us-Refugees & Illegal Migrants.
Sometime back, I witnessed some Assam govt. officials along with a posse of armed policemen going around and inquiring the antecedents of specifically Bengali Hindu people living in a damp and poor section of a town in Upper Assam. They were specifically entering only Bengali Hindu homes, though there were Biharis and other ethnic people living in that area. The organised way in which they were targeting a specific group of people and asking for papers speaks about the state's attitude towards us. How long will be made to prove our antecedents and our loyalty? Where are our Human Rights?
Suspected foreigners in Assam are served notices by Assam Foreigners Tribunals to prove their citizenship. These Tribunals are notorious for their lethargic attitude in disposing off the cases. Most are located in some dusty and creepy buildings and files and replies are often misplaced. And since most of the so-called suspected foreigners tend to be poor and uneducated, they are in for long grinding process. These process many times sends them to detention camps where they are forced to live in cramped conditions and there have been instances of rapes against Bengali Hindu women lodged in these camps. Some Bengali organisations had also cropped up purportedly to defend the rights of the Bengali Hindu people in Assam. But the leaders of these organistations seem to wallow more in the glory of the posts (like Gen. Secy, President, Chairman, etc) that they are holding than doing anything worthwhile. They are far from being genuinely interested in the protection of the nearly 7 million (more than 10% of the population of Assam) Bengali people. Most of the leaders of these so-called organisations are inaccessible and poorly informed and not sophisticated. There are many rich and educated Bengali people in Assam, but they have no interest or inclination to do something for their less fortunate brethren.
And the D-voter remains there to fight a lonely battle against the powerful state mechanism, which often extracts a heavy toll on the unequal opponent-i.e. the Bengali Refugee.
Sometime back, I witnessed some Assam govt. officials along with a posse of armed policemen going around and inquiring the antecedents of specifically Bengali Hindu people living in a damp and poor section of a town in Upper Assam. They were specifically entering only Bengali Hindu homes, though there were Biharis and other ethnic people living in that area. The organised way in which they were targeting a specific group of people and asking for papers speaks about the state's attitude towards us. How long will be made to prove our antecedents and our loyalty? Where are our Human Rights?
Suspected foreigners in Assam are served notices by Assam Foreigners Tribunals to prove their citizenship. These Tribunals are notorious for their lethargic attitude in disposing off the cases. Most are located in some dusty and creepy buildings and files and replies are often misplaced. And since most of the so-called suspected foreigners tend to be poor and uneducated, they are in for long grinding process. These process many times sends them to detention camps where they are forced to live in cramped conditions and there have been instances of rapes against Bengali Hindu women lodged in these camps. Some Bengali organisations had also cropped up purportedly to defend the rights of the Bengali Hindu people in Assam. But the leaders of these organistations seem to wallow more in the glory of the posts (like Gen. Secy, President, Chairman, etc) that they are holding than doing anything worthwhile. They are far from being genuinely interested in the protection of the nearly 7 million (more than 10% of the population of Assam) Bengali people. Most of the leaders of these so-called organisations are inaccessible and poorly informed and not sophisticated. There are many rich and educated Bengali people in Assam, but they have no interest or inclination to do something for their less fortunate brethren.
And the D-voter remains there to fight a lonely battle against the powerful state mechanism, which often extracts a heavy toll on the unequal opponent-i.e. the Bengali Refugee.
