Northeast today TruePDF february 2019

22 TripuraTripura Smeared with CAB Stains 20 38 In ConversationAudience Admire Good Work 40 46 42 Meet The Artist Partha Prawal delves in deeper into the Citizenship Amendment Bill, 2016

Vol.9 Issue.02 February 2019

CONTENTS

LESSER ASSAMESE?

AMENDMENT OF CITIZENSHIP ACT: A LATENT TALE OF LOST PEOPLE ?

22 TripuraTripura Smeared

with CAB Stains

20

38 In ConversationAudience Admire

Good Work

40 46

42 Meet The Artist

Partha Prawal delves in deeper into the Citizenship (Amendment)

Bill, 2016, which was passed by the Lok Sabha recently and

after which the Northeast, especially Assam, has witnessed wide

protests demanding for its scrapping

Maumita Mazumdar pens down a few words of agony that has hit her hard, thanks to the chaos and commotion created by the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which is

an attempt to grant citizenship to those non Muslims who have migrated to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan owing to religious persecution

EDITOR’S NOTE

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) perhaps fears that it is losing popularity and hence maybe so the government is recklessly committing one blunder after another The decision of the Lok Sabha

to pass the ‘controversial’ Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, amid protest across the northeast and some parts of India, may be intended

to make Bengali Hindus look favourably on the BJP

The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) broke its alliance with the BJP in Assam Several BJP legislators have also opposed the Bill along with

a number of social scientists and intellectuals have come out in open against the Bill, demanding the government to scrap it

A number of constituent parties of BJP’s North-East Democratic Alliance have urged Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh not to go ahead with the bill If BJP wants to establish a firm ground for itself

in the northeast, then this bill is evidently going to misfire; in fact, it

is already misfiring!

We cannot deny of the fact that the ethno-religious makeup of the northeast region is extremely complex and the region, over the decades, has faced the brunt of waves of migration from erstwhile East Pakistan and now Bangladesh

The Amendment bill is a sheer contradiction to the Assam Accord, which has laid down March 24, 1971, as the cut-off date for absorbing migrants The cut-off date as per the amendment bill is December 31,

2014 This is nothing but an insulting slap on Assam Agitation, which claimed 855 lives in Assam

The CAB also flagrantly violates the constitutional tenet of secularism by making religion a criterion for citizenship

What the BJP is doing is wrong and it shouldn’t have stirred the hornet’s nest in the Northeast The region can easily slip back into separatist turmoil which it is just leaving behind The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill must be put on hold or else, the region may burn (again) and if it does this time, the consequences will be much brutal and grave- something we can never ever imagine of!

NORTHEAST COULD BURN

IF CITIZENSHIP (AMENDMENT) BILL IS PASSED

CEO & DIRECTOR

Executive Editor: Ranjan Engti

Managing Editor: Manjari Gupta

General Manager: Dogen Sharma Gurumayum

Head Admin & Accounts: Pinky Talukdar

Business Communicator: Kshitiz Singh Suri

ADVISORY BOARD

Sudarshan Srinivasan, Dharamsing Teron

EDITORIAL

Consulting Editor: Pradeep Kumar Behera

Assistant Editor: Partha Prawal Goswami

Sub Editor: Chirasmrita Devi,

Maumita Mazumdar, Arshad Shah

Special Correspondent: Aamir Jawaid,

Oken Jeet Sandham, Dibya Jyoti Borah

Social Media Manager: Kristi Borah

Correspondent: Kingson Chingakham,

Jeijei Newme

CREATIVES

Layout & Graphic

Designer: Tridip Saikia

The article on Digital Shakti was really

informative and interesting I was really glad

to know about this initiative Kudos to the

team of this entire campaign

Sanjib Laitonjam, Imphal

Bogibeel is the result of long periods of hard

work, effort and planning However, the

government should now be concerned about

the safety of people as right after the inauguration

an accident took place The claims are that this

happened due to the carelessness of people and

their addiction to take selfies on the bridge

Through your magazine, I would like to request the

government to take this matter seriously

Pradip Barman, Berpeta

Sikkim has always proved to be one of those

states in the entire country which is taking steps that actually needs to be taken Thank you for highlighting the fact in your article

Robin Gurung, Gangtok

MAIL JUNCTION

JANUARY 2019

The cover story of the January issue was

informative as well as entertaining It was fun to know about these people who are doing excellent in their respective areas Keep writing about such achievers

Sonam Thapa, Sikkim

Granting PRC to the non-tribal is going

to change a lot of things in the state of Arunachal Pradesh Decisions of the government are either under-estimated or over-estimated That is why a change always results in chaos Hope this change is going to be a good one

Nabam Techi, Arunachal Pradesh

February 2019 9

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MAIL JUNCTION

It was nice to read a tribute about our very own

Dipali Borthakur in your magazine

Neha Borthakur, Jorhat

I would like to request the Editor to kindly

revamp the Gearbox and Technology section of your magazine More interesting content can be used in these two sections

Seema Kakati, Guwahati

The fashion article of the January was

inspiring I really loved the collections and

the story of the owner I would definitely

pay a visit

Miranda Gogoi, Hatigaon

I am writing in reference to the career article

on Doodling It was really an informative and

helpful one I would like to thank the Northeast

Today team for making us aware about these kinds

of career options

Subir Sarkar, Tripura

I am a regular reader of your magazine I am very

happy with the content but I guess the designs and layouts can be made more interesting

Pratik Deb, Silchar

I really loved the photos of the photogram section The pictures were telling quite a story

Mianak Meetei, Manipur

QUICK PICK

The third edition of Dwijing Festival was

celebrated to promote river tourism in

rural areas of the Bodoland Territorial

Council and the state The 12-day long

festival was celebrated in Chirang District of

Assam on the bank of the River Aie starting

from December 27 to January 7 The festival

was graced by the presence of Assam CM

Sarbananda Sonowal and Bollywood celebrities

like singer-composer Himesh Reshammiya,

actor Malaika Arora, Shweta Pandit, Neeraj

Shridhar (Bombay Viking) and others

Two millennia after the first Manipuri polo

match, a women’s team is ushering in a quiet revolution The match was organised from January 17 to 21 and the 4th Manipur Statehood Day Women’s Polo Tournament was presented by Manipur Tourism It was produced by Polo Yatra (the Indian women’s initiative of Huntré! Equine) and organised by All Manipur Polo Association

In addition for the first time, in 2018, seven achieving women players were given government jobs by Chief Minister N Biren Singh

high-THIRD DWIJING FESTIVAL

CELEBRATED WOMEN’S POLO TEAM USHERS IN MANIPUR

The finance ministry cleared Arunachal

Pradesh’s Hollongi airport recently The

approval means that Arunachal’s capital

Itanagar will finally have air connectivity The

airport will be 25 kilometres away from Itanagar

and the cost of the project is pegged at Rs 1,055

crore As stated by the state chief minister, “The

Greenfield Airport at Hollongi will be a state of

the art infrastructure which will propel economic

development besides improving connectivity for the

local population Tourism will also see a huge boost

with this project.”

ITANAGAR TO HAVE AIR CONNECTIVITY

The Arunachal Pradesh State Transport Services

(APSTS) on January 3, started a bus service from East Siang HQ Pasighat to Dibrugarh

in Assam, via the Bogibeel bridge Flagging off the bus service at the APSTS station, Pasighat East MLA Kaling Moyong expressed hope, that it would help patients in a medical emergency, and also create new commercial prospects

PASIGHAT TO DIBRUGARH BUS SERVICE FLAGGED OFF

February 2019 11

www.northeasttoday.in

QUICK PICK

The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural

Development (NABARD) has estimated a credit

potential of Rs 1936.37 crore for Meghalaya

under priority sector during 2019-20 The amount was

disclosed during the launch of the State Focus Paper

(SPF), a credit planning exercise undertaken by the bank

in close coordination with multiple stakeholders like the

state government, banks, NGOs and farmer groups The

amount holds significance for Meghalaya, which has

been a largely credit-deficient state with consistently low

credit-deposit ratios in the range of 30-32 per cent

A woman group ‘Mercy Society’ from

Dimapur, formed by single mothers, widows and divorcees in collaboration with the Dimapur Municipal Corporation and under the training of Community Avenue Network (CAN) Youth is taking great initiatives to curb the plastic menace of the region The group comes together twice a week to make paper bags and the society aiming to live life with dignity and sustainability

At present, nine members are there in the group Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio has last year declared that Nagaland would be a plastic-free state

WOMEN GROUP CONTRIBUTES TOWARDS PLASTIC- FREE NAGALAND

A POTENTIAL CREDIT AMOUNT

OF RS 1,936.4 CR PROJECTED BY

NABARD FOR MEGHALAYA

The second biggest government hospital in the

country was inaugurated in Sikkim on ary 14, making a leap in the sphere of health-care The hospital is spread over 15 acres of land and 1,002-bed and is the first government medical college

Janu-at Sochaygang in Sikkim The overall cost of the ect will be Rs 1,281 crore The main block of the hospi-tal can withstand earthquakes measuring eight on the Richter scale and is a 10-storied building with a total built-up area of 46886sqm The block has as many as

proj-13 lifts and houses all general, surgical and speciality departments and 23 different operation theatres

SIKKIM GETS INDIA’S SECOND BIGGEST GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL

SNOW LEOPARD SPOTTED IN SIKKIM

History has been created with the first-ever

camera footage of the Bengal Tiger (Panthera

tigris tigris) and the Snow Leopard (Panthera

uncia) roaming the forests of the Pangolakha Wildlife

Sanctuary, East Sikkim Both were captured by same

camera trap in the Wildlife Sanctuary, confirming

the overlap in the migratory routes used by the two

big cats The tiger was captured on camera on the

night of December 6 and snow leopard in the same

spot on January 2

We want a peaceful situation in the Northeast and are in constant touch with the state governments We will strive to protect the identity and culture of the northeast and will take steps to address all concerns

Rajnath Singh, Union Home Minister (Said this while addressing the media after the Citizenship (Amendment), 2016, was passed in the Lok Sabha)

By passing the bill, the BJP government has polarised citizens

as Hindus and Muslims and accepted Jinnah's politics of dividing the country,

Tarun Gogoi, Former Assam Chief Minister (Said this while interacting with the media and lambasting the

BJP-led NDA government at the centre passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed in the Lok Sabha)

THEY STATED

“

“

Prime Minister Modi has now entrusted these 17 assembly

seats in the hands of Assamese people and not Muslims

Without this bill, these 17 seats would have gone to

Badruddin Ajmal, Jinnah,

Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam Finance Minister

(Said this while interacting with the media after the

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed

in the Lok Sabha)

There is no scope or provision to give citizenship to new

people It is only for those people who are already living

here Only they will get a scope to apply and the DC

concerned will verify their applications,

Swapnanil Barua, Assam BJP Spokesperson

(Said this while interacting with the media and

answering the various question regarding the

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016)

“

“

February 2019 13

www.northeasttoday.in

THEY STATED

Government of India has declared war on the indigenous

population of NE Passing of such a bill in Lok Sabha is like

a countdown to doomsday for the people of

north-eastern states

N Edison, VP of the Democratic Students’ Alliance of

Manipur (Said this while reacting on the passing of the

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in the Lok Sabha)

Well, it is very unfortunate that this Bill has been passed as this is something which we have opposed vehemently We will see about that and will discuss with all party leaders As you are aware, our need to call all the party leaders and take a call on this.

Conrad Sangma, Meghalaya Chief Minister, (Said this while announcing about snapping ties with the BJP after the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed in the Lok Sabha)

How does it help the nation? Rather they should know how it

threatens the nation and the (indigenous) communities Don’t

they know the history, the culmination of the Assam accord,

what was happening prior to Assam Accord, how many people

have died and how this whole turmoil has actually vitiated the

whole environment in the whole northeast and the result is that

we lack behind,

Dr Mukul Sangma, Former Meghalaya CM

(Said this while lambasting the Centre after it passed

the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in Lok Sabha )

The bill is against the principle of secularism and would have an

Pu Zoramthanga, Mizoram Chief Minister (Said this while opposing the Citizenship (Amendment)

STATEWIDE ASSAM

CAB CREATES DISARRAY IN ASSAM

The much dreaded Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 was passed in the Lok Sabha despite full-blooded outrage from the opposition parties and furious people on the streets Effigies were burned and a large section of the civil society in all parts of Assam raised their voice in unison and revolted against the bill

Kaushik Deori delves in more

A number of organizations spearheaded by All Assam Students Union (AASU), North East Students Organization (NESO) and Krisak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) mobilized a sea of crowd and went on strikes and observed ‘Assam bandh’ as a mark of retaliation The backlash turned violent in several parts

of the state as stones were pelted at vehicles which were running on the days of the strikes

Impact of CAB in Assam

has been fighting against the influx of

illegal immigrants since several decades

Governments have come into power promising to

curb the problem but those were just pre-election

lip services The present government was given a

clear mandate precisely to deal with this issue But

the complete U-turn by the party has absolutely

baffled the public The hardcore supporters and

loyalists also went into a shellshock as they were

at their wits’ end defending the indefensible The

bill in theory will provide citizenship to illegal

migrants, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and

Pakistan, who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain,

Parsi or Christian extraction However, the Act

doesn’t have a provision for Muslim sects like

Shias and Ahmediyas who also face persecution

in Pakistan The Bill also seeks to reduce the requirement of 11 years of continuous stay in the country to six years to obtain citizenship by naturalization Historically, Assam has been the happy hunting ground for illegal immigrants to settle in Now after the passing of the bill it will

be a “come one, come all” scenario, which will lead to behemoth that will trigger a severe dent

to the cultural diaspora of the state BJP’s ally, Assam Gana Parishad (AGP) has pulled out of all ties with the government as they see no point in prolonging the companionship because the bill is against the ideology AGP stands for

Comments from union/organization leaders

Expressing worry, the president of AASU Dipanka Kumar Nath stated, “PM has no respect for democracy and its principles He

STATEWIDE ASSAM

has undemocratically imposed the bill on the

people here He has no respect for the sentiments

of the indigenous people of the region It is a

conspiracy to silence the democratic voice of the

indigenous people.” The pain in his statement was

understandable He further added, “Assam is ours

and not a dustbin for Bangladeshis The Central

and Assam government have pushed us to the

agitational path The Modi government at the

Centre by imposing the bill and the Sarbananda

Sonowal government by not opposing, have

inflicted mental torture on the indigenous people

of Assam threatening their existence, identity,

language, culture and heritage.”

NESO coordinator Pritambai Sonam quoted,

“Despite staging various dharnas even in New

Delhi by student bodies from the north-east, the

Centre is hell bent to pass the controversial bill,

undermining the sentiments of the indigenous

people of the region.”

Samujjal Bhattacharya, advisor, AASU, who

has been at the forefront of various protests on

issues related to Assam quoted, ““At any cost or

any condition, will not accept this Bill After the

historic Assam movement, the historic Assam

Accord was signed According to this Accord,

Hindu- Muslim citizens prior to 1971 will stay in

Assam with the right of citizenship but those who have entered after 1971, Hindu or Muslim must be deported.” Condemning the government for their polarizing tactics, he added, “It’s not against any community It’s not against Hindus, not against Muslims, not against the Bengalis It is against illegal immigrants We are repeatedly saying that India is for Indian and Assam and North East is

in India India, North East, and Assam are not dumping ground for illegal Bangladeshis.”

The muddle ahead

We are looking at a future which threatens

to be very bleak With the agitated youth and the common masses, the pushback can turn extremely hostile The governing party of Assam turning a deaf ear in the whole fiasco has been the most disheartening thing, many will testify CM Sarbananda Sonowal and his wingman Himanta Biswa Sarma were hailed as “jatiyo nayok” Many see it as the betrayal towards not just the people but the “jati” (community) At the time of writing the piece, the bill is yet to be heard at the Rajya Sabha The people of the state wait with bated breath because if it gets passed there, it will be the final nail in the coffin

STATEWIDE MANIPUR

the bill, there is a

huge uproar across

Northeast denouncing the

passage for its possibility to

change the demographics

of the region and therefore

demanding the withdrawal of

the bill

An all North-east bandh

was imposed on January 9

lead by North East Students

Organisation (NESO) for 11

hours against the bill and

normal life was badly affected

In Manipur too, under the banner of All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), a constituent of NESO, political parties and CSOs, a series of protests and conventions were held in the state capital and elsewhere

Almost every civil organisation, both big and small, political parties- powerful or not- hit the streets decrying that the bill

is only a tool to suppress the indigenous people of the state (NE region) and that the foreigners should not be granted citizenship that easy Series of protests and conventions were held against the passage of the bill and discussing the future course

of actions if the bill is passed

A signature campaign has been started recently by North East India Development Party (NEIDP) and has collected so

MANIPUR STANDS FIRM AGAINST CAB

The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 was passed on January 7 at Lok Sabha The bill if passed will recognise or grant Indian citizenship to non-Muslims illegal migrants from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan once the person has stayed in India for six years Jeijei Newme reports from Manipur…

Women hold protest against Citizenship (Amendment) Bill in Imphal on January 22, 2019

February 2019 17

www.northeasttoday.in

STATEWIDE MANIPUR

far 50,000 signatures so far

Altogether 64 civil society

organisations from both the

hills and the valley have also

come together under one

banner on January 28 called

Manipur People Against

Citizenship Amendment

Bill (MPACAB) to press for

withdrawal of the bill

Among these 64

organisations include big

organizational names such as

United Committee Manipur

(UCM), All Manipur

United Clubs Organisation

(AMUCO), Manipur Muslim

Welfare Organisation

(MMWO), apex bodies of

tribal organisations such as

Zeliangrong Union (Assam,

Manipur Nagaland), Kuki Inpi

Manipur (KIM), All Tribal

Students’ Union Manipur

(ATSUM), Indigenous

Minority Organisation

Manipur and so on

In their bid to intensify

their demands, the MPACAB

has called a 24-hour

state-wide bandh on January 31 A

conglomerate of nine political

parties have come together

and extended their support

for this bandh The parties

include Communist Party of

India (CPI), Communist Party

of India- Marxist [CPI (M)],

RSP, AIFB, NCP, BSP, People

Resurgence PRJA, JD(S) and

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

The Manipur Pradesh

Congress Committee

(MPCC) has also shown

strong resentment in this

bill and that has termed the

bill as ‘unconstitutional’ and

that it will have detrimental

consequences in the future

Six major student organisations, All Manipur Students’ Union (AMSU), Manipuri Students’ Federation (MSF), Democratic Students’

Alliance of Manipur (DESAM), Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA) and Students Union of Kangleipak (SUK) have also organized series of protests even tried to storm inside Rajya Sabha member of Parliament, Kshetrimayum Bhabananda, on January 25 demanding that he opposed the bill in the upcoming parliamentary budget session

During the course, five students were hurt and hospitalised when police fired smoke bombs trying to disperse the agitating crowd

Nation’s Republic Day, January 26, one of the most important days in the annual calendar of the nation, was also boycotted in the state,

as a part of opposing the passage of the bill The joint team of six student bodies and CSOs made up of UCM, AMUCO, Committee of Civil Societies Kangleipak (CCSK), Ethno-Heritage Council (HERICOUN) and League of Indigenous People Upliftment (LIPUL) also took part in the boycotting of Republic Day

President of AMSU, Manjit Sarangthem, in a press conference before the Republic Day, has termed the Republic Day as a dark day for

NE Region

In Ukhrul district, TKS has called for a boycott of the

Republic Day celebrations showing their resentment against the passing of CAB Roads were blocked and demonstrators even burnt tyres at different points of Ukhrul headquarter

Many have realised the need for unity and called for togetherness, to bury the differences and voice together

as one for the withdrawal of the bill

The state government, on the other hand, has said that

it will do anything to protect the people, and have been reviewing the situation of the state from time to time It has also pressed for presidential consent for Manipur People’s Bill, 2018 and to include a clause in CAB, for protection

of the local people Well, MPB sought to give protection of indigenous people of the state This bill has been passed by the state assembly in the 2018 monsoon session

Under the Citizenship Act, 1955, an applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months and for 11

of the previous 14 years But with this bill, it relaxes the 11-year requirement to six years for persons belonging to the same six religions of the three countries

The bill was first introduced on July 19, 2016

It was then referred to a joint parliamentary committee

on August 12, 2016, and the report was passed in Lok Sabha on January 7, 2019

STATEWIDE MEGHALAYA

Throwback

social organisations, including a students’

body, had opposed the idea of granting

citizenship to migrants during a meeting with

the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, at the State

Convention Hall in the city

The North East Students Organisation

(NESO), in a petition to the committee, said the

people of the region should be provided with

“constitutional safeguards”

“We oppose the proposed Bill in totality

and demand that Inner Line Permit system be

introduced for the entire region,” NESO chairman

Samuel B Jyrwa had said

“The Bill is another effort to encourage

infiltration of the Hindus from Bangladesh into

the different states of the region People here are

shocked to see that religion is a criterion in the

bill,” he had added

In all, 10 different organisations, including the Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (Tripura) and the Grand Council of Chiefs (an organisation

of tribal communities), were present at the meeting

Sangma’s Stand

The opposition to the Bill is not new and it has been opposed tooth and nail since the time it was tabled or discussed Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma, after the bill was passed in the Lower House, met Union home minister Rajnath Singh and asked him to reconsider the Citizenship Amendment bill 2016 as it could prove to be a major law and order problem for his state as well

as the Northeast region

He led a six-member party delegation including BJP leaders to home minister in New Delhi Mizoram chief minister Zoramthanga also

CAB FACES STIFF OPPOSITION

The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, after it was passed in the lower house of the Parliament, has met with severe opposition in Northeast, even though the Centre and the Assam government have been openly supporting it, stating that the bill is not a threat to the indigenous people of the region The Conrad Sangma-led NPP government in the state has straight away rejected it Even several BJP leaders of the state have resigned from the party owing to this Northeast Today reports…

February 2019 19

www.northeasttoday.in

expressed his reservation about the bill

“We have expressed our concern on the

bill along with all the coalition partners to the

home minister We hope that the government

will reconsider We have expressed concerns of

political parties and civil societies and the public

in general of Northeast India Rajnath Singh has

assured he will look into it and call a meeting of

northeast chief ministers to discuss the issue,” the

Meghalaya CM said

“Everybody in Meghalaya is opposed to the

bill I urge your good office to reconsider the

decision and find a solution for the people of

Meghalaya and the Northeast,” said Meghalaya

health minister of Meghalaya, AL Hek

Sangma further said that every chief minister

of Northeast should come together to express their

concerns on the issue and stand united before the

central leadership for the welfare of the entire

region

In a meeting held in Guwahati recently,

Sangma said, “We are here to come together to

appeal to the government that this issue must

be looked at from point of view of sentiments of

northeast and country as a whole We will see

future course of action as time comes.”

Other Oppositions

The Khasi Students Union (KSU) on January

30 organised a public rally against the Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill in Shillong The rally drew a

massive response

Among the thousands who participated in the

rally were Chairman of the State Planning Board,

Lambor Malngiang, State Minister of Urban

Affairs Hamlet Dohling, leaders of the HNYF,

FKJGP, SSSS, RBYF, GSU, AYWO and members

of several State NGOs

The speakers in the rally launched a frontal attack against the BJP-led government at the Centre for giving passage to the bill in the Lok Sabha President of the KSU, Lambok Marngar told the gathering, “If the CAB comes into force,

be prepared to go out to the fields We will not have guns to fight but we will shed our blood for the future generations of the State.”

He demanded that the CAB is scrapped and warned the government not to ‘force the students

to abandon the pen for a gun’

Chairman of NESO, Samuel Jyrwa drew

a parallel between the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and CAB He said AFSPA

is an ‘instrument of oppression’ and now they are enforcing the CAB upon us “The bill will greatly harm the social fabric of the region and also have

an adverse effect on the economics of the region,” said Jyrwa

“We have accommodated the Bangladeshi migrants till now; this should not be allowed

to happen again in our State and the region”, he added

General Secretary of the Hynnietrep National Youth Front (HNYF) Sadon K Blah stated, “In the name of religious persecution, the CAB will give

an open invitation to the so-called persecuted lot The rehabilitated families will have constitutional rights and that will impinge on the interests of the indigenous people of the region”

Many in Shillong believe that the CAB will stir and destroy the social fabric and hence scrapping

it is the only option that the government has if there needs to be peace in the state

STATEWIDE SIKKIM

First Words

Sikkim might not be

geo-graphically substantial, but

the state has progressed

manifolds in the last few years

In 2018 Sikkim witnessed

ap-preciable achievement with UN

awarding it the world’s first 100

per cent organic state, beating

states of 25 other countries The

state also got its first Airport

levitating the opportunities for

economic growth Also that

Sik-kim is an environment-friendly

state, it has been able to increase

its forest cover by four per cent

since 1993, which has proven

the proficiency of the

govern-ment schemes undertaken for

the same purpose

The Political Manifesto

Sikkim’s Democratic Front (SDF) government has an-nounced in its election man-ifesto that it will implement a

‘Universal Basic Income’ scheme

in the state if it returns to

pow-er in 2019 In that case, Sikkim would be the first state to have implemented the scheme in the country The longest-serving chief minister of the indepen-dent India Pawan Chmaling is definitely not letting go the rule

in the bags of BJP

Chamling quoted in the cently held Rojgar Mela that Sik-kim is also the only state in the country that spends 70 per cent

re-of its revenues towards salaries

for state government employees and also gives the highest salaries

to state government employees The focus on job creation has intensified in the run-up to the

2019 Lok Sabha elections The Sikkim government has taken a giant leap with the launch of the scheme and the announcement

of the extremely ambitious UBI for the future

What is Universal Basic Income?

Universal basic income (UBI) is a model for providing all citizens of a country or other geographic area with a given sum

of money, regardless of their come, resources or employment status The purpose of the UBI

in-TAKING GIANT STEPS IN FINANCIAL SECURITY

Maumita Mazumdar reports about the different financial schemes- Universal basic Income Scheme and the One Family One Job - introduced by the Sikkim government to uplift the financial condition of its populace.

Representative Image

STATEWIDE SIKKIM

is to prevent or reduce

pover-ty and increase equalipover-ty among

citizens The most common

ar-gument in favour of UBI is that

it promotes social justice Since

it is supposed to displace all

other welfare schemes and

sub-sidies, the wastages from

ineffi-cient government projects and

poor targeting would also cease

The main argument against the

scheme revolves around the fact

that such an initiative would

give money to those who do not

need it and may actually reduce

the incentive to work or even

search for employment

The Utility of the Scheme

Sikkim would appear to be

the ideal testing ground for UBI

in India It is a surplus power

generating state, which exports

nearly 90% of the 2,200 MW

that its hydel projects produce

ensures a steady revenue stream

that other states typically lack It

has a literacy rate of 98% and a

BPL population way below the

national average Also looking

at the size of the population it is

formidable for the state to

im-plement such a scheme in

com-parison to the other states of the

country Though the amount has not yet been disclosed by the gov-ernment yet the scheme would

be implemented by 2020 as

stat-ed by the State government

One Family One Job

The scheme envisions ployment to a member of every family which does not have a government job in the state Un-der this scheme, all loan debts in the farming and agriculture sec-tor would be revoked At present recruitments are being made for Group C and Group D posts in

em-12 government departments

CM Chamling personally

hand-ed out temporary appointment letters to two beneficiaries from each of the 32 Assembly constit-uencies in the state as a token gesture to kick-start the scheme during ‘Rojgar Mela 2019’ at the packed Palijor Stadium in Gangtok Chamling’s Sikkim government earlier announced that 20,000 youths would im-mediately be given temporary jobs under the scheme of ‘One Family, One Job’ It has also announced that over 25,000 al-ready employed but non-regu-larised government employees

would also be subsequently regularised within 2019 accord-ing to their seniority However, the letters were awarded only

to members of those families which do not have a government job at present

Concluding Remarks

If successful in ing and availing positive results from the scheme the Chamling government is definitely going

implement-to mark its hisimplement-tory as the gest ever ruling government However, it would be intriguing

lon-to witness how the opposition deals with the strategy of the present government It has been reported that BJP is also initiat-ing a scheme imitating UBI to pronounce its welfare strategy for the people of Sikkim Con-sidering its dwindling position

in Northeast on account of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, BJP will try its best to come into power in Sikkim

Also if the success of the scheme is on the positive side the reputation of the State which has never failed to climb the lad-der of setting benchmark would reach a different height

STATEWIDE TRIPURA

State in Turmoil

As soon as the bill was

passed, Tripura went

into frenzy in utter

disbelief The state is already

maimed by the problem

of massive influx of illegal

immigrants from Bangladesh,

and now after the bill got

passed, it is now freewheel for

one and all For the uninitiated,

what the bill does is, it allows

illegal migrants belonging to

the Hindu, Christian, Jain,

Buddhist, Parsi religious communities coming from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to settle in any part

of India as a bonafide citizen of the country The bill also revises the minimum years of residency

in India to apply for citizenship

to be decreased from 11 to 6 years for such migrants

A number of organizations came together, up in arms against the passing of the bill

As the clash picked up steam,

the security forces started lathi charge and firing which injured at least 7 protestors,

of which two have sustained bullet injuries and are in critical condition This triggered more protest and agitation from all parts of the region and the North East Students Organization (NESO) along with over a hundred other organizations observed a consolidated strike against the BJP and the Police force

TRIPURA SMEARED WITH CAB STAINS

Representative Image

The political powder keg that is the Citizen Amendment Bill (CAB), 2016, was passed at the Lok Sabha on January 8, 2019, in the midst of vehement protests all across the Northeast A sense of grave betrayal and dismay loomed on the faces of the agitated citizens as the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), ignoring their hue and cry, pushed the draconian bill which poses a danger of dismantling the greater part of North East India Tyres were burnt, protest marches were made but there was eerie radio silence from the officials of BJP What was even more disturbing was the valiant defence of the bill later on Kaushik Deori reports about the Tripura protests

What’s more, internet and SMS

services were suspended for 2

days right after the protests It

was marked as a ‘black day’ in

the history of the state as the

indigenous communities were

having to fight for their right

over their own land

The Tripura Conundrum

Tripura has always

been a complex state as

the indigenous/tribal

communities have forever

been at loggerheads with

the Bengali hegemony Even

though it is a tribal state,

67.14% (2001 census) of the

population is Bengali speaking

The Indigenous People’s

Front of Tripura (IPFT) has

been demanding a separate

state due to the popular

feeling of discontentment

with the government’s

temperament towards the

indigenous communities The

implementation of the new bill

will mean more Bangladeshi

Bengalis cruising into the state which will further add to the lopsidedness The four-time Chief Minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar of CPI (M) was thrown out of power owing

to anti-incumbency and also because of his inability to curb the menace of illegal migration

In 2018, BJP was brought into power by an absolute majority with a hope that was on display

by the party’s stance on dealing with the illegal Bangladeshi immigrant problem That is precisely why the outrage was amplified The outrageous treachery inflicted on the citizens of the state by the governing party was difficult to come in terms with

Status Right Now

At the time of writing this piece, the Supreme Court

of India sought a response from Central and Tripura state government to a PIL challenging the passing of

the bill According to the PIL, filed by an NGO named Tripura People’s Front, the bill facilitated the uncontrolled influx of illegal migrants from Bangladesh to Tripura, causing huge demographic changes

in the state The PIL also mentions, “It has introduced religion as a new principle into the citizenship law and can be conveniently branded

as ‘communally motivated humanitarianism.”

The governing party’s attitude towards its citizen even after rampant opposition against the bill brings back the age old question of whether the government is for the people

or is it just a mindless beast which can go to any extent

to consolidate its vote bank The thought is in equal parts sickening and worrisome The ease with which the people in power fall from grace, breaking the trust of his/her supporters

is abysmal

STATEWIDE TRIPURA

Amendment of Citizenship Act:

A Latent Tale of Lost People?

Partha Prawal delves in deeper into the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which was passed by the Lok Sabha recently and after which the Northeast, especially Assam, has witnessed widespread protests demanding for its scrapping.

Opening Remarks

A n important

component of the spectrum of discussions and debates

around the proposed bill

to amend the citizenship

act of the Republic of India

passed already in the lower

house, has been around the principle of separation

of the state from religious institutions This component seems to occupy a large space

in the current discourses

of the national political parties as well along with the people-citizens of the

republic on the proposed amendment

The issue for the citizens of the Republic of India whose native language

people-is one of the languages that have evolved over centuries

in the North-Eastern region; and mainly spoken only in

February 2019 25

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COVER STORY

this region, is not only about

the principle of separation

of the state from religious

institutions Various

democratic instruments

have been used by a large

number of people-citizens,

across religion, of this region;

these protesters have stood

firm so that the republic

does not end up altering one

of the fundamental axioms

that characterise it, which

is “principle of separation

of the state from religious

institutions’’

Threat to Language

The proposed bill has

been widely protested

across the state and the

entire Northeast If in one

hand the protestors have

cited the loss of land and

control over resources as

one of the reasons of their

protests, at the same time

these protesters have also

expressed their worry that

the amendment has the

potential to lead to an influx

of a significant number of

immigrants into the region

which in turn may lead to

the disappearance of their

languages and cultures

Pertinently, while the

importance of the axiom of

separation of the state from

religious institutions seems

to be shared widely across

various people-citizens

and political parties of

the republic, it seems that

the worry of a potential disappearance of linguistic groups has not been able to receive enough attention

Is the worry about disappearance unfounded?

In an article in The New York Times, titled ‘World’s Languages Dying Off Rapidly,’ John Noble Wilford (September 18, 2007) wrote:

“Of the estimated 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists say, nearly half are in danger of extinction and are likely to disappear in this century In fact, they are now falling out

of use at a rate of about one every two weeks.

Some endangered languages vanish in an instant Others are lost gradually in bilingual cultures, as indigenous tongues are overwhelmed by the dominant language at school, in the marketplace and on television.”

In this context, it is noteworthy that the total population of Northeast

is 45,772,188, a little more than four crores fifty lakhs, according to the 2011 Census of the Republic of India Given the diversity within the collection of the languages that have evolved and spoken mainly

in this region, it is not hard

to imagine how small each

of these linguistic groups are both in absolute as well

as in relative terms, once compared with the size of the linguistic groups such

as Hindi or Bengali for instance

Are there arguments

in favour of protecting linguistic diversities?

Lera Boroditsky, a cognitive scientist at University of California San Diego, in an article, titled ‘Lost in Translation’ published in The Wall Street Journal (July 24,

2010 ) mentioned: “new cognitive research suggests that languages profoundly influences the way people see the world…”

In this context, it is worth mentioning one of the observations by Amrita Dhillon in an article, titled ‘Indigenous culture and tribes of North-East’ published in The Kootneeti (November 3, 2017)

“Children and women generally are taught to be self- independent from a very young age In Meghalaya and Nagaland, there are societies that are matriarchal which

is a rare phenomenon in an otherwise patriarchal India.” she wrote.

“Khasi, Garo, and Jaintia are the three major tribes of Meghalaya The Khasi and Garo societies are matrilineal societies

In a matrilineal society, the women of the family

country like India Indeed

it is something the whole

country should follow in the

wake of increasing crimes

against women and trends

like #metoo which reinforce

the harsh reality of women

abuse.” she adds further.

The importance of

ecology of the

North-eastern region for the

entire republic can hardly

India” Sudipto Chatterjee,

Abhinandan Saikia, Pijush

Dutta, Dipankar Ghosh,

Govinda Pangging and Anil K Goswami noted,

“The people of the eastern states have managed biodiversity with traditional wisdom The influx of people, mostly labourers, from neighbouring states and countries will generally have scant regard for local sentiments and values.”

north-In the same research paper Sudipto Chatterjee, AbhinandanSaikia, Pijush Dutta, Dipankar Ghosh, Govinda Pangging and Anil K Goswami also mentioned, “….a large influx of people into Tripura from Bangladesh during the second half of the 20th century, contributing to an increase in the population of about 327 percent between

1951 to 1991 The per capita forest area has been reduced from 0.97 hectares

to the present level of 0.18 hectares.”

Why Languages Die

At this juncture, a pertinent and an important question for us to understand

is the reason as to why languages die?

In an article titled

‘When languages die,

we lose a part of who we are’, published in ‘The Conversation’ (December

9, 2015), languages die owing to various reasons and these reasons are often political, economic or cultural in nature Speakers

of a minority language may, for example, decide that it

February 2019 27

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COVER STORY

is better for their children’s

future to teach them a

language that is tied to

economic success.

“Migration also plays

a large role in language

change and language death

When speakers of

Proto-Indo-European migrated to

most of Europe and large

parts of Asia between 6,000

and 8,000 years ago, they

probably brought about

massive language change

and language death In

Western Europe, Basque

could possibly be the only

modern language that

survived the influx of the

Indo-Europeans,” the article

further adds on.

Nandita Saikia, while

shedding light on the history

of migration in an article

titled ‘Citizenship Bill: BJP

chasing ghosts in Assam;

Census data shows number

of Hindu immigrants may

have been exaggerated’

published in ‘Firstpost’

on November 30, 2018,

says, “Census data shows

that Assam had been the

destination for people of East

Bengal (now Bangladesh)

since 1891 The movement

of people from Bihar,

Chotanagpur and Odisha

for employment in the tea

sector is discernible until

1901 but the migration was

almost entirely from East

Bengal and particularly

from Mymensingh since

1911 Census of India The abnormal trend was noticed

by CS Mullan, census commissioner in 1931 He observed that the Assamese could be reduced to a minority in their own land.

The influx has continued ever since and it continues to grow even now The six-year- long Assam Agitation was an attempt to push all the illegal migrants out from the state

The fight was against each and every illegal migrant, irrespective of their religion

However, with the Indian Government trying to bring

in the amendment to the citizenship act and if it is passed by the Upper House

on January 31, the Hindus from Bangladesh who have entered into the country and settled here (mostly in Assam and the northeast) will become bonafide citizens of the Republic of India This will certainly put the native languages at

a spot of bother and it will not be wrong to say that native languages of Assam are in fact already are in a spot of bother The language demography of Assam has changed drastically over the past few decades and this is a sad reality.

Sushanta Talukdar in his article ‘Assam records decline in percentage of Assamese, Bodo, Rabha and Santali speakers’ and

published in Nezine (June

8, 2018), writes, “According

to the Languages and Mother Tongue data of 2011 Census, released by the Census authorities and have revealed that percentages of Assamese and Bodo speakers

to the total population in Assam have declined while percentages of Bengali and Hindi speakers in the state have increased over the decade 2001-2011.”

“The data further reveal that the percentage

of Assamese speakers in Assam further declined to 48.38 in 2011 from 48.80 in

2001 Percentage of Bengali Speakers increased to 28.91 in 2011 from 27.54 in

2001 The number of Bodo speakers declined to 4.53 per cent of the total population

in 2011 from 4.86 per cent in

2001 The number of Hindi speakers increased to 6.73 per cent in 2011 as compared

to 5.89 in 2001 In 1991, the percentage of Assamese speakers in Assam was 57.81 per cent and that of Bengali was 21.67 per cent,” he adds on.

“While the decadal percentage of all major language groups registered

an increase, the Rabhas recorded a sharp decline

of 15.04 per cent over the decade from 1,64,770 persons

in 2001 to 1,39,085 in the country and from 1,30,875

to 101,752 in the state A

number of Santali speakers

also declined from 2, 42,886

in 2001 to 2, and 13,139 in

2011 in the state,” Talukdar

further writes.

“The Data show that

of the total population

are Bodo speakers, 21,01,435

are Hindi speakers

scholar, says, “When there

is a decline in the speakers

of the native languages

of a state, the situation is

worrisome The Bengali

speakers have increased and here we need to see that if the numbers of these speakers are citizens of Assam for ages

or have they migrated to the state? Those migrating from Bangladesh, irrespective

of what religion belong to, are Bengali speaking And now if we allow this act to pass, think of the number of Bengali speakers? Eventually,

a day will come when the native language speakers will turn out to be a minority and the native languages may just cease to exist.”

“One thing I will like to make it clear here is that, I have no objections against those people who have been a part of Assam both culturally and traditionally

be it either speaks Bengali

or Hindi as their mother tongue They are Assamese and there is no doubt about it,” adds Bhattacharjee

A language is considered

nearly extinct when it is spoken by only a few elderly native speakers and if the influence of non-native languages continues to grow then it is certain that

a time will come when the Generation Z will only listen to fables about these languages.

Endangered languages, much like endangered species of plants or animals, are on the brink of extinction According to UNESCO, a language is endangered when

COVER STORY

parents are no longer teaching

it to their children and it is no

longer being used in everyday

life A language is considered

nearly extinct when it is

spoken by only a few elderly

native speakers.”

“A language defines a

people, a culture Languages

hold a world of knowledge

We lose knowledge and

history and lose connection

to the land (when a language

is lost) Songs, stories, words

and expressions — developed

over many generations — are

also lost Each language is a

unique way of talking to the

world, about the world,” she

further adds.

No matter how many

arguments the government of

Assam put forward in support

of the proposed amendment

bill, it will bring disaster to

the community If we look

in closely, we will see how

the cultural demography of

the region, especially Assam,

has changed with the high

influence of the Northern belt of the country Moreover,

a rich Bengali influence borrowed from West Bengal can also be felt on some rare occasions

When the entire region has felt this threat hovering over their identity owing to the proposed bill, it is sad

to see that those at the helm

of affairs have not felt the same and they are hell-bent

to pass the bill at any cost

When protestors in Mizoram rant slogans like ‘Bye Bye India, Hello China’, we must understand that the situation

is grave and our existence is

at stake!

Concluding Remarks

By no means the observations made by various researchers mentioned above are arguments that native (i.e

evolved and practised mainly

in the region) languages and cultural practices are complete and are a moral

imperative that they are followed in other parts of the Republic; but none the less these observations may lead us to form a belief that not allowing the native languages and cultural practices disappear in the shadow of bigger, for instance

in terms of population, is important for the people- citizens of the Republic of India In this context, it is pertinent that any attempt

to understand NRC and the proposed amendment of the Citizenship bill never lose sight of the worry surrounding the possibility

of disappearance of native languages and cultures of the North-Eastern region of the Republic of India It may be desirable that children of the future do not have to listen

to the stories about the lost people of the Northeast

We still have time to stand up and take a stand.

Religion, Race, Caste, Sex or

Place of Birth) and 16 (Equality

of Opportunity in Matters

of Public Employment) This

Constitutional Amendment will

increase the reservation of 50

percent to 60 percent, thereby,

giving an additional 10 percent

reservation to the Economically

Weaker Sections (EWS) within

the General Category

This has created a widespread

issue since the Supreme Court

capped the reservation to 50

percent and many wants to

challenge the legality of this

constitutional amendment

As per the existing law, there cannot be any reservation based on the economics of poverty Reservation can only be done for socially and educationally backward people/

communities The law says that reservation cannot be used to alleviate poverty Therefore, this Constitutional Amendment passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and signed by the President of India has been challenged at the Supreme Court

Implementation Loopholes

Prakash Javadekar, Union Minister of Human Resource Development has also said that arrangements have been done for a mandatory 10

percent reservation in the private institutions from the upcoming academic sessions Meanwhile, the cost of implementing the 10 per cent quota for the general category

of poor has to be borne by central educational institutions out of the additional revenue generated by them on account

of increase seats Therefore, the government will play no role

in financial devolution for the implementation of this quota scheme The problem with this approach is that due to infrastructure limitations most

of the public institutes have been unable to increase the intake At this kind of crossroad, putting the onus on the institutes for all the financial implications is worrisome

was passed by both the houses

of the Parliament needs to be

discussed The normal process

of circulating the bill among

the MPs and deliberation

among them takes days or

even months Some of the

Bills are still pending at the

Parliament But when it came to

the Constitutional Amendment

for the reservation of the EWS,

this was passed within two

days Even the session for Rajya

Sabha was extended for one

day to clear the bill There was

not enough time to deliberate

the bill No data was produced

to substantiate or support the

bill The bill also bypassed

the procedure of going to the

Standing Committee The

bill did not open to the public

for feedback All the political

parties unanimously voted for

the quota since this will benefit

them at the upcoming elections

Where are the Jobs?

If the reservation is brought

in for jobs and educational

institutes, questions have been

raised regarding the figures of

jobs generated in the last few

years and how it has actually

proven effective for EWS

Economically Weaker Groups

have been unable to get a grab

on Group A and Group B central

jobs Those who are employed

under these governments are

mostly concentrated in lower

rank jobs The Government

has been unable to increase

the intake in the Group A and

Group B jobs Most of the jobs

generation has taken place

in the clerical ranks Until and unless the government generates sufficient jobs, this 10 per cent reservation will only

be symbolism Short term, this will have implications in the upcoming General Elections

But no thoughts have been given for long term consequences

Role of the State Government

The Prime Minister also said that the state governments will also have the responsibility

of identifying the beneficiaries

The state governments can include and exclude any communities or individuals depending on the assessment done by the respective governments It has been laid down by the Act that if the family income is below Rs 8 lakhs, who lives within a limit

of 900 square feet household area and those who own agricultural lands below 5 acres will be eligible for this quota

But this is not absolute It is not mandatory that persons or households under Rs 8 lakhs will all benefit from this quota scheme

In order to narrow down the eligible population for smooth implementation of the quota schemes, the respective state governments can formulate their own rules For example, some XYZ state can come up with a rule demarcating the income limit to Rs 4 lakhs or size of the household to below

800 square feet etc But the eligibility cannot exceed Rs

8 lakhs and 900 square feet of household area

Changes in the Income Tax

The eligibility of Rs 8 lakhs also means that we can expect reform in the Income Tax Act in the upcoming Interim budget In this interim budget, the government will try to woo the public by excluding some from the Income Tax and others by lowering down the slab This will largely impact the high earning professionals and corporate It should be remembered that 90 per cent

of the taxpayers fall under the bracket of Rs 8 lakhs A drastic change in the Income Tax will definitely harm the economy

Those in favour

There are other groups who are in favour for this 10 per cent quota scheme The argument is that it’s been over 60 years of Independence with reservation extended to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and over 20 years since the implementation

of the Mandal Report This has brought significant changes

to the caste contours in the country There have been demands for the abolition of caste-based reservation as most

of this targeted population have already reaped the benefits and have led to upward social mobility There should be a focus

on the merit and reservation

on the basis of income and financial deprivation They also argue that reservation should be used as a mechanism for poverty alleviation, going against the present norm of not using reservation for any poverty alleviation measures

NATIONWIDE

First Words

India and the United States of America (USA),

the two strategic allies pose with impunity,

strong opposition to CPEC The two nations

in the last five-six years have been launching a

media campaign diplomatically and strategically

against the China Pakistan Economic Corridor

(CPEC)

In May 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra

Modi readily visited China to persuade the

Chinese government to abandon this project by

maintaining that the CPEC route was passing

through the disputed territory of Gilgit-Baltistan

During the G-20 summit at Hangzhou (China)

in September 2016, PM Narendra Modi expressed

India’s concerns over the CPEC in his bilateral

meeting with Chinese President, holding that

the two countries needed to be sensitive to each

other’s strategic interests

In October 2017, the Trump administration

told the Senate Armed Services Committee that CPEC was passing through disputed territory Similarly, a senior Trump administration official recently remarked that the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) “is a made in China, made for China” initiative US consideration of India as a strategic ally is its diplomatic blunder, as India has proactive, functional and workable relationship with Russia

Middle Ground

China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

is a mega strategic and economic-based project, which is aimed at the bilateral exchange of trade, technology and energy between two forever strategic partners China and Pakistan Even though democratic power transition from Pakistan Muslim League-N (PMLN) to Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) on July 2018, CPEC remained unaffected and the later considered it the extreme

Representative Image

CPEC AND THE INDIA USA JEALOUSY

INTERNATIONAL

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a mega strategic and economic-based project currently

in progress It is aimed at the bilateral exchange of trade, technology and energy between China and Pakistan Northeast Today delves in deeper to understand as for how CPEC stands as a bone of enviousness for both India and the USA

need of time As, Prime Minister Imran Khan,

in various conferences and interviews argued to

emulate China in various institutions

However, some detractor, impediment

elements have bellyache with the project

November 2018 attack on Chinese Consulate in

Karachi was just an attempt to put a rift in the two

partners’ friendship But Pakistan security forces

made it failed and the diplomatic wisdom of both

countries understand circumstances very well

In December 2018, Indian newspapers and

American newspaper New York Time made hype

that, a military dimension is also installed within

the canvas of CPEC However, both Pakistan

foreign ministry and China president had issued

outright statements that there are no such ties

Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman, during his

last week’s press briefing, made it clear that the

China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) had

no military dimensions

“The CPEC is a bilateral economic project, which

is not against any country,” he was commenting

on a report published in a leading US newspaper

alleging that the CPEC was not about economy

and trade but had military dimensions as well

No doubt, there are strong military ties between

China and Pakistan The CPEC, however, has

nothing to do with these ties Both friends forever

have been enjoying close diplomatic, strategic and

military relations for decades, independent of, and

prior to, the CPEC project China and Pakistan,

being two sovereign states, have the right to

foster strong economic and military relations in

accordance with their national interests

Final Words

Some disgruntled experts claimed that the CPEC is not tantamount economically to both China and Pakistan and the later will suffer debts burdens As of Last week, the Chinese embassy in Pakistan also refuted another media report which claimed that Pakistan would pay $40 billion to China in 20 years in the shape of repayments

of debt and dividends on Chinese investment under flagship CPEC The embassy issued a statement that the Chinese government provided concessional loans of $5.874 billion for Pakistan’s transportation infrastructure projects, with a composite interest rate of around 2 per cent in

a repayment period of 20-25 years The embassy also clarified that all the CPEC energy projects are investments in nature and the companies are responsible for their own profits and losses and repayments of the loan But it is nothing more than just propaganda The project equally will bring economic prosperity and it is a grassroots for the functional and workable relationships to both countries

Pakistan and China always have been understanding and dealing with US-India jealousy, security challenges and the troubled environment in Afghanistan through their vast diplomatic wisdom The CPEC is promoting both nation and a day is about to come when Pakistan and China both will lead third world countries

(The article is a compiled report from various sources and published news reports)

Representative Image

The Agony

I am 25 and all the 25 years

of my life I have felt proud

of being from the Northeast

and most importantly being

from the beautiful state of

Assam I was brought up in an

environment of a mixed culture

of the different communities

residing together, celebrating

their identities and those of

others with equal grandeur all

through the year As such, I

grew up with a cosmopolitan

mentality and an identity which

I have cherished the most But

very recently my identity has

thrown me in a grave dilemma

My forefathers may have come

to Assam from some other

corner of the country; but after they settled here they blended well with the local cultures and even though they speak Bengali

as their mother tongue, they, however, made sure that they are identified as an Assamese first and not by what they were before arriving in the state

And as generations evolved, the Bengali identity has marred down and we take pride in being identified as Assamese

But with this political hullabaloo around, today the perspective of identity seems to have changed

The Question Probes in Why

I am, as I have always called

myself a Bengali speaking Assamese, but by all means

an Assamese Coming back to the dilemma, it confuses me now to whether denounce my identity as an Assamese or as

a Bengali, as I am both at the same time And with the recent events taking place in the region

I have been made to feel like an outsider, addressed as Bengali

in a very derogatory manner and most importantly being counted amongst the illegal immigrants

Going back to my ancestry,

my paternal grandfather Manoranjan Mazumdar arrived in Assam in the 1930s

as an employee of the imperial

citizenship to those non Muslims who have migrated to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan

owing to religious persecution

.

.