IT all happened in Central Calcutta in broad daylight. Four or fivehawkers on Dharamtala Street pounced on a customer, punching and kicking him.Their ashen-faced victim, a middle-aged person, shouted for help and attracted a crowd,which freed him. Between anguished gasps for air, the man, his shirt torn, explained whathad happened. By the time he began the story, his attackers had vanished.
The victim, Ghiyasuddin, claimed he had come to the city fromBangladesh only a day ago. "I was a muktiyoddha (liberation fighter) duringthe struggle for an independent Bangladesh. My attackers were pro-Pakistan razakarsbelonging to the Al Shams outfit, with which our Awami League had a running battle. I did not know they had landed here. They wanted to setytle an old score, because wekicked out the Pakistanis." The Al Sham, along with the Al Bard and theJamat-e-Islam, had killed over 50 Hindu and Muslim secular intellectuals hours beforeDhaka fell.
A full quarter of a century after the birth of Bangladesh, old scoresare still being settled between Urdu speaking Muslims, who call themselves Pakistanis(Muhajirs), and Bengal-speakintg Muslims long after they have parted company. Andthe locale of their fighting has shifted to India, namely West Bengle, thanks to a porous,barely-guarded international border. The Muhajirs, settled in greater Calcutta, haveentered a politically assertive phase even as a sleepy state administration and aconniving political leadership have opted to look the other way. The inexplicableabdication of political responsibility and administrative duties perturb social observersas they ponder the import of the ominous Muharram day violence that cost five lives insouth west Calcutta.
Residents of the area, comprising the Muslim-dominated pockets ofEkbalpore, Mominpur, Kidderpore and Garden Reach, are convinced that illegal immigrationfrom Bangladesh has a direct correlation with the changing crime profile.
"Over the decade, there has been a subtle change in Garden Reachand other areas as the population increased rapidly. Most were newcomers, speaking Urdu ora Bihari version of Hindi. Local MLAs, especially Kalimuddin Shams, the high-profiledeputy speaker, recommended that hundreds of these people be issued passports and rationcards. There was no inquiry," recalled a senior retired police official.
Tapan Sikdar, former state BJP president, put it more concretely:"Some five years ago during a survey in Garden Reach, we found the population to bearound 2,92,000. But the number of ration cards was 3,98,000, most held by members of aparticular community. Our Border Security Force authorities admit that for every personheld for illegal entry, at least 10 escape the net. If in Calcutta, Urdu-speaking Muslimspose a problem, in the districts, it is the Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh."
The ceaseless flow of illegal immigrants has fundamentallyaltered the ethnic character areas of settlement and distorted the essentially secularambience. "This year, the processionists treated an application to the policetoinclude a road through the Hindu-dominated Dompara as part of the proposed routeasofficial permission. When the 1,500 marchers went through the prohibited area, and thepolice stopped them, all hell broke loose. The marchers hurled petrol bombs at the troopswho resorted to lathicharge, teargas and even firing to check the mob. As matters went outof hand, curfew orders had to be imposed," said a publisher residing at Ekbalpore.
The police put the blame on a new breed of community leadersthelocal toughsand the politicians. "Earlier, respectable maulanas or otherreligious leaders headed the delegations to discuss Muharram processions. This time wewere asked to talk to two henchmen with a police record, Munna and Ladla," said apolice officer.
As usual, political parties are divided over the issue. Local Congressleaders Saugata Ray and Ranjit Dhar admit that there is considerable movement of peoplewithout passports or other valid papers. But the ruling Left Fronts stance can besummed up in the words of Ashok Ghosh, chairman of the Forward Block, the party to whichthe controversial Shams belongs: "What infiltration? There is movement of people,from here to Bihar to Delhi, maybe to Bangladesh, how can we stop it? Why pick only onsouth west Calcutta, what about such movement in Rajabazar, Park Circus, orMetiabruz?"
Chief Minister Jyoti Basu mentioned the Bangladeshi migration problemfor the first time in his budget address last year. This was bolstered by the last censusfigures which showed a tremendous increase in the number of Muslims in the state by 36.89per cent between 1981-91, compared to 24.75 per cent for the rest. In 14 districts, therisen faster than the Hindu population.
This is accompanied by a simultaneous decrease in population in thecamps maintained by Bangladesh authorities for stranded Bihari Muslims from around8,00,000 to just over 2,25,000, confirming a large scale movement of the people todestinations other than Bangladesh.
Observers even fear a Hindu backlash if the trend is not checked by theadministration and the ruling Left Front: "The city will become another Karachiunless sober leaders of both communities begin discussions in earnest."
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