From time to time, a rage against 'outsiders' iswhipped up in different parts of the country by extremist political groupings,who then resort to varying degrees of violence against hapless innocents,ordinarily among the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population. Inthe most recent wave of such violence, in Manipur, a succession of threeincidents against 'Hindi-speaking' outsiders between March 17 and 19, 2008,resulted in the killing of 15 'migrants'.
In 2007, there had been three such attacks, two in October and one in March, inwhich five migrant labourers and two petty traders were murdered. There havealso been misguided calls for the 'revival' of Inner Line Permit regulations inManipur (abolished as far back as 1950) to prevent the entry of outsiders intothe state.
But Manipur is not alone in these isolationist excesses. In neighbouring Assam,six migrant workers have been killed in two attacks this year, and as many as 88were killed, and 33 injured in 12 such incidents in 2007. Indeed, waves ofxenophobic violence have swept across Assam repeatedly since 1979, variouslytargeting Bangladeshis, Bengalis, Biharis and Marwaris.
In Meghalaya, the Federation of Khasi, Jaintia and Garo Peoples -- claiming torepresent indigenous tribes of the state -- issued thousands of quit noticesagainst 'outsiders' in April 2007, provoking a brief panic, though threats ofviolence were not subsequently carried out beyond a few low intensity clashes.Tribal ire in Meghalaya is particularly directed against Marwaris, Bengalis andBiharis.
Similarly, in Nagaland, the Naga Students Federation has sought to push outsuspected illegal migrants since 2004. Arunachal Pradesh has had a succession of'anti-outsider' movements since 1992, targeting Chakma and Hajong refugees, andmore recently, Bangladeshis. Tripura has had a full blow insurgency thatmobilised tribal anger against the Bengalis, as tribal populations wereprogressively reduced to a minority in the state.
The North-East, of course, has long been an area of poor governance andbreakdown of law and order. Protecting migrant populations here is difficultbecause policing is poor, insurgencies rage across wide areas, many regions havepoor access, and migrant populations are widely dispersed.
But such feelings are hardly limited to this troubledregion, and 'son-of-the-soil' sentiments and a paranoia that 'outsiders' aregrabbing scarce local jobs and opportunities are periodically whipped up byopportunistic politicians in locations across the country, includingmetropolitan cities that have been raised out of the blood, sweat and tears ofmigrants.
With little warning, for instance, a marginalised political formation in Mumbai,the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), was able to orchestrate a handful ofincidents against hapless taxi drivers, hawkers and other poor 'outsiders' --eventually resulting in wider violence that ironically claimed the life of oneMaharashtrian in Nashik. This was not the first time this stratagem had beenexploited by this particular party; in 2007, MNS activists stormed anexamination centre of the Railway Recruitment Board of the Western Railways inPune, and beat and tore up the papers of candidates appearing for therecruitment exam. Other regional formations have also systematically exploited'son-of-the-soil' sentiments in Maharashtra from time to time.
Punjab has also seen sporadic targeted attacks against 'bhaiyas' -- migrantlabourers usually from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar -- though these workers are nowthe mainstay of the agricultural and urban economy, ordinarily doing jobs thatthe Punjabi deems beneath his dignity. Karnataka has seen movements againstTamils and Malayalees since the 1960s. Tamil Nadu has targeted North Indians andMalayalees; West Bengal has seen violence against Biharis.
But the logic of these movements is uniformly flawed --though the rationale may have strong local appeal in some situations.Isolationism has only brought weakness to areas that have failed to integrateinto the national mainstream and -- crucially -- the national infrastructure andeconomy. Where barriers have been put up against migration -- including theInner Line Permit regime in the North-East -- this has only encouraged illegalmigration, which brings in the poorest and most unskilled human resources fromother regions or countries.
Legal migration, on the other hand, brings a far better profile of migrants,investors, skilled workers and technical and technological manpower. To take aquick example, anti-outsider politics has progressively pushed out 'outsiders'from educational institutions across the North-East -- and some of the finestinstitutions have seen a continuous erosion, indeed collapse, of standards thathas worked to the perpetual detriment of the people of the region itself.
Regions, states and cities that are most open to, and welcoming of, migrants,are invariably the most dynamic and productive. The US is an exceptionalexample, attracting some of the finest talent and disproportionate quantities ofinvestment from across the world. Within India, Mumbai has historically profitedimmensely from this process of assimilation, while Bangalore and Delhi come tomind as some of the new dynamic 'melting pots'. Where isolationist sentimentsescalate beyond the threshold of violence, this dynamic is inevitably reversed-- though often slowly and unnoticeably -- and the nations, states and citiesthat come under this malignant shadow inevitably enter processes of decay.
Decades of fratricidal inter-tribal warfare and violence against outsiders havetransformed the North-East -- one of the regions most generously endowed bynature -- into a human wasteland. But with the barriers of their own prejudicesdisintegrating, at least in some measure and in some segments of the population,thousands of young people from the North-East are now securing jobs acrossmetropolitan India. Of course, they are confronted with some prejudicethemselves, just as outsiders in the North-East face tribal or racial bigotry.
But this new exposure can only enrich them, create greater skills, a betterunderstanding of other people and cultures, and -- crucially -- greaterconfidence, which can only contribute to a more prosperous future for theirplaces of origin. The skills, attitudes and wealth they gain in their newenvironments will, eventually, flow homewards to transform the stagnant andbackward looking North-East region.
It can be no one's case that violence against migrants -- some of whom havelived for generations in their adopted homes -- cannot be prevented or, onceinitiated, quickly quelled. The problem is the lack of political will and thecollusion of the larger political establishment, which seeks electoraladvantage, if not directly from the violence, then, indirectly, from asympathetic posture.
In this, the basic commitment of the Chief Minister of a state is paramount. Tothe extent that he is willing to back the enforcement of the rule of law, suchincidents and the politics that backs them can be quelled. And even if a singleperson is forced to leave his home, his city or his state out of fear, thisconstitutes an abject failure of the enforcement agencies and politicalleadership, and a breakdown of the constitutional order.
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K.P.S.Gill is former director-general of police, Punjab. He is alsoPublisher, SAIR and President, Institute for Conflict Management. This articlewas first published in ThePioneer
