Assam after 100 years!

Prafulla Dowarah

(prafulla_dowarah@yahoo.co.in)

Till the late 1970s, even many educated people of mainland India were not familiar with the name Assam and its inhabitants. Sadly, Assam did not occupy a pride of place in our beautiful National Anthem though Assam was very much part of India at the time of independence. As such it is but natural not to know about Assam by the common people. Assam came to the limelight for the wrong reasons in the late 1970s. One, for the emergence of the ULFA, an extremist organization and the other for the six years Assam agitation spearheaded by All Assam Students' Union (AASU) for detection, deletion and deportation of foreign nationals illegally entered from Bangladesh. After 35 years, we found all struggles and sufferings of the Assamese people have culminated in a BIG ZERO.

Erosion by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries: Erosion of land by the River Brahmaputra has taken a menacing proportion. It is still going unabated. So far it has eroded 5 lakhs (approx) hectares of land. As per a rough estimate, 8,000 hectares of land are being devoured per year by Assam's rivers in general and the Brahmaputra in particular. If this trend is allowed to continue, please mark my words; Assam is likely to disappear from this planet within 100 years or so. The erosion started after the great earthquake (>8 on the Richter scale) that shook Assam in 1950. Experts opined that the river bed of the Brahmaputra had risen as a consequence of the earthquake. Since then erosions and floods have become a routine affair for Assam. Earlier there had been a regular movement of cargo/passenger ships between Kolkota and Sadiya in Assam with ease. Unfortunately, no government, whether at the Centre or in the state has taken any serious initiative, in the last 70 years, by using modern tools and technology to arrest erosion. Floods come and go, but the erosion of riverside land leaves a deep scar in the lives of the victims. Even we have seen how people desperately offering Puja to their God and Goddesses to protect their land, houses, schools, mandirs, masjids and other belongings, but to no avail. My heart bleeds whenever I happen to see live scenes of erosion on TV screens. Our governments have no plan, resources and technology at their disposal to reclaim the lost land. In the first place, it is will that is missing badly. Millions of indigenous people become street baggers, because of the damage inflicted by erosions and unprecedented floods.

The border dispute with our neighbouring states like Arunachal, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram are long pending issues. Of late, this has taken a serious turn. Neglect and complacency on the part of our leaders made things worse. All are squeezing us without let or hindrance. We are getting smaller (area wise) day by day. Our leaders have all along been mute spectators. We had some honest Chief Ministers in the past but they were not visionary. Had our leaders been visionary, many problems which have plagued the state would not have been there.

The 2,000-MW Lower Subansiri hydroelectric power project is hanging like the "Sword of Damocles" on the heads of the Assamese people. Power is required but at what cost? The construction of the mega project has been carried out despite relentless protests staged by various organizations in Assam. Interestingly, the construction was vehemently opposed by top BJP leaders when they were in opposition. Experts had offered some suggestions to make some changes in the design of the Dam and its construction, however, it is believed that NHPC did not listen. NHPC is likely to go ahead with the project in 2022. God forbid, nothing should go wrong with the project. The disturbing fact is that for quite some time we have been hearing from the media that all is not well with the project. There have been reports of the collapse of guard walls, tunnel walls, overflowing of water from the dam and so on, so forth. This has become a serious cause of concern for the people of Assam. If any mishap does occur; it is beyond our comprehension what would happen to the people of Assam? Then a tweet "My heart goes to the people of Assam", would hopefully steal the limelight.

In normal times also, Assam has to bear the brunt as a result of excess water being released from various hydroelectric projects situated in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Bhutan as well. The downstream impact was not considered to give relief/ protection to the people of Assam in the plains. As usual, our leaders have been playing a passive role despite glaring injustices are inflicted on us regularly.

Apart from the above, there is n-number of issues that have crippled the state economically and socially.

Of late, NITI AAYOG has already projected a dismal picture of the state on various fronts.

To build a prosperous nation/state we have to have able-bodied, educated (combination of both quality and moral), and committed and honest people. Everything revolves around honesty. Without honesty, every system under the sun is likely to collapse like a pack of cards. Various problems in our Assamese society/Assam are getting sprouted from the seeds of corruption sowed (?) in the fertile land of Assam. We find everything doom and gloom. Even the Education Department is under a cloud. We consider the teaching/education profession as the most sacrosanct. But that has also proved wrong. School and college teachers were found to indulge in corruption and immoral activities. It is also alleged that many college teachers/principals are armed with fake Ph. D degrees. This year itself two Vice- Chancellors of state universities' were discharged from service for committing an act of corruption.

Here, I want to state with a heavy heart that the self-respect/ Swaviman of Assamese people is getting eroded along with the erosion of banks by the river Brahmaputra. Now it has reached rock bottom. This is unfortunate and a tragedy too! A society can thrive with its Swaviman (having courage and conviction). At long last, I must say that our leaders have failed us badly. They were selfish to the core. They have no clarity of thoughts. They have no love and respect for the people of Assam. Kowtowing before the high command had been their culture. In the process, they lost their moral courage to highlight the real problems of the state in proper perspective. This has been continuing for many decades. At long last, I would hold our state leaders of the past who are fully responsible to push Assam to the brink.