DIALOGUE QUARTERLY Volume-21 No. 1 July-September, 2019 Subscription Rates : For Individuals (in India) Single issue Rs. 30.00 Annual Rs. 100.00 For 3 years Rs. 250.00 For Institutions: Single Issue Rs. 60.00 in India, Abroad US $ 15 Annual Rs. 200.00 in India, Abroad US $ 50 For 3 years Rs. 500.00 in India, Abroad US $ 125 All cheques and Bank Drafts (Account Payee) are to be made in the name of “ASTHA BHARATI”, Delhi. Advertisement Rates : Outside back-cover Rs. 25, 000.00 Per issue Inside Covers Rs. 20, 000.00 ,, Inner page coloured Rs. 15, 000.00 ,, Inner full page Rs. 10, 000.00 ,, DIALOGUE QUARTERLY Editor J.N. Roy Associate Editor Pranav Kumar ASTHA BHARATI DELHI The views expressed by the contributors do not necessarily represent the view-point of the journal. © Astha Bharati, New Delhi Printed and Published by Dr. Lata Singh, IAS (Retd.) Secretary, Astha Bharati Registered Office: 27/201 East End Apartments, Mayur Vihar, Phase-I Extension, Delhi-110096. Working Office: 19/804 East End Apartments, Mayur Vihar, Phase-I Extension, Delhi-110096. Phone : 91-11-22712454 e-mail : [email protected] web-site : www. asthabharati.org Printed at : Vikas Computer & Printers, Naveen Shahdara, Delhi-32 Contents Editorial Perspective 7 The Stir Over CAA/NRC and NPR Whither India? 1. How is CAA Affecting North East; Why the Protests 12 Patricia Mukhim Tea Industry and the People of Tea Origin in AssamToday 15 M.P. Bezbaruah Not Migration, but Rapid, Large-Scale Migration is the Problem 19 Pradip Phanjoubam 2. CAA: Connecting Past with Future Past Hostility to Future of Harmony 22 Abhijit Bhattacharyya 3. Immigration and Demographic Composition of Assam: Is NRC plus CAB /CAA Solutions to the Concerns of the Indigenous People of Assam? 36 Amiya Sarma 4. The Long Shadow of Partition and the Predicament of Citizenship in Post-Colonial Assam 45 Binayak Dutta 5. CAA Undermines India’s Secular Ethos 56 Harekrishna Deka 6. CAA, NRC, NPR and their Impact on North East India 66 Subimal Bhattacharjee DIALOGUE, Volume-21 No. 1 5 7. Can Ethnicity and Nationalism Co-Exist: Making Sense of India’s North East 73 Patricia Mukhim 8. The Anti CAB/CAA Agitation in Assam: A Historical Perspective 79 Rajib Handique 9. The CAB and the NRC: A Reconsideration 92 Bimal Pramanik 10. The Coward and the Bully 98 Ramesh Chandra Shah 11. A Synthesis of Indian and Western Philosophy in the Metaphysical Investigation of Descartes Inquiry 106 Chetan Kumar 12. Symbolic Dynamism in Tagore’s The Post-Office and Mukta-Dhara 119 Durgesh Ravande 13. The Association Between the Work-Life Balance of a Working Woman, Family/Social Support and Organizational Support: A Review 129 Ambreen Khursheed Wani 14. Analysing Terrorism, War and Media 139 Dr. Amita Pandey 6 DIALOGUE, Volume-21 No. 1 Editorial Perspective Dr. Braj Bihari Kumar, Chairman, Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and founder Secretary of Astha Bharati (1999) and editor of its two quarterly publications Dialogue (English-1999) and Chintan-Srijan (Hindi-2003), passed away on December 8, 2019. He was seventy-eight. An erudite scholar in old tradition, he straddled both the worlds of science and social sciences, history and culture, but the latter being the main preoccupation of his scholarly journey. Academically, he retired as Principal, Kohima Science College and held degrees of M.Sc. (Chemistry) M.Sc. (Anthropology), M.A. (Hindi) and Ph.D. in Anthropology. Dr. Kumar was associated with a host of educational and social bodies including Nagaland Peace Centre founded by late Jai Prakash Narain. He spent over 25 years in North-East and had an abiding interest and expertise in the region. He left behind a formidable legacy of books, publications and over 50 monographs on various tribal languages. His two volume magnum opus. “India: Caste, Culture and Traditions” is an authoritative work. His last book is “Understanding Islam” a definitive treatise on founding of Islam till the death of the Prophet. He was an independent thinker and writer and did not conform to any isms and ideologies. Pride in India’s past was a recurring theme in his writings. Academically low level of research work in India, particularly in respect of its history and culture, saddened him and he relentlessly wrote about it in his editorials and articles and deeply lamented our dependence on foreign scholars in this regard. This was an issue of concern for him and he tried to improve things for over two years he was the Chairman of ICSSR. But this is not about his scholarly credentials which were considerable, but the man behind it. A self-effacing person, and a gentleman to the core. Though he did not easily suffer the fools, I had first met him in 1970 in Kohima (Nagaland) but we again renewed our contacts in 1990’s, both having retired and our shared love of North- DIALOGUE, Volume-21 No. 1 7 East. It resulted in establishing Astha Bharati (1999), a registered non- profit society in Delhi with North-East tilt. Its two quarterlies Dialogue and Chintan-Srijan and a host of seminars on varied subjects from Naxalism, Central Asia and North-East etc. followed. For us, it was a 20-year journey of hardwork, commitment, selfless endeavour and working closely. Astha Bharati and its publications and activities were all due to Dr. Kumar. For me, the loss is both personal and academic. I learnt a lot from him and his association with me made me a better person. I find it difficult to write about a person whom I knew so intimately, memories overcrowd the mind and emotion makes one speechless. Though he never got his due, but he did not care about it. He had fairly strong views on many issues, but was willing to accept contrary views also. Our hours of discussions and arguments, agreements and disagreements never became personal. He gave a lot of trust and affection to me. We became true friends. A man of simple habits and was always clad in his trademark dhoti and kurta. He did not care much about his health and personal matters. He has left behind loving and devoted family members, and a host of friends and admirers. I will miss him both as a friend and an academic guide. A great mind with endearingly simple and selfless lifestyle is difficult to imagine in today’s world of glitz and glamour. He has left a void among those who knew him and interacted with him. Good bye my friend. We all will cherish your memory and do our best to carry forward what you started. May your soul rest in peace. The Stir Over CAA/NRC and NPR This issue of Dialogue once again visits the contentious subjects of the Citizens Amendment Act (CAA) and The National Register of Citizens (NRC). Despite the CAA being passed by Parliament and its laudable objective, it has aroused considerable passion and opposition in a section of civil society and Muslims. Apprehensions, despite government denial, regarding NRC and NPR (National Population Register), have aroused social and political unrest. The present political, if not, the communal polarization over the CAA, is based not on facts and realties, but on perceptions, apprehensions and fears. The CAA (December 2019) does two things. The period of waiting for citizenship of religious minorities from 8 DIALOGUE, Volume-21 No. 1 Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan has been reduced from 11 years to 5 years. Secondly, it names the minorities viz., Hindus Sikhs, Parsis, Christians, Buddhists etc. It is this classification, which excluders Muslims, is being objected to. This avoidable course, instead of mentioning “religious minorities” is being resented by some, but cannot be the real cause of such a civil unrest, including the university students and civil society, though mostly in urban areas. This appears to be a cumulative result of perceived authoritarian trend and alleged communal bias. The ambit of opposition to the CAA has been widened to include the NRC and NPR. According to them, the CAA violates the basic secular tenet of the Constitution and finds in it an attempt to marginalise the Muslims. The NDA contention that the opposition and others are trying to build-up an artificial fear psychosis and unrest, being unsettled by the government’s significant successes like the Triple Talaq, Article 370, Ayodhya, and CAA etc. NRC and NPR got clubbed because of the initial assertion by Union Home Minister to implement NRC across the country and later denial by the Prime Minster. It has now been officially clarified that there is no plan to implement the NRC. But it has not doused the fires and the impending elections to the Delhi assembly only added to the tensions. In all this truth and objectivity have become real casualties. Laudable objective of the CAA of conferring citizenship on persecuted minority refugees and the necessity of having some record of citizens in India are being jeopardized. The NPR and NRC have got embroiled in political contestation with distinct communal overtones. Even deletion of Article 370; a purely strategic and political action is being viewed through communal prism simply because J&K is a Muslim majority State. While the constitutionality of the CAA will be decided by the Supreme Court, civil disobedience, is driven by a fear that the NDA government is pursuing an agenda to politically marginalise and isolate the Muslims of the country in its drive towards making India a Hindu Rashtra. This is what has brought together erstwhile left, liberals and seculars. Sections of Muslims in urban areas have also joined hands.