Blood on the North Eastern Horizon

Original Bengali article by Sri Soham Pal

Translated by: Shri Bauddhikakshatriya

[Within seven days of ULFA leader MrinalHazarika’s open threat to “Enter Bengali homes and bring back the days of 1982-83”,Bengalis were murdered in Tinsukia. In the aftermath, all political parties were seen toasting their own agendas but none, so far stood up to the cause of protecting the Bengali identity. While Leftists have toed the ‘global citizen’ line, majority of the Rightists have been seen more concerned about the ‘Virat Hindu’ cause. The irony is, irrespective of their separate ideologies,BJP-CMP-INC in Assam have collectively rallied behind Assamese regionalism, however, even after the mass killings of Bengalis, the Bengali political parties are as yet busy mud slinging at each other. In this context, many questions have resurfaced, which necessitate a look back into history.]

The much fractured Bengal…

Assam today has two issues bothering it, and some of the liberals are very conveniently trying to muddle and mix them both – National Register of Citizens (NRC) and The Citizenship (Amedment) Bill. To understand how the interests of Bengalis are intertwined here needs us to look back at the times of British rule. In those days, Bengalis were not concentrated in Bengal alone. Besides the two parts of pre-partitioned Bengal, they had a significant presence in the West –that is, today’s Bihar, Jharkhand (areas in the vicinity of West Bengal viz. Deoghar, Purnia, Dhanbad, SanthalParagana, etc) as well as in many places of Eastern Assam and Tripura. A few decades before Independence, radical Islamists were able to to carve out an Islamic state out of Bengal with active administrative support, successfully executing Pabna riots¹, Dhaka riots^{2 3}, Direct Action Day^{4 5}and finally theNoakhali genocide⁶ – beginning initially with sporadic violence⁷, culminatinglater into unbridled massacre and ethnic cleansing. In all the years after 1947, aside a very few years post 1971, first East Pakistan, then the Bangladesh of KhondakerMostaq and Farooqs, Rashids, the Bangladesh of Zia-Ershad to the BNP-Jamaat led Bangladesh haveall been a slaughter ground of minority Bengalis (and tribals) and their Bengali identity. This resulted in a falling apart of the Bengalis of North East from the Bengalis of West Bengal geographically as well as in spirit. Most of the mainland Bengalis have no clue about the gruesomeviolence unleashed on Bengalis in Assam-Tripura-Meghalaya.

The second phase of routing out of Bengalis began in 1947. To escape the systematic pogrom violence being inflicted upon them in East Pakistan, minority Bengali Hindus & Buddhists escaped into adjoining states in India. They had a bitter experience in West Bengal due to two main reasons. Firstly, while proximity to Delhi enabled refugees from the Western frontiers get a much better rehabilitation package, Bengali refugees did not get even 1% of the same⁸. Nehru had a utopian notion that Bengali refugees would one day return back to East Pakistan – back to the gallows they fled from. That this was not merely a passing idea was clear when Nehru &Liaquat Ali entered into a pact in 1950 hoping minority refugees from both the countries will return to their original homelands⁹.Secondly, the apathy of a large section of the West Bengal Bengalistowards their unfortunate counterparts from across the border. It’s clear that like today’s times, Bengalis didn’t have an inter community bonding and a sense of brotherhood in those times too. It is definitely true that ethnic resident Hindus in West Bengal, particularly those in Kolkata and the adjoining 24 Paraganas had to face upfront economic competition with shrinking job opportunities and eventual change in lifestyles due to the massive pressure of inflowing population. This was the time when Kolkata – the colonial beauty- was losing sheen to lakhs of hungry, homeless Bengali Hindu refugees and farmhouse bunglows of Kolkata ‘Babus’ (moneyed gentry) were getting encroached¹⁰. Census of 1951 throws an incredible data – that 26.9%¹¹ of Kolkata’s population comprised of Bengali Hindu refugees from East Pakistan, who fled death and dishonour unleashed in the early years of Pakistan under organised Islamic persecution (particularly the riots in 1950’s). Their number is far from insignificant – six lakhs and eighty five thousand in Kolkata alone¹². Kolkata had become a city of refugees, with refugee colonies sprouting like anthills in the suburbs, and shacks taking over footpaths. Again, it is a tragicomedy that while the refugee influx is acknowledged, the reasons of this involuntary exodus rarely finds mention, possibly to keep the peace!Unfortunately for us, Bengalis have never united as Bengalis, maybe because they didn’t want it. So what Punjab could, Bengal could not. Even after seven decades, the steady flow of refugees from across the Eastern frontiers continues unabated. However, despite all adversities, trials & tribulations – the worst of which was unleashed by the Left front government in Marichjhampi¹³, the refugees from East Bengal have been able to get a foothold atleast in (West) Bengal.

National Register of Citizens (NRC) and The Citizenship (Amedment) Bill, 2016

Bengali refugees who sought refuge in Assam-Tripura were not that fortunate. From the 1940’s itself, Bengalis had to bear the brunt of acute racial hatred and aggression from the Ahomias. In fact, the demand of rabid Ahomia regionalists that they are being cornered in lower Assam by Bengali refugees and immigrants (we have to make two clear demarcations, we cannot group minority Bengali Hindus & Buddhists fleeing persecution after 1971 in the same bracket with majority Muslims from a state built on Bangladeshi nationalism)is the basis of the present National Register of Citizens (NRC). In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi’s INC government entered into the Assam Accord with AGP and AASU, pushing Bengal Hindus in Assam again towards homelessness¹⁴. As per this Accord, names of those who started residing in Assam from 01 January 1966 to 24 March 1971 (it is to be noted here that this period corresponds entirely tothe era of East Pakistanbefore Operation Searchlight,when minority persecution was ruthlessly on) will be deleted from the Voters’ List, and that they will have to register their names in their District Registration Office¹⁵. Names of those who are residents in Assam after the 1971 cut-off date will not only be struck off from the Voters’ List, they will be expelled from the state as well¹⁶. The then Indian Government agreed to the entire exercise considering only the arguments brought forth by rabid Bengali hating organisations like AGP and AASU¹⁷. The cut-off window categorically discounts the period in 1971 after Operation Searchlight in Bangladesh, when Pakistan army’s organised pogrom claimed atleast 30 lakh lives¹⁸ in just nine months and around a crore refugees had taken asylum in India – majority of whom were Hindus, who would not be able to return to their homelands even after Bangladesh was formed. Excluded also are the periods of General Zia’s violent rule, BNP’s political rise¹⁹, the regular series of communal attacks^{20 21 22}in 90’s and ethnic cleansing²³ and the minority Bengali Hindus forced to flee their lands^{24 25} after the Jamaat-BNP alliance came to power in 2001.What is disturbing is this continued pogrom persecution has resulted in the numbers of Bangladesh’s minority Hindus and Buddhists to deplete further and more, which is evident in each of the census reports of Bangladesh²⁶. Even as of now, leaders of all political parties in Assam support the National Register of Citizens (NRC). ThisincludesINC, BJP, NCP, NIUDF, AGP and AAP, as well as parties like CPM and CPIML who were seen shaking up heaven and hell at Kolkata, issuing feisty statements against the process in social media²⁷. Just at the opposite end, irrespective of party lines, Bengali leaders in Assam are apprehensive of the NRC process.

The next issue is The Citizenship (Amedment) Bill, 2016 presented by Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh in Lok Sabha²⁸, the underlying of which was amendments to The Citizenship Act, 1955, so that the minority Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains, Parsis& Christians who had to taken shelter in India due to persecution by radical Islamists in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan can be granted Indian citizenship. Passing of this Bill would have ensured citizenship to Hindu refugees from East Bengal, 22 to 25 lakh of whom figure among the total 40 lakh exclusions in the NRC – as alleged by Shri Shiladitya Dev, a Bengali MLA from Assam. Though BJP’s central leadership favours the Bill, other factions have their reservations due to various reasons. The faction in Assam BJP close to AGP opposes this due to their aversion to Bengalis, as the main beneficiaries would be Bengali refugees. Leftist liberals are against it as in their LeftIslamic know-all-ism, their argument is that minorities and majoritarians should not be distinguished in the Islamic states of Bangladesh & Pakistan. The opposition from Assam’s ultra regionalist militant groups like ULFA stems from the fact that their political ascent is fully based on an agenda of fighting and killing Bengalis, they infact favour entering Bengali households and bringing back the days of 1982-83 in case The Citizenship (Amedment) Bill, 2016 is not rescinded²⁹.

Curiously, while a segment of West Bengal’s liberals accuse Assam’s BJP of being the brain behind the anti-Bengali wave (some of the BJP supporters are actually validating this claim by their myriad apopogetic defences), on the other hand, a majority of the rabid Assam regionalists as well as the mass murdering ULFA’s common stand is that they are against a Bengali-BJP nexus³⁰.

SylhetReferendum (1947)

Let usnow revisit a few events in history. Every time I see Bengali blood shed in Assam, I’m reminded of a story by Shri Narayan Gangopadhyay, named ‘Dosor’³¹(friend). Partition didn’t just split Punjab and Bengal, Assam too was torn. A faction of Assam regionalist leaders were keen to see the Bengali dominated district of Sylhet pushed to Pakistan – a move that was actively supported by the local Congress. In 1945, Assam state Congress leadership openlyfavoured segregation of the Bengali speaking Sylhet and Cachar districts and formation of a ‘Homogenous Assam’. In 1946, Assamese Congress leaders including Shri GopinathBordoloi wanted Sylhet merge with Bengal. But with partition looming large, Sylhet’s shifting to Bengal meant its direct inclusion into Pakistan and therefore the inevitable unleashing of atrocities on non-Muslims – the kind that was seen in Dhaka-Pabna-Noakhali. Congress leaders at the centre were not keen to accept this proposal. Hence, arrangements were made for a referendum by public voting, though even on this issue Shri GopinathBordoloi and other such leaders held the view that this was a golden opportunity for Assam to get rid of Sylhet³². Through the referendum held on 06 July 1947, Sylhet was voted into Pakistan, only Karimganj and a portion of Barak valley remained in Assam. Except Karimganj and Moulvibazar, the majority voting was in fvour of Pakistan³⁴. Revisitng the Sylhet Referendum can well arouse suspicions that many of the Assamese regionalists may have had a hand in outvoting Sylhetinto Pakistan, sacrificing it at the altar of a ‘Homogenous Assam’. Infact, data says that votes in favour of the proposal (Sylhet’s merging with East Pakistan) were 2,39,619 while votes against were 1,84,041, i.e, a difference of a little over 55,000 votes onlyhad caused the loss of Bengali dominated Sylhet to Pakistan in a voting where disqualified votes were 1,23,155 –  more than 22% of the total votes cast³⁵.

First BongalKheda – 1948 Guwahati riots

Post partition, when refugees from East Pakistan started flocking into Assam, the state government considered Bengali Hindu refugees to be a larger menace than Bengali Muslim refugees³⁶, as the former were not ready to give up their ethnicity and agree to ‘become Assamese’ like the latter³⁷. In May 1948, anti Bengali riots began in Panbazar, Guwahati, which soon transformed into the infamous ‘BongalKheda’ ethnic cleansing. In those years after partition, the Assam state government was creating such hassles in allotting rehabilitation land to the refugees, that in 1949, the then Union Minister of Rehabilitation, Shri Mohanlal Saxena³⁹ hadto personally visit Assam to investigate. At that time, even Nehru was forced to strongly admonish Shri GopinathBordoloi for his anti Bengali refugee activities. However, Shri Bordoloi shamelessly defended the anti Bengali Hindu stance of the Assam government, stating Muslims were Congress votebanks and that they were taking Congress membership in hordes⁴⁰. The month of March itself in 1950 saw an influx of 48,857 Bengali refugees into Assam, taking the tally to approximately 1,50,000 for that year⁴¹. This was the result of the ghastly genocide of 1950’s, unleashed first in Kalishira at Khulna and Nachol at Rajishahi, spreading soon after to the whole of East Pakistan, particularly, Barisal district⁴². As a result, the number of refugees started swelling in West Bengal, as also in Assam and Tripura.

Shri Bidhan Chandra Roy, the then Chief Minister of West Bengal had assessed the total number of Bengali Hindu and Buddhist refugees at 20 lakh⁴³, however, as per Shri Rabindranath Trivedi, the writer of ‘EkattorerDashmash’ (Ten months of 1971)⁴⁴ , the figure was 35 lakh. Till 1956, the number of Bengali Hindu refugees who entered Assam from East Pakistan was 3 lakhs 90 thousand, while in Tripura it was 3 lakhs 56 thousand. The long chain of Bengali Hindu refugees seemed endless, zeroes kept getting added up behind numbers like insipid dots in ink – 1961 saw 2 lakh more entering Assam, there were 4.5 lakh more in 1968 and in 1971, the figure touched 15 lakh⁴⁵.

Goreswar massacre (1960) and SilcharBhasha Shaheed Diwas (1961)

1948 was not to be the last in anti Bengali riots. There was a move to remerge Goalpara district to Bengal, which was shifted from Bengal Presidency to Assam for administrative convenience of the Britishers⁴⁶. In 1956, during a visit of the State Rehabilitation Commisioner, Bengalis were ruthlessly attacked in Goalpara⁴⁷. The anti Bengali agitation was led by Shri Sarat Chandra Sinha, an Assamese regionalist from Congress who went on to become the Chief Minister of the state later⁴⁸. Overnight, 250 Bangla medium schools were converted to Assamese medium schools. The 1960s saw the second round of ‘BongalKheda’. When Assam government wanted to give official language status only to Assamese, lakhs of Bengalis protested fearing this may impact their employment opportunities. Similar to the way ULFA executed mass murders in Tinsukiaaiming to stall the Bengali congregation at Guwahati⁴⁹, Bengali households in the Brahmaputra valley were attacked at that time as well. Between July to September of 1960, around 50,000 Bengalis, almost everyone a Hindu, were forced to leave Assam and migrate to (West) Bengal. During these turbulent times, Shri SukomalPurkayastha who was later martyred in the Bengali Language Movement, left Guwahati for Barak valley, while cartoonist Shri Robin Dey left for Bengal. The Bengali District Magistrate of Guwahati was chopped to death, even the Bengali DIG was not spared⁵⁰. Shri Bidhan Chandra Roy wrote to Nehru, “The refugees arrived in three phases. Around 4,000 between 05 to 11 July’…….‘and then innumerable Bengali homeless people flooded in after 31 July.” The degree of gruesomeness in these anti Bengali riots was maximum at the villages in Goreswar. How massive was this violence can be assessed from the report of the GopaljiMehrotra Commission set up in November 1960. In Goreswar, 4019 huts and 58 concrete houses of Bengalis were destroyed⁵¹. Deposing before the Mehrotra Commission, a Bengali named Shri Jatindramohan Sarkar testified that the rioters did not spare even the local Kali temple. Countless Bengali women were tortured⁵². Along with the Assamese regionalists, goons from Muslim League had also joined in assaulting the Bengali settlements around the areas adjoining Goreswar station. The victimised Bengalis were threatened by the local Assamese police officers and Assam Congress State President Shri Siddhinath Sharma not to reveal names of the rioteers before the Commission⁵³. Bengali nurses were forced to wear the Assamese dress MekhlaSador instead of Sari. Correspondents of Jugantar and AmritbazarPatrika were hacked to death at Palashbari. Throughout the rampage, the state government under Shri Bimal Prasad Chaliha stood a mute spectator.However, those were the time when Bengali leaders were yet to toe the elitist ‘global citizen’ cue. Hence testifying before the Mehrotra Commission, Shri N C Chatterjee categorically stated that the anti Bengali riots and killings at Gopeswar were a result of premeditated actions of extremist Assamese regionalists. Though a leader of Congress himself, while deposing before the Mehrotra Commission, Shri Siddhartha Shankar Ray held the Education Department of Assam guilty of recommending a book named ‘Ashirbad’ in the curriculum that instigated violence against Bengalis⁵⁴. Shri Ray also informed that Chaliha government was so partisan, that of the 192 complaints in the Goreswar riots, in only 05, Assamese people had been charged. He also strongly denounced the provocative hate speeches of Shri Siddhinath Sharma.

The incidents of 1961 (Bengali Language Movement) are well known. After the violence in April, the Chaliha government tried to impose Assamese as the sole official language of Assam, which led to protests among Bengalis and ‘CacharGanaSangramParishad’ was constituted. On 19 May in Silchar, Chaliha government deployed forces that opened indiscriminate firing on Bengalis, killing 11 including Smt Kamala Bhattacharya⁵⁵. Thereafter, Assam government was forced to give partial reognition to Bangla language.

The Brahmaputra valley stood witness to another round of violence on linguistic grounds in 1972 and again the targets were Bengali Hindus, as they were in the forefront in resisting forcible imposition of Assamese. Again, 14,000 Bengalis were forced to flee Assam and migrate to West Bengal and Tripura⁵⁶. It is pertinent to mention here that in these anti Bengali riots, the Hindu Assamese regionalists had full collaboration of the Nao-AssamiyaMiyan or Neo Assamese Community – Assam’s migrant Muslims who had adopted Assamese culture in the initial decades of the 20^thcentury. The Muslim League had dissolved their Assam branch after partition and had advised its members to join Congress. Muslim League leaders had advised that the members should give up their Bengali identity, identify themselves as Assamese in the census and admit their childrenin Assamese medium schools⁵⁷. This anti Bengali nexus of Assamese, Nao Assamese and participation of Muslim League goons in it was published in the Mehrotra Commission report⁵⁸.

Assam Agitation (1979 – 85)

Next came the Assam movement. In1978, the Lok Sabha seat of Mangaldoi had fallen vacant following the death of the sitting MP Shri HiralalPatwari. AASU went on an agitatition demanding removal of names of all ‘foreigners’ from the voters’ list, alleging an abnormal increase in the number of voters. During the By-Elections held on 1979, AGP-AASU went on a strike calling spree in an attempt to stop people from filing nominations. When Begum Abida Ahmed, wife of ex President Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was stopped from filing her nomination branding her a ‘Bangaldeshi’, the police force under Shri K P S Gill opened fire, killinga young guy named Shri KhargeshwarTalukdar. Hoisting him as the ‘first martyr of the Assam Agitation’, the turbulence peaked. In the first phase of the violence spanning 1979-80, Shri Rabi Mitra, a Bengali officer of Oil India posted in its corporate office of Dibrugarh was murdered and around 7,000 Bengalis were forced to flee into West Bengal⁵⁹ though Bengali Muslim farmers had not been touched. However, the long standing diplomacy between Muslim leaders and rabid regionalists of Assam finally grew fissures resulting in the 1983 Nellie riots where Muslim farmers from East Bengal were targeted⁶⁰.As had now become usual, Bengali Hindus again bore the brunt in this anti ‘foreigner’ violence, with theirrefugee settlements at Dhemajibuilt in bits and pieces over two decades burnt down to cinders.As a matter of fact, of the 47 killed in Dhemaji riots, 32 were Bengali Hindus and 11 were Hajong tribal migrants⁶¹. At Lakhimpur, Mishingtribals were let loose upon Bengalis in government refugee colonies. The xenophobia against Bengalis in the North East didn’t get any better at Meghalaya. There, it was the Khasi tribe that was up in arms against them. 1980 saw the worst of anti Bengali assaults run by the Khasi Students’ Union. A Bengali leader from Shillong was murdered and premeditated attacks were unleashed by Khasitribals on Bengali localities just before Durga Puja. Around 25,000 to 30,000 Hindu Bengalis were rendered homeless refugees and had to leave Meghalaya⁶². Assam Agitation ended in 1985 with the central governmentliterally surrendering to the extremist AGP-AASU, and entering into the Assam Accord.

ULFA militancy

Assam Agitation was the bedrock on which the seeds of ULFA – United Liberation Front of Assam germinated. ULFA started a movement with a separatist ideology⁶³, aiming to establish an independent Assam, separate from India. Prominent founding members of ULFA includePareshBaruah, ArbindaRajkhowa, AnupChetia and PradipGogoi, of whom except PareshBaruah, all others have surrendered. As with Naxals in West Bengal, the initial mass support that ULFA got from the Brahmaputra Valley waned in the wake of their violent ways. On 09 April 1990, ULFA militants shot dead Lord Swraj Paul’s brother Surendra Paul in Tinsukia⁶⁴, in the aftermath of which, the AASU government led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta fell. There is a long history of atrocities inflicted upon Bengalis by ULFA. Bengali social activistSanjoyGhose was doing commendable work in flood protection in the Majuli islands, which did not find favour with ULFA friendly contractors as it meant losing out on lucrative annual flood protection contracts for them⁶⁵. In revenge, cadres of ULFA’s Subansiri unit abducted and murdered this Bengali activist⁶⁶. After the attack on Dibrugarh Oil Refinery in 2003⁶⁷, in Independence Day morning of 2004, ULFA militants⁶⁸ blasted a bomb in the premise of Dhemaji College killing 18 people, most of whom were students⁶⁹who had gathered to celebrate Independence Day. This incident gave a severe jolt to the popularity of ULFA, sensing which, even the hardcore virulent militant leaders of ULFA had to apologise⁷⁰. In 2007, in yet another mass killing, around 60 labourers were labelled ‘outsiders’ and murdered by ULFA militants⁷¹.  Majority of these labourers were Biharis, hence LJP, RJD, JDU,CPIML – literally the entire political leadership of Bihar across party lines had strongly condemned the incident. Leaders of LJP had even issued threats of stopping trains plying from Bihar to Assam. In contrast, shamefully within a day of the Tinsukia murders in 2018, a section of Bengali liberals have been attacking the spontaneous Bengali outrage in social media against Assamese hyper-regionalism and are taking an apologetic stand on behalf of the murderers instead. ULFA has infact undertaken many activities that adversely hit Assam’s economy, including destruction of property worth approximately Twenty Crore Rupees in the Digboi Oil Refinery⁷².

Being a militant organisation, ULFA has been getting support from China⁷³ and Islamic fundamentalist governments of Bangladesh. During the BNP-Jamaat regime, for quite a long time, ULFA ran armed camps in Bangladesh. Jamaat had also helped PareshBaruah and his family in getting shelter at Dhaka. He was accommodated in a posh area where he lived comfortably with his wife Sufia Begum and sonsTahshim Khan and Akash Khan⁷⁴. In April 2004, 10 truckloads of weapons were caught at Chattagram that the leaders of BNP and Jamaat had arranged to be trafficked to ULFA militants. The case had come up for trial during the Awami League rule where along with other charges, Motiur Rahman Nizami – a Razakarleader and war criminal in the 1971 violence was sentenced to death while PareshBaruah was also given the death sentence in absentia⁷⁵. The families of PareshBaruah and AnupChetia were in Bangladesh till atleast 2012 and did not show any interest in returning to India⁷⁶, though peace talks with the Indian government had been initiated by their faction favouring dialogues, under the leadership of ArabindaRajkhowa. These events highlight the strong support enjoyed by the Bengali hating rabid Assam regionalists   from Bangladeshi Islamic fundamentalists. Incidentally, in 2012, the Baruah faction of ULFA expelled ArabindaRajkhowa, accusing him of being an agent of Indian government⁷⁷. The very next year, ULFA I group was formed which supports armed militancy⁷⁸. In the list of the most infamous mass murderers of Bengalis, besides GholamSarwar-Suhrawardy-Rao Farman Ali, PareshBaruahs have also earned their place. It does not come as a surprise that the latter have on multiple times profusely thanked the Maoists in India – who too have the blood of Bengalis on their hands, nor does it shock when they proudly declare sharing of ‘skills’ with the Maoists⁷⁹, it is only but obvious that while denouncing the killing of Maoists by police, in the same breath they express their full moral support to these insurgents⁸⁰.According to Baruah, despite ideological differences, Maoists and the ULFA have the same objective of fighting to change the present social system. Suddenly, the apologetical stance of the ultra-Leftists of Kolkata after the Tinsukia murders starts making sense. A few days ago, some rabid Bengali hating Assamese had attacked the Bengali singer Shaan for singing Bengali songs at Guwahati⁸¹. Some may get reminded of 2013 when PareshBaruah had threatened to kill ZubeenGarg during Bihu festivities, and in defiance, Zubeen had sung Bengali & Hindi songs at Guwahati⁸².

The sordid history of murders, bloodshed, forced exodusand persecution of Bengalis in Assam clearly layout the anti Bengali xenophobia present since long in Assam. Those who are surprised to see Bengali hating rants from a section of Assamese people in social media and think this is a manufactured hatred of today’s times may do well to know that these are not stray incidents. Since 1948 an anti Bengali sentiment has been carefully cultured in Assam. Those who are waxing eloquent on global citizenship and are dismissing any attempts at organising mass protests on upholding Bengali identity by the threatened Bengalis with a ‘this is not a Bengali vs Assamese issue’ (thereby conveniently preserving their own liberal agendas), need also to open their eyes and realise that this clearly is an event precipitated only by abject hatred of Bengalis among the Assamese, and that it is not a sporadic incident, rather it stems from the same objective of destroying Bengalis in Assam both culturally and economically, that has been played on there since long. That they are airing a view that no one will be found ready to come out in the streets (in protest) is actually a propaganda that serves their own stand of maintaining a status quo. Fact is, inspite of them, Bengalis have actually come out in streets near Alipurduar⁸³. They are no more ready to flee from Assam, quite to the contrary, they are ready to stick this out and fight for their homes and hearths. Those among the wise preaching Hindu brotherhood should not forget that the assault against Bengali Hindus in Assam, their murders and forced exodus have all been instigated and led mostly by Hindu Assamese leaders. Bengalis need to realise that they will not survive carrying the onus of global unity solely upon themselves while the gallows are readied for them. The Tinsukia murders have brought back bitter memories of the 80’s. Bengalis, wherever they are – in Assam, Tripura or West Bengal, need to unite.

আমার মাটি, আমার মা অই অসম হবে না

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[http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Citizenship/Citizenship%20(A)%20bill,%202016.pdf] 29. https://www.anandabazar.com/national/ulfa-leader-has-given-threat-to-assamese-bengali-1.887145

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43. http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/6606
44. The Story of Rehabilitation: U Bhaskar Rao (Department of Rehabilitation, Government of India) as cited in Nehru and the North East, Sajal Nag. NNML Occasional Paper, 2015
45. https://www.anandabazar.com/national/%E0%A6%85%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%AE-%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%B2-%E0%A6%AD-%E0%A6%B7-%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%93-%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%9D%E0%A6%A4-%E0%A6%B9%E0%A6%AC-%E0%A6%B6-%E0%A6%B8%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%A6-%E0%A6%B0-1.181930
46. Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of the UN’s guiding principles (2005).
47. ibid.
48. https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/militants-gun-down-5-in-assam-s-tinsukia-district-third-lead-118110200014_1.html
49. BongalKheda Again. EPW, 30-7-1960.
50. Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of the UN’s guiding principles (2005).
51. Assam e BhashaAndolon o BangaliProsanga1947-1961, Sukumar Biswas Ibid
52. Ibid
53. EiSamay (Bangla magazine), 19^th May 2013
54. Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of the UN’s guiding principles (2005).
55. Identity Issue, Foreigner’s Deportation Movement and Erstwhile East Bengal (Present Bangladesh) Origin People of Assam, Shahiuz Zaman Ahmed. Proceeding of the Indian History Congress, Vol 67.
56. Assam e BhashaAndolon o BangaliProsanga1947-1961, Sukumar Biswas Internal Displacement in South Asia: The Relevance of the UN’s guiding principles (2005).
58. Bearing Witness: The Impact of Conflict on Women in Nagaland and Assam. Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, 2011.
59. https://indianexpress.com/article/news-archive/web/the-year-we-left-home/
60. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam_separatist_movements
61. http://archives.anandabazar.com/archive/1120525/25desh10.html
62. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030347/http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main10.asp?filename=Cr012asp
63. https://utpalborpujari.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/how-sanjoy-ghose-exactly-died/
64. http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/mar/08oil.htm
65. https://web.archive.org/web/20041022123829/http://www.assamtribune.com/aug1704/at05.html 
66. https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/9/8425/The-Dhemaji-Tragedy-2004-Ulfa-Attack-on-Independence-Day-Documented-in-Film
67. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/2004-independence-day-blast-at-dhemaji-a-big-mistake-ulfa-gs-chetia/story-h7sYkUGAscKHteW0UXsyVO.html
68. https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/bihar-protests-assam-killings/story-ozL9OxkZ3e6CJ83xde5eTN.html
69. https://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/2003/03/09/stories/2003030905340100.htm
70. http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=sep0110/at06
71. http://www.asiantribune.com/index.php?q=node/4254
72. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Bangla-court-sentences-Ulfa-chief-Paresh-Barua-to-death/articleshow/29599745.cms
73. https://www.timesofassam.com/headlines/family-of-paresh-baruah-isnt-interested-to-return/
74. https://www.timesofassam.com/headlines/ulfa-expells-arabinda-rajkhowa-introduces-new-chairman/
75. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Paresh-Baruah-faction-now-called-Ulfa-Independent/articleshow/19811717.cms?referral=PM
76. http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/india/red-shadow-over-assam
77. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Paresh-Baruah-extends-moral-support-to-Maoists/articleshow/13085771.cms?referral=PM
78. https://eisamay.indiatimes.com/entertainment/cinema/shaan-pelted-with-stones-for-singing-a-bengali-song-at-guwahati/articleshow/66430592.cms
79. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi
80. https://eisamay.indiatimes.com/nation/at-least-five-people-were-killed-by-suspected-united-liberation-front-of-assam/articleshow/66484468.cms?fbclid=IwAR0zcwRKQq6JIpqL6M-nha79yDarAZKTY0EwzliFL9AuxPHRhpRDy9pUP3k

Link of the Bengali article: https://www.bangodesh.com/2018/11/connivance-in-the-north-east/