Ho hum. You haven’t said anything that I don’t already know.
Assam Times - Muslim Relief Camp in Selabela
The relief camp in Selabela accommodates Muslims who were displaced in the conflict between the Muslims and the Bodos in 1993. They originally belong to Amteka, Amguri, Malivitha and Koila Moila. The reason for this conflict was that they were migrants form Bangladesh who came to these villages in the 1970’s…
As you can see, the so called ‘bengali muslims’ that were ‘chased out’ were not Indian muslims, but were Bangladeshis. These ‘bengali muslims’ took refuge in India to escape the pleasantries of the brave Pak soldiers, but never went back after Bangladesh was formed. If you must know, roughly about 100,000 Bangladeshis stayed back in Assam and its neighboring region (Rajya Sabha Report of Committee of Petitions, 1982). So in effect it was a subsequent interstate migration of an international migration. The complaint, therefore continues to stand.
From the same link:
There are 4 Muslim relief camps, the largest of which is in Selabela. We were told that the Selabela relief camp houses 1832 families, and the population was 9900. The other relief camps are: Hapachara: 1332 families, population of 6265; Balajan: 595 families, population 3080; Tapatari: 60 families, population of 280.
IDMC : Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre | Countries | India | Assam: Humanitarian needs of internally displaced are not met (January 2007)
"Near Bijni, on the national highway, nearly 8,000 such Muslims live in huts on both sides of the road.
Regardless of the original nationality of these ‘bengali muslims’, the figures (27,525) are not even near the vicinity of being close to 77.42% increase.
Let me point to you an amusing anachronism. The 77.42% increase is obtained by comparing census data of 1971 to 1991. But the interstate migration mentioned in your two above links was circa 1993. (The interstate refugee problem did blow up around that time) In other words, the figures of 1991 census couldn’t possibly have included these figures. These would have been included in the next census, the 2001 census. Your attempt to explain away the increase of muslim population in Assam between 1971 and 1991, as a result of interstate migration that had happened circa 1993, well after the census was concluded, is ingenious. Also, I am not sure, if census of 1971 included the refugees. If it doesn’t, then you have an even bigger problem.
Let me give you another interesting pointer to you. The decadal growth rate of muslim population in Assam, between 1991 and 2001 has been
29.30%. In other words, it is showing signs of slowing down a little bit. Interesting part is that it was during this period of time that some anti-immigration schemes were implemented. Even more interesting part is that, it is also during this period of time that the majority of interstate migration of muslims from the NE states into Assam had taken place. This implies, that these interstate migrations are not contributing substantially to the demographic change, as you are trying to imply. If it had been so, it wouldn’t have shown this sign of slowing down, even after implementation of such anti-immigration schemes.
Assam Muslims and IMDT Act, The Milli Gazette, Vol.5 No.24, MG 118 (16-31 Dec 04)
The high growth rate of Indian Muslims living in Assam is due to their high birth rate, which is again due to their socio-economic backwardness. There has been no infiltration of Bangladeshi Muslims into the state in recent years.
If high birth rate is indeed the reason, then it would mean, that ‘bengali muslims’ are breading at an average rate of over 10 issues per couple. This is an absurd figure. Conveniently, the author of the article doesn’t throw light on this aspect of the puzzle. He can’t explain, if the decadal population growth of Assam had been
34.98% between 1951-61 and
34.95% between 1961-71 (i.e. a
simple average of 34.96% between 1951-71) then why did it suddenly shoot upto
53.26% between 1971-91 [No census was held in Assam in 1981]. He can’t explain, if
growth rate of Hindu during 1971-91 was 41.89% how come the
growth rate of muslims during the same period was close to double that figure at
77.42%.
Assam Muslim History - a knol by Bazlur Rahman khan
This link is a brief history of Assam. Serves no other purpose.
None of the links you have provided, prove anything, even remotely, that the rapid increase of muslim population in Assam is for reasons, which are substantially different from international migration from Bangladesh. Your claim, that “4 district in Assam became predominantly muslim because muslim were chased out of other part of NE and saught refuge in those Muslim dominant district close to Bangladesh border” also remains unsupported. The number of such ‘chased out’ muslims are way too small to make 4 districts ‘predominantly muslims’. The subsequent slowing down of rate of increase of muslim population in Assam, in spite of such interstate migration, doesn’t help your case either.
PS: I would have loved to get into even greater details, particularly about those four states. Unfortunately, time is not permitting. May be some other day.
, Goalpara (50.18%), Barpeta (56.07%) and Hailakandi (55.18%)"
elhi, 2001, Page 83). Muslim infiltration from Bangladesh into India is somewhere between 10 millions to 20 millions (Pioneer dated 22.9. 2004 by S.Gurumurthy, a widely known economists). Despite these observations on infiltration, Bangladesh never accepted the illegal migration of its people and often blamed India for deliberately pushing out its principal religious minority to their territory. Infiltration being one of the reasons behind the troubled relation between the two countries but Bangladesh in assistance with Pakistan continues fighting against India for Islamic expansionism as a result Assam has become its first victim.
.although he does bear a grudge against india i urge fellow indians to tackle uncle EASTWATCH politely.
