Coming back to my most favourite thread after some time. Was away from home. My 2 paise regarding the last couple of posts .........
1. The latest reports say that several dozen BDR revoltees have taken shelter in ULFA camps
in border jungle areas and in Burma. They escaped with a good amount of arms and ammo, and they are providing training to ULFA recruitees full time (in exchange of protection, I guess).
2. Regarding the question why BD illegal immigrants go to Assam rather than Meghalaya -
(a) Okay, first of all, there is a natural barrier between BD and Meghalaya. Meghalaya landmass suddenly rises like a huge slab of stone (pleateu). The border is covered with
thick / dense tropical forest (which is so dense and primitive that rumors have that there is
an ape-man, yeti type, in that forest, with recent sightings widely reported in the western media). The official border is near Tura which has a steady flow of traffic though. But
that border crossing opens at the northern part of BD district called 'Sri Hotto' (Shylet) which is known as the intellectual capital of BD. Here people are most educated, economically highly affulent, and traditionally very stable with no reason to migrate. Northern Shylet is very picturesque dotted with tea estates and orange, pineapple groves. This is one of the few areas in BD where after the 1971 war hindus went back enmasse and did very well all along. Luckily, this is my ancestral place, and most of my folks are still there.
(b) Once you enter Meghalaya, the local dealings are firmly in the hands of the main tribes - Garo, Khashi and Jayantia. There are pockets of bengali hindus, mostly who settled there four-five decades ago, and are well integrated within the local populace. (Remember that Indian Idol runners up Amit Paul, the local bong chap. His success, and his singing of a popular Khashi song, at the public felicitation at Nehru stadium, Shillong two years ago, have been highly helpful whatever cracks had appeared between bong and tribal communities.) Though a large chunk of garos and some Khashis are christians, rest of Khashis and jayantias are still strongly animists/hindus. Here tribal dominated policeand village officials can and do detect the illegal sporadic immigrants from BD, and they are routinely rounded up and deported without much fanfare.
(c) The crucial part of the reason of this situation is - agriculture. Meghalaya has much less aerable land, and this is firmly in control of the tribals. Most of thre illegal BD immigrants are poor farmers and/or have few skills. That is the reason why most of them are headed toward Assam - in flat land areas. They mostly claim newly formed riverbanks and start cultivating
the place. Some head toward already muslim dominated areas like Goalpara, Shilchar or Karimganj. Actually, in the recent election, these BD muslims' party AUDF has given a huge jolt to INC. Shilchar's son of the soil, incumbent INC candidate Santosh Mohon Deb, lost miserably due to muslim votes went to AUDF, making the way clear for the BJP candidate.
The other lowskill BD illegal immigrants are cheap masons, domestic help, etc. who do sneak into tribal dominated states like Nagaland, Manipu Mizoram and meghalaya. Their distinctive features make them easy pick for local police or villace councils, and are again rounded up for deportation. A few years back, some rape cases by these BDs caused a stir in nagaland, and they were kicked out in hordes. But, again, with normalcy, the cheap labor prevails sometimes.
Hope I clarified some of the queries, at least partially.
