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POSTscriptA U G U S T 0 5 , 2 0 1 2

SEVEN SISTERS

NELitreview

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FIFTHWALLUDDIPANA GOSWAMI

Literary Editor

Nowhere people

THE distinction between the

two terms refugees and in-ternally displaced persons(IDPs) often gets blurred

not only in common parlance butalso in official and media usage. Per-haps this happens in the mind of thesubject, too. In terms of the hard-ship faced, the difficulties on the wayto return and the struggle necessaryto rebuild life after displacement,the two situations are most of thetime so much similar that after sometime, it matters little to the personconcerned whether one had beenevicted from a place in anothercountry or someplace else in one'spresent country of residence.Yet, on the back of the per son's

mind, two distinct thoughts keep onworking that make them differentin their respective status. Those whohave been forced to migrate fromanother country across the border(refugees) are likely to nurture maybe through subsequent gener-ations the hope of going back to

their country of origin some day.They are likely to face more prob-lems getting along with the localcommunity in their present place the hosts may even turn hostile. Onthe other hand, those who have beendisplaced within their country(IDPs), at least can afford to claimthe same citizenship rights that theyused to enjoy before eviction andencounter much less differences

with the local commun ity in theirpresent surroundings.

More complications arise when theofficially accepted definition of aterm is not adequate for explaining

a phenomenon in its entirety. Thiscreates problems when the jour-nalist, researcher, activist or evenpolicymaker seeks to address theproblem posed by the phenomenon.For example, under the United Na-tion's mandate as well as accordingto common peoples understand-ing, refugees are those who havebeen forced to take refuge outsidetheir country of origin or habitualresidence. But what if there is no of-ficial documentary record that thecountry wherefrom they have come?

What if the government of that coun-try refuses to recognise that they hadbeen citizens of that country at all?Then they enter into a legal void.They are not citizens of either coun-try and cannot claim the rights thatrecognised citizens of either coun-try are entitled to. And yet, one can-not say that they do not have anyright. Here, there is an apparent con-tradiction between a right-based ap-proach towards the issue of dis-placed persons and the approachtowards rights as an applicable con-

cept based in law.The conceptualisation of a third

category helps us to encompass thisgroup of displaced people. Underthe UN Convention Relating to theStatus of Stateless Persons 1954 aperson who is not considered a na-tional by any State under the oper-ation of its law is referred to as astateless person. The state of state-lessness may deprive a person of cit-izenship rights, but it cannot takeaway ones human rights. So, in theend, the sustainability of refugee

rights (using refugee as a genericterm here) is tested by the sustain-ability of the human rights that arelaid down in the Universal Declara-tion of Human Rights, which the lat-ter describes as inseparable and in-alienable. And, it is a charter thatmost of the countries, including In-dia, have signed. T

Forced migration in NE

LAND and water are thebasic resources that sus-tain life. These re-

sources are becoming scarcebecause of the growth inpopulation. So, these havebecome areas of contentionthat often leads to the force-ful dispossession of onegroup by another. Obvious-ly, this causes involuntarymass displacement.

There is another factor thatadds to, and intensifies, thistrend of displacement. Thelarge corporate bodies wantto capture much of the re-sources that are available onthe surface of the earth andunderneath for their profit-making ventures. In recenttimes, the jargon of eco-nomic globalisation and lib-eralisation tries to make thislook like a normal practice,and the state facilitates thisprocess in the name of de-velopment. Researcher Wal-ter Fernandes has estimatedthat 50-60 million peoplehave been displaced in Indiabetween 1947 and 2000,largely because of such de-velopment projects.

Moreover, climate changeand environmental degra-dation also force a largenumber of people to leavetheir homesteads every year.

Although these events aregenerally regarded as natur-al calamities, sometimes hu-man causes are discerniblebehind them. Also, we do notalways see the basic humanrights of the people being

protected properly after they

are displaced by a disaster.The Chakmas who are liv-

ing in Arunachal Pradesh,for example, had been up-rooted from the ChittagongHill Tracts (CHT) inBangladesh (erstwhile EastPakistan) in 1964. The pri-mary cause of this displace-ment was the constructionof the Kaptai dam for a hy-dro-electric project over Riv-er Karnaphuli with fundingfrom USAID (United States

Agency for International De-velopment). When the dam

was comm ission ed, abou t40 per cent of prime agri-cultural land was submergedin the CHT and more than100,000 Chakmas wereforced to evacuate the area.

They took shelter in thethen NEFA (North East

Frontier Agency), now

Arunachal Pradesh), wherethere was enough vacantland for them to settle.

Again , wi th t he g rowth inpopulation in ArunachalPradesh, land, employmentand other resources for eco-nomic sustenance becamescarce and tension arose be-tween them and the localcommunities. Now, they are

forced in a condition of

statelessness in a not-too-hospitable environment.

The situation that the in-digenous people of NorthSikkim are facing at presentalso illustrates this issuepoignantly. In a memoran-dum to Union environmentand forest minister JairamRamesh, the Affected Citi-zens of Teesta has expressed

concern over the fate of the

three large villages ofLachung, Lachen andChungthang that will be af-fected by mega dam projectson River Teesta. These vil-lages are inhabited by theLepcha and Bhutia tribes.

The memorandum men-tions that 35 per cent of Lep-cha lands have been ac-quired by the army, BorderRoads Organisation and stategovernment agencies and al-most 30 per cent of good cul-tivable land by the TeestaHEP stage III.

If this project comes [up]then by and large the prim-itive tribes will be left withvery little land to live on. Fur-ther the implementation ofTeesta stage III has alreadycaused serious damage to theenvironment and social fab-ric of the people. The ram-pant uncontrolled blastinghas disturbed the youngmountains; further blasting

will cause seri ous threat tolives and properties as theboulders from the ridgesmight fall off and cause de-struction. As it has been re-vealed through variousstudies that once so many

Mega projects are imple-mented in these area, the de-mographic changes are tan-tamount to human rights vi-olation as all rights of the in-digenous people aretrampled. Further, no onehas taken in considerationof the cumulative impactof 10 mega projects on thepeople and the small geo-

graphical area. T

Conflict/violence-induced displacement

Refugees, IDPs and the stateless

Resource politics, climate change,environmental degradation and displacement

VIOLENCE has been one of the great-est causes of forced displacement ofpopulation in history. The violence

stems from conflicts that take place betweencountries, as in a war, between communi-ties (as in a riot) or even between the stateand its citizens. In any of these cases, the hu-man rights of people sometimes on oneside and sometimes on both sides of the con-flicting parties are violated to such an ex-tent that the sufferers might have no other

way than to flee the zone of fire.This history has been repeated in the North

East several times in the recent past, result-ing in forced mass migrations. Here, we pre-sent a few of such episodes to illustrate thecomplexities of conflict-induced displace-ment. The situation for the Brus who had toflee from Mizoram and settling in Tripuraand for the communities that took shelter incamps within the state following the violenceduring the Bodoland movement in Assammust not have been the same. Understand-ing the context of displacement is crucial tothe sensitive handling of information re-garding the problem.

Genocide is an extreme form of violenceon a population during which acts are com-mitted with intent to destroy, in whole orin part, a national, ethnical, racial or reli-gious group, as such, including killing mem-bers of the group; causing serious bodily ormental harm to members of the group; de-liberately inflicting on the group conditionsof life calculated to bring about its physicaldestruction in whole or in part; imposingmeasures intended to prevent births withinthe group; or forcibly transferring childrenof the group to another group (Conventionon Prevention and Punishment of the Crimeof Genocide, 1948, Article 2, and ICC Statute,1998, Article 6).

Many of those who have been displacedinternally or across the borders often assertthat they have been victims of genocide. Thisis true of the North East also. Further, groupsthat have once suffered displacement some-times become targets of pogroms in placesof their new settlement and are forced to re-locate again.

However, there are other forms of violencethat are not so apparent in terms of appli-cation of direct physical force but might be-come equally unbearable for members of aparticular population and compel them toleave their habitation. These may includevarious methods of coercion, severe eco-nomic, social, cultural or educational dis-crimination or imposition of the culturalmores of a community on another. Journal-ists or researchers have to be sensitive to allsuch acts of pronounced or silent violencebehind the fact of displacement.Another aspect that demands their sensi-

tiveness is the gender-dimension of violence.The Declaration on the Elimination of Vio-lence against Women by the UN General As-sembly defines Gender-Based Violence asViolence that is directed against a personor a group of persons on the basis of theirgender or sex. It includes acts that inflictphysical, mental or sexual harm or suffer-ing, threats of such acts, coercion and oth-er deprivations of liberty whether occurringin public or private life (A/RES/48/104, De-cember 1993).

One must remember that during mostevents of large-scale violence on a particu-lar population, it is the women who bear thebrunt of this kind of assault on their personand persona. A practical question that one

faces in reporting about the persons who

have been targets of violence is how to re-fer to them. Usually, they are referred to asvictim. In various documents of the Unit-ed Nations, victims have been defined aspersons who, individually or collectively,have suffered harm, including physical ormental injury, emotional suffering, eco-nomic loss or substantial impairment oftheir fundamental rights, through acts oromissions that constitute violations of in-ternational human rights law or interna-tional humanitarian law (UN General As-sembly, Basic Principles and Guidelines onthe Right to a Remedy and Reparation for

Victims of Gross Violations of Internation-al Human Rights Law and Serious Viola-tions of International Humanitarian Law,GA/RES/ 60/147, 2005; Declaration of Ba-sic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crimeand Abuse of Power, GA/RES/40/34, 1985).

However, many feel that those who havegone through the violence and are still thereto testify about it through their speech orsimply presence should better be referred assurvivors. The UNHCR Handbook for the Pro-tection of Internally Displaced Personsob-serves that This term is used to highlightthe strength and resilience of victims of vi-olence and to acknowledge that the term vic-tim may imply powerlessness and stigmati-zation. T

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MANY of those who have beendisplaced internally or acrossthe borders often assert thatthey have been victims ofgenocide. This is true of theNortheast also. Further, groupsthat have once suffereddisplacement sometimesbecome targets of pogroms inplaces of their new settlementand are forced to relocate again

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RESEARCHER Walter Fernandes estimatesthat 50 to 60 million people were displacedin India between 1947 and 2000, largelybecause of development projects (bycorporate bodies)

THE current unrest in Bodoland is a re-enact-ment of the same old story of settler-indige-nous conflicts in this western frontier of As-

sam, one that has been played out in the same the-atre with different actors many times before. Theextent of devastation and human misery that theseconflicts bring in their wake has also remained thesame. What also remains the same is the play of pol-itics behind these incidents. The responses of those

who are responsible for safeguarding the lives andlivelihoods of the people of the country also con-tinue to be predictable.What is different each time, however, is the num-

ber of those killed and displaced. The individualstories of death and destruction, each time, are dif-ferent. The individuals killed each time, the fami-lies broken each time are also different. The same

families and individuals, of course, can and insome cases have been displaced each time. At therisk of sounding callous, I would say that those whoare killed in such incidents of mindless violencehave at least had a way out. Those who remain be-hind, dispossessed and displaced, have to often suf-fer fates worse than death. Stripped of their basichuman dignity, these people have to live on, re-membering the dead, while struggling every day notto join their ranks. It is to these people that the cur-rent issue ofNELit reviewis dedicated.

Of late, the media has been agog with stories ofthose displaced in western Assam. But they havebeen using labels like displaced, refugee, etc. in-discriminately. For them, as for other lay persons,categories like refugees and internally displacedpeople (IDP) are interchangeable. Just like the schol-ar, social worker, administrator and policy maker,they too, however, need to understand the distinc-tions between the different nomenclatures. Issueslike rehabilitation, compensation, restitution ofrights and so on are closely linked with such defin-itions. We have, therefore, tried to clarify these con-cepts and familiarise our readers with the differenttypes of displacement and forced migration by ex-tracting from a media reader recently put togetherby the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group.Assams Bodoland has seen ethnic violence since

the 1990s. Some of the worst clashes have beenbetween the Bodos and the Adivasis, as also be-tween the Bodos and the immigrant Muslims.Many of those displaced in these clashes have not

yet been rehabilitated. The lives and laments ofthe Adivasi IDPs have found expression in a re-cent novel by Arpana Goswami. The novel,Neela

Noi, even won the Aank-Baak Novel Award thisyear. I had requested the author to tell our read-ers about the inspirations behind her novel andthe kind of research that went into it. The angstof watching reality unfold gave birth to the fic-tional work that Goswami discusses in this i ssue.We also excerpt snatches of the screenplay of an

award-winning feature film in Kokborok which dealswith development-induced displacement. Theybring out, poignantly, the darker side of develop-ment that disregards the human dimension. Thecurse of resource-rich Northeast is that our people

will always have to face the trauma of displacementevery time somebody eyes our resources. I agree

whole-heartedly with the director of the film whenhe says, Our region does not deserve to witnesssuch marauding of nature. T

FORCED MIGRATION INNORTH EAST INDIA:

A MEDIA READERNilanjan Dutta (ed)Frontpage Publications, 2012`450, 132 pagesPaperback/Non-fiction

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