Elections 2009

In one of the worst communal riots in India nearly 3,000 Muslim men, women and children were killed in Nellie, Assam on February 18, 1983. All the victims died for defying a call to boycott elections. Twenty five years since the riots it was time for the residents of this area in Assam to face elections again. Today in Assam, illegal migration remains a key election issue. Unfortunately, often, the people of Nellie who are bonafide citizens have been equated with foreigners. For victims of the Nellie massacre, the compensation has been Rs 5,000 for the next of kin of the dead, Rs 3,000 or Rs 1,000 for the injured. The people who survived the attacks plead to take a look at their wounds. But even 25 years on, the healing process hasn't started. At a time when people attack people labelling them outsiders, foreigners and what-nots, I found most of these men and women unaware of the larger politics behind it. Their voting decisions are also, often taken en masse. This April when suddenly the informed blackberry carrying citizenry want people to vote and independent candiddates are mushrooming to take care of Mumbai's potholes and Bangalore's highways, spare a thought for people at the margins.

Time-Off

Earlier this year. Meghalaya, Assam and Bhutan with Shamya, Ajitha, Rajarshi

Borders III

Borders II

India-Bangladesh border

The partition in 1947 resulted in a long stream of refugees. By the first year of partition 1.25 million people had crossed over to West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. The second major wave of migration took place after Mujibur Rehman’s assassination in 1975. It created a communal rift that forced many people to move out of Bangladesh and just cross over to West Bengal. 60 years after independence the number of illegal migrants from Bangladesh staying in India is 20 million. With the rise of fundamentalist forces and terror outfits in Bangladesh that simple crossing over often helped by political has turned into one of the biggest security threats in the subcontinent. Our journey along the India-Bangladesh stretch from Hili to Sunderban with people from both sides of the border only proved that real security can only be ensured by increasing the awareness of these people and not just construction of a fence . Then only the checkpoints and the increased battalions can help counter terror.

Borders I

Petrapole on the Jessore Road in Barasat in North 24 Parganans. It is one the 3 integrated check points in West Bengal. There are 3 ICPs in Bengal. One each in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. It’s also one of the busiest with 400 trucks crossing this point both ways every day. Overall India and Bangladesh do legal business worth $ 3.6 billion. The illegal trade is 3/4th that amount. On an average 1,200 people criss-cross the border daily. Petrapole remains the flagship ICP for people to people contact between India and Bangladesh and the largest land port between the 2 nations. (photograph taken around January 09)

Borders

The Indo-Bangladesh border has been severely neglected and has been called by many a ticking time bomb. Beginning of this year, I travelled with Our Senior Editor V K Shashikumar and cameraman Debasish Nandi along the entire stretch of the border. Many of the illegal migrants who walk from Bangladesh to India come in search of a livelihood, but there are many among them who are backed by terror outfits like the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the HuJI. The BSF with its limited manpower and not the best of equipment has a tough task at hand patrolling a very porous border. This photograph has been taken by Debasish in the Nadia stretch of the border.