C'da, Tough questions. I will try and answer to the best of my abilities. BTW: I had to do some 'research', and I did find some articles and my response is based to a large extent on these. Most of the articles I came across suggest that the IMTD Act was unfair and leaned toward the illegals, and is politically bent.
Though the main culprit is the GOI in this case, my question is : How could they have slipped this by the Assam Govt., the people of Assam etc? >1: WHO are the parties? In my judgement, the major players here are: The Central Govt, Assam Govt, the various political parties in Assam, the media. To some extent the Supreme Court of India for not not clearly defining the IMTD Act and 'dispensing' justice (no pun here). But the people of Assam do have some power. They can organize and oppose the unfairness of the Act. Student Unions and some political parties have done this, but UNLESS the masses support this, the political parties won't care. The insurgents too have not cared. At one time we thought one of their goals was to get rid of illegals from Assam. Alas, thats where they found refuge it seems. They haven't done the Assamese any favors. > 2: What are their roles and responsibilities ? The MAJOR responsibility lies with the GOI. It is the solemn duty of the GOI to protect its territory from being swamped. Next comes the State Govt. It seems they have acquiessed. Some political parties (AGP)filed a lawsuit against the ACt. The present State Govt. has done an about face. The student unions, the media, regional pol. parties with the support of the people can keep the issue in the forefront so that Delhi does pay attention. It seems the PMO has dropped the ball here too, by not understanding the issues completely. This where we need someone like Dr. Goswami to bring the issue to the attention of the PMO. > 3: Responsibilities could not be assigned without > either authority or resources. Fair enough. As I said the Responsibility and Authority lies with 2 parties: The GOI and Assam Govt. This does not mean that the masses will just keep mum till the Center/Assam Govt. does something. They too have a role by making this a grassroots issue. --Ram BTW: Here is an excerpt from the Indian Express (an article by Prakash Singh, DGP Assam on the problem (for complete article: http://www.indianexpress.com/print.php?content_id=58865) The historical background of the Act needs to be understood. The All Assam Students� Union and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad spearheaded an agitation from 1979 to 1985 in Assam against the large-scale influx of foreigners in the State. The Assamese were apprehensive that they would be overwhelmed by the sea of humanity from across the international borders. Rajiv Gandhi�s initiative led to the signing of the Assam Accord on August 15, 1985, whereby it was agreed that for purposes of detection of foreigners, January 1, 1966 shall be the base date and year, that those who came to Assam on or after that date and up to March 24, 1971 shall be detected and their names deleted from the electoral rolls, and that those who came on or after March 25 shall be detected and expelled. The non-implementation of vital clauses of the Accord is a sore point with the Assamese. The IMDT Act was enacted to detect and deport foreigners. It proved quite ineffective because the provisions are heavily tilted in favour of the illegal immigrants: � Every application made against any person is to be accompanied by affidavits sworn by not less than two persons residing within the jurisdiction of the same police station; � The application shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee; � Onus of proof shall lie with complainant. ____ to > understand > >> how > >> > one can only squarely blame the GOI for every > >> problem > >> > in Assam/NE? > >> > > >> > You are correct in saying that unless we can > >> > comprehend > >> > the problem, we cannot solve it. > >> > > >> > If the powers that be in the Assam (Assam > Govt, > >> > student groups, people, and the insurgents) > can > >> > faithfully identify the major problems and > also > >> look > >> > for the best possible solution to solve them, > the > >> > situation is Assam is going to be impossible > to > >> solve. > >> > > >> > Blaming the center for all the woes is simply > >> > 'immature' (I had to say that -:)). > > > > > >> > For the moment, if we consider the problems > >> created by > >> > the GOI as 'non-controllables' and concentrate > >> only on > >> > the problems that Assam or Assamese can solve > >> without > >> > the help of the Center, that will take care of > a > >> lot > >> > of things. When we are successful in solving > these > >> > controllables, then Assam can approach the > Center > >> and > >> > tell it do its share. > >> > Why do I say this? The South for a long time > was > >> not > >> > given any 'paatha' by the Center/Hindi-Wallas. > But > > > > over the years they have done many things > that > >> even > >> > Delhi had to emulate. Their successes in > solving > >> their > >> > problems have made Delhi pay more attention to > >> them. > >> > Both Karnataka and AP are today paid a lot of > >> > attention because of their success in creating > IT > >> > hubs. > >> > > >> > I feel Assam need not also jump into the IT > >> bandwagon, > >> > but can concentrate on the resources it does > have, > >> > Tourism, Oil, Tea and Plywood. > >> > > >> > As a tiny example, I recently came across a > >> web-site > >> > (run by some US company) which conducts water > >> rafting > >> > expeditions to Assam (on the Brahmaputra). > They > >> have > >> > conducted many such expeditions, and are > complete > >> with > >> > photos etc. > === message truncated === --- Chan Mahanta <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Ram: > > I won't bombard with you a lot of questions, but can > you please > elaborate on your prescriptions for illegal > immigration: > > > >needs a coordinated effort by all parties > >to solve. > > > 1: WHO are the parties? > 2: What are their roles and responsibilities ? > 3: Responsibilities could not be assigned without > either authority > or resources. > What are those authorities and the resources > that ALL the parties > you allude to have? > > > c-da > > > > > > > At 3:50 PM -0800 1/2/05, ram Sarangapani wrote: > >Thanks Barua for bringing out some important > issues. I > >think they are all important in one way or the > other. > > > >My approach would be to categorize them as problems > >that Assam(NE) can possibly solve without the > Center > >or with only a little of the Center's help and > those > >that the Center plays a part. > > > >Obviously something like Illegal immigration is a > huge > >problem, and needs a coordinated effort by all > parties > >to solve. > >In a problem like flood, the State Gov. has the > key. > >Corruption is something that Student Unions, people > in > >general and the State can help eradicate. > >Healthcare: It seems the State Govt. is taking a > good > >first step in providing health insurance coverage > for > >people up to 90 years of age. > > > >Things like ethics takes a long time. Behavioral > >changes are slow. But both corruption and lousy > ethics > >were definitely imported from somewhere else. If > >student groups and mass media can show that these > are > >not Assamese traits to begin with, maybe it can be > >inculcated back into the State's pride. > > > >I am sure there are many more issues and problems. > It > >would be easier though to start of with the smaller > >and simpler problems. > > --Ram > > > > > >--- Barua25 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > >> Ram: > >> Good points: > >> I think it will be a good idea for everybody > just to > >> list a set of burning > >> problems which need to be solved for Assam. That > way > >> we will know if we > >> agree on the problems and try to discuss how to > >> solve them: > >> Just to start, I have listed below some > >> issues/problems without much thought > >> and without any any priority. You may add/delete > >> yours and prioritise: > >> > >> 1) ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION > >> 2) FLOOD PROBLEM > >> 3) INFRA STUCTURE > >> 4) EDUCATION > >> 5) CORRUPTION > >> 6) INDUSTRY > >> 7) LANGUAGE/CULTURE > >> 8) UNEMPLYMENT > >> 9) INSURGENCY > >> 10) POPULATION > >> 11) IMMIGRATION FROM REST OF INDIA > >> 12) POVERTY > >> 13) HEALTH CARE > >> 14) PEOPLES LACK OF PERTICIPATION IN THE > DEMOCRATIC > >> PROCESS > >> 15) AGRICULTURE > >> 16) TECHNICAL EDUCATION > >> 17) WORK ETHICS > >> 18) GOI NOT GIVING PROPER FUND TO ASSAM > >> etc > >> RB/ > >> > >> > > >> ----- Original Message ----- > >> From: "ram Sarangapani" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> To: "Barua25" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; > >> <[email protected]> > >> Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 1:35 PM > >> Subject: [Assam] Re: Assam's Problems > >> > >> > >> > Dear Barua, > >> > > >> > You are right. Its very difficult to > understand > >> how > >> > one can only squarely blame the GOI for every > >> problem > >> > in Assam/NE? > >> > > >> > You are correct in saying that unless we can > >> > comprehend > >> > the problem, we cannot solve it. > >> > > >> > If the powers that be in the Assam (Assam > Govt, > >> > student groups, people, and the insurgents) > can > >> > faithfully identify the major problems and > also > >> look > >> > for the best possible solution to solve them, > the > >> > situation is Assam is going to be impossible > to > >> solve. > >> > > >> > Blaming the center for all the woes is simply > >> > 'immature' (I had to say that -:)). > > > > > >> > For the moment, if we consider the problems > >> created by > >> > the GOI as 'non-controllables' and concentrate > >> only on > >> > the problems that Assam or Assamese can solve > >> without > >> > the help of the Center, that will take care of > a > >> lot > >> > of things. When we are successful in solving > these > >> > controllables, then Assam can approach the > Center > >> and > >> > tell it do its share. > >> > Why do I say this? The South for a long time > was > >> not > >> > given any 'paatha' by the Center/Hindi-Wallas. > But > > > > over the years they have done many things > that > >> even > >> > Delhi had to emulate. Their successes in > solving > >> their > >> > problems have made Delhi pay more attention to > >> them. > >> > Both Karnataka and AP are today paid a lot of > >> > attention because of their success in creating > IT > >> > hubs. > >> > > >> > I feel Assam need not also jump into the IT > >> bandwagon, > >> > but can concentrate on the resources it does > have, > >> > Tourism, Oil, Tea and Plywood. > >> > > >> > As a tiny example, I recently came across a > >> web-site > >> > (run by some US company) which conducts water > >> rafting > >> > expeditions to Assam (on the Brahmaputra). > They > >> have > >> > conducted many such expeditions, and are > complete > >> with > >> > photos etc. > === message truncated === __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Take Yahoo! Mail with you! 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