India and her Refugees

 The recent controversy of NRC (The National Register of Citizens) in Assam has brought the issues of refugees in India on the forefront. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register maintained by the Government of India containing names & certain relevant information for identification of Indian citizens of Assam state. Assam BJP unit president Ranjeet Kumar Dass said that bringing Citizenship Amendment bill (CAB) has become more pertinent for over 19 lakh people are excluded in the final national register of citizens (NRC) published on August 31. He said that the bill will benefit large number of Indians who did not make it to the NRC. Huge controversies are there on this bill and moreover a couple of years back the news of the Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Myanmar at a staggering rate to Bangladesh and the controversy created around them to enter India had set all the eyeballs on the news of refugees. Not only the Rohingya, the Syria refugees are also in the news for quite some time but Indian weren’t much concerned about them. Rohingya’s knock on the Indian border has definitely brought the Indians to their senses. Also the Indian Government’s move to grant citizenship to the Chakma and Hajong community has brought the refuges in headlines.

The refugees all across the world walk for days through jungles and mountains, or wades through rivers, or brave dangerous sea voyages across the deadliest seas and arrive exhausted, hungry and sick – in need of international protection and humanitarian assistance. There had always been refuges all across the world for different reasons. People were forced from their home countries due to conflict or repression or something else, and who must find new homes and new lives abroad. The number of refugees and internally displaced now stands at more than 65 million, the largest figure ever recorded. According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than half of the world’s refugees come from just three countries ravaged by conflict – Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia (these figures do not include the 5.2 million Palestinians registered by the UN Relief and Works Agency).

The current refugee crisis is global. The coverage has focused heavily on the refugees arriving in Europe, and especially on Syrian refugees. But in fact refugees are fleeing countries from Honduras to Nigeria to Myanmar, and they are arriving in wealthy countries including the US and Australia, as well as poorer ones like Turkey and Lebanon. It is a worldwide problem — one whose scale and severity is unmatched since World War II.

With this alarming rise of the refugee crisis let us look how India deals with the refugees.

India is not a signatory of several international laws and conventions that govern the inflow, status and treatment of refugees like the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention on the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol. India, meanwhile, deals with refugees and asylum seekers and refugees on an ad hoc basis. The care and treatment of refugees falls under India’s Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939, the Foreigners Act of 1946 and the Foreigners Order of 1948. The Indian Evidence Act, the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure apply to refugees who are living on Indian soil.

There are eight groups of refugees in India, namely the Tibetans, Bangladeshis, Pakistani Hindus & Sikhs, Afghan, Tamil, Rohingya, Chakma and Hajong.

India had been extra ordinarily generous to the Tibetan people by allowing them to enter India in hundred thousand and also allowed them to develop their settlements, schools and medical facilities. The Chinese invasion in 1950 led to years of turmoil that culminated in the complete overthrow of the Tibetan Government. The 14th Dalai Lama fled to India with some of his officials to Dharamsala, India in 1959. Year later, about 100 thousand of Tibetan men, women and children have found refuge in India, Nepal and Bhutan. Again in 1980 after Tibet was opened to trade and tourism, a second wave of Tibetan exodus took place due to increasing political repression. About 25,000 Tibetans joined in a span of next 10 years.

India has helped them to the best of her abilities and the Tibetans are now spread across the country in around 35 designated settlements and other places. According to a Delhi High Court ruling in September 2016, Tibetans born between January 26, 1950, to July 1, 1987 are considered Indians by birth and can apply for passports.

Since the partition of India in 1947, India has received waves of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers from Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) and Pakistan. Post 1947 the largest influx of refugees was seen during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Lakhs of people living in Bangladesh escaped the genocide carried out by Pakistani military. Refugee settlements came up in states such as West Bengal, Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura. According to official estimates, as many as 10 million refugees were given shelter during the massacre and majority of them never returned to their homes in Bangladesh after peace prevailed, rather they chose to assimilate within India.

Pakistani Hindu and Sikh Refugees started coming to India since 1947 but in the recent past they came in hordes due to Pakistan’s religious repression. India has at least 400 settlements of Pakistani Hindu and Sikh refugees. Most of them live in refugee colonies in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Delhi with ramshackle shanties and work as daily wage labourers. The government usually provides citizenship to Pakistani refugees after strenuous arguments, appeals and long periods of convincing the authorities owing to security concerns.

The afghan refugees first came to India after the Afghan-Soviet war that lasted from 1979-1989. Then in the last few years also there has been a huge influx of refugees during the Taliban regime and the post war. Around 60,000 refugees from Afghanistan had arrived during the Afghan-Soviet war, though most of them returned back and now it is estimated to be 10,000 afghan refugees are staying in India.

Around a lakh Sri Lankan Tamils currently live in India with most having arrived during or around the time of the Sri Lankan civil war. The people escaped violence and killings in Sri Lanka and sought refuge in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The population of Sri Lankan Tamils is more than the number that arrived but official estimates place around 60,000 Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu’s 109 camps alone.

Rohingya, the ethnic Muslim community belonging to the Rakhine state of Myanmar. Even though they belong to Myanmar, Burmese authorities refuse to recognise them as citizens. The Rohingyas are facing violence arguably to the extent of genocide in Rakhine with many calling it an act or attempt at ethnic cleansing. In recent months, Rohingyas have settled in places like Delhi, Hyderabad, Kashmir, West Bengal and the northeastern states. However, the government has refused to recognise Rohingyas as refugees.

Heartrending Nabami & Dashami

 The mood is sombre and a little melancholy as the Nabami (Navami for North India) begins. The Nabami morning gives us the warning bell that the festival that we eagerly wait for every year is going to be over by the end of the day and in an effort not to miss a moment we try to stretch the evening as long as we can. It is the same feeling when you know that your beloved is leaving the next day, and you want to spend most of the time together and make it as much as worthwhile possible. While, the thought of getting back to routine life, makes a lot of people feel blue, for many the passionate sense of attachment which they develop with the Durga idol, who has breathed life on ‘Shasthi’, adorned with flowers and jewels, worshipped with love and intense faith, and then bid adieu post a beautiful, vibrant celebration, makes them feel a little despondent. It is almost similar to a family member going away, who will not visit, till the next year. Behind the masked smile we wear on our faces, there is sadness. Though the sadness is not reflected in the celebration all of us feel it together. The feeling of sadness drains through us together, travels through every neuron of the body and carries every electrical pulse not to the head but to the heart. It travels through every one of us and connects each one of us. It is a feeling of hollowness, which approaches slowly with time. It is worse for us; we are celebrating, dancing, singing, eating, chatting, and also holding a thousand oceans of tears within. If one can really look deep into our eyes you can surely see the tiny drop of tear that sparkles at the remotest corner of our eyes which flow down the next day of Dashami.

The next morning is always gloomy and depressing. We have to let our daughter go. It is an emotional day for the devotees. She is prepared for the journey to the Himalayas with the ‘Sindoor Khela,’ one of the favourite parts of various rituals of Durga Puja. Though controversial nowadays, this is essentially the bidding-adieu-ritual. It is the act of wishing, a good journey and a happy married life which is done by applying the vermilion hued sindoor on her hair parting, feeding sweets, and wishing good luck for her journey back home. The ever-smiling idol that we adored for days, worshipped and celebrated the festival together also starts weeping. The intense feeling of the hearts worldwide reflects on the face of the idol.

There is a moment of silence to our soul when the clay statues are ceremoniously drowned to a water body for a solemn goodbye to Durga. The clay dissolves, and she is believed to return to Mount Kailash at the abode of Shiva and to the cosmos in general. Goodbyes are associated with a sense of sadness, and interestingly Durga Puja gives us the biggest joy every year and the biggest sadness as well. Four days of unadulterated festivities comes to an end. The chillness runs in our blood, coldness brings the synapses of our brain comes to a standstill but there is always the hope of resurrection, aashche bochor abar hobe – we will have again next year.

Bengali, Navratri & Non-Veg

 "During Navratri you have got non-veg!" My next door aunt exclaimed once she saw a famed chicken chain packet in my hand. "We do not even bit garlic or onion throughout Navratri." Her stance meant that I am committing a sin. "You also do not keep fast!!" I smiled and entered my apartment with a wry smile".

How would I explain to you that our Durga Puja is not the same as Navratri in North India, and the difference between veg and non-veg is distinct as well. When we the Bengalis speak about veg, that implies garlic, onion and also musor dal is out of bound. Moreover, you have to understand the sentiment and emotions involved with this festival that we call as Durgotsav – the Festival of Maa Durga. As every festival calls for celebration, so do we, and how can the Bengalis celebrate without non-veg food? You know what, Durgotsav can't be explained, it has to be experienced but it cannot be experienced in four days of festivity. It has to be experienced staying in Bengal or with the Bengalis for years to feel the essence of it.

Maa Durga is a member of our family. Since Maa Durga lives with her husband Lord Shiva at Mount Kailash and after the death of Mahishasur, she comes to her maternal home with her children Lord Kartikeya, Lord Ganesha, Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi, so her arrival is entertained and celebrated as we do with our daughters when they visit their mother with delicious feasts and food.

Fasting? Oh, yes, we fast, but that's limited to the puja in the morning. We are on fast till we perform morning pushpanjali and we serve only vegetarian food as prasad or bhog. People involved in puja or purohit or panditji fasts for the day. Once again, our fasting is distinct from yours. Our fasting means no food at all. We don’t fast and eat with brat ki khana and brat ki namkeen and at times we fast without water (nirjala) as well.

If you've ever lived in West Bengal or C R Park in Delhi, you'll understand that Durga Puja has never been a religious festival. It's a festival that most individuals from any community and religion celebrate with equal fervour. It is a community festival and represents inclusiveness. It is above religion, caste, class, creed etc. It's also not restricted to a deity's worship. Too many individuals in Bengal, ‘Pujo’ implies many things-a time of dedication, a time of submission, a time to purchase new clothes and hop overcrowded pandals, a time of endless adda, a time to display the magnificent hidden cultural talents. It also, invariably, is a time to gorge. Food is an important component of the rubric of Bengalis and it is based on and derived from its culinary culture of fish and meat.

In its platter, from snacks, primary course to the main course, Bengali food that has originated and developed in the area of Bengal now separated is a distinct country called Bangladesh. Although the food habits, tastes, preferences and selection of food varies with distinct neighbourhoods, communities and religions, rice and fish play a dominant role remain the fundamental course. The reason is simple, Bengal is very fertile and we reap a wide variety of rice. Also remember that Bengal is a river dominated state, hence, freshwater fish was always there in abundance. A Bengali meal follows a tradition of multiple courses, serving meals where food is served course-wise usually in a specific format, marking it as the only meal of the subcontinent to have evolved such convention.

So we hope you've got wiser now and you will not raise your eyebrows at a Bengali friend who is eating non-vegetarian food during Navratri next time. Your Navratri is our greatest festival of the year. During Durga Puja, we not only consume non-veg food but we even sell non-veg food in or close to our pandals but our goddess is not disrespected.

We don't commit any sin or blasphemy. Our Maa Durga, Durga's Bengali version, gladly gave us the authorization not to be on fast. She enjoys seeing us happy. She's a daughter of ours. She's a family member.

Me & My Mahalaya

 Today is Mahalaya. Devi Durga begins her journey from Mount Kailash, where she resides with her husband, Lord Shiva to her maternal home on Earth.

I miss my school days during this merry period of autumn. Mahalaya used to be the start of the festive month of Durga Puja. A month-long puja vacation was declared starting from Mahalaya to Bhaiphonta (Bhaidooj in North India). Everything during this time smelled puja to me. The morning dews, the fragrance of the shiuli flowers (shiuli flowers are synonymous with Durga Puja), the pandals, the chill in the climate, the kaash blooms, the katham (the wooden-bamboo structure of the Durga idol) everything has a special attachment.

Durga Puja also reminds me of idol making. Kumartuli, a traditional potters’ quarter in North Kolkata is famous worldwide among art lovers and photographers. The city is eminent for its sculpting prowess, which manufactures clay idols for various festivals. Wandering through the narrow maze of lanes and by-lanes of Kumartuli is where you witness the gods and goddesses in various states of creation, the place where gods and goddesses come alive. I had visited those thin paths and bylanes when my dear friend Santanu Chakraborty was studying in the Government Art College, Kolkata as his hostel was very close to Kumartuli. My frequent visit to his hostel had always taken me to those narrow mazes of lanes during this time of the year and further embedded in me the journey of idol making that I had gotten from the place where I grew up of Siliguri.

When I was in school, there has been an idol maker just 4 houses alongside us and another simply behind our home in Siliguri. All through this time as a kid of 8-10 years of age practically every single day I used to invest decent energy at their place viewing the craftsman creating magic with their hands. So Durga Puja and Mahalaya meant all these put together.

It is believed Goddess Durga undertakes this weeklong journey with her children — Ganesha, Kartik, Lakshmi and Saraswati on a vehicle of her choice. Mahalaya is celebrated roughly seven days before Durga Puja. We used to wake up with all other Bengali households early in the morning before the sun to customarily listen to ‘Mahishasura Mardini’, broadcast from All India Radio. Mahalaya to us is actually the eternal montage of devotional songs, classical music and the recitation of the scriptural verses of Sri Chandi in the sonorous voice of late Birendra Krishna Bhadra, a program that is being broadcasted since 1932. Birendra Krishna Bhadra is now a part of the Bengali existence.

In spite of remaining at a point where the social personality of individuals is sneaking away because of mass westernization and social infighting among natives of a similar nation, Mahalaya stays a resolute consistent that is awfully consoling. Rising above from being a simple audio dramatization to the supplication of sorts, Mahisasur Mardini stays an essential piece of our way of life which is a gentle reminder that Durga Puja isn't only a spiritual festivity yet rather is the reason for a profound stirring, a token of one's underlying foundations and deep solidarity with others.

Today in Delhi we definitely do not tune in to All India Radio at 4 am for “Mahisasura Mardini” but we play on our own on YouTube.

Good Boy Politics ?

Two days have passed by since the Delhi assembly poll results have been declared, and we all know what new history it has written. But what’s even more interesting is neither BJP nor AAP – the two major gainers -- is claiming to form the government!

Now it’s been sometime that I have been a witness to electoral politics, both nationally and state-based, but I just can’t recall of such a “pehle aap” situation ever to have emerged in Indian politics. And this brings to my mind one question: Is this a bane or beginning of a change that’s actually driven by the aam aadmi? 

Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption crusade and the post 16 December-unrest showed the frustration of the common man against the nincompoop government and their representatives. Whether AAP can live up to the hopes and aspirations of the people of Delhi is a question that can be left for time to respond, but what’s been answered is that the ‘supreme forces’ of Indian politics must understand that the common man cannot be ignored. Also, that election can be fought with white money, limited resources, non-star candidates, without corporate funding with honesty and determination. And moreover, agitated voices can actually come together and topple the ‘settled’.

I am no political analyst – there are too many of those, and they are working overtime at the moment -- but what fascinates me most now is with what I started this write-up with, the “pehle aap” situation.

BJP is (in)famous for its horse trading tactics, and is a pro in that. And though Congress is seriously in no position to trade anything for that matter, even they are a master of that art. ‘Alliances’, that are largely marriages of convenience, have been the norm to cobble together a parliamentary majority. Every party, every group negotiates, and everybody is in everybody’s strategy -- that is how post-election scenarios have worked in India so far. I remember Mr. Nitin Gadkari, who spoke on Sunday afternoon about BJP forming the government in all the four states, changing his statement by evening as soon as AAP declared that they are not keen on lending or borrowing support from anyone.

But why this sudden change in attitude? Is it a conscious-cautious step to remain ‘clean’ in the face of the AAP-storm? Is it a restrained step to curb the temptations of being on the throne in order to remain a ‘good boy’ in public eye? Especially, if Delhi is staring at a re-election in six months along with the Lok Sabha polls, every ounce of reputation is at stake.

But is this a permanent change? Henceforth, will politicians in India really act in manner chosen representatives should and will political outfits behave in a smarter, honest, and democratic manner?

We know change is the only permanent thing in this world, but sadly it wasn’t the case with Indian politics. And that’s why I’m happy at this forced adjustment that may just lead to the emergence of a new age politics.

Cheers to the nation!

Fifteen Puzzle

Hey, have you ever played with a fifteen puzzle? I played for some time during my early teens and I still remember how interesting it is.

Oflate the parking system of Delhi reminds me of the game. Go to any part of Delhi; from Lajpat Nagar to C.P, every where the parking guys play the puzzle all through the day with our cars. I am sure that none of them played the fifteen puzzle ever in their life but they are so good in solving the puzzle in the daily life thus making our parking experience memorable and stress free.

The puzzle was "invented" by Noyes Palmer Chapman, a postmaster in Canastota, New York. Copies of the improved Fifteen Puzzle made their way to Syracuse, New York by way of Noyes' son.

The "15 Puzzle" consists of 15 squares numbered from 1 to 15 which are placed in a 4x4 box leaving one position out of the 16 empty. The goal is to reposition the squares from a given arbitrary starting arrangement by sliding them one at a time into the required configuration of generally serial order or in other arrangement.

The game became a craze in the U.S. in February 1880, Canada in March, Europe in April, but that craze had pretty much dissipated by July. The craze was, in part, fuelled by Loyd offering a $1,000 prize for anyone who could provide a solution for achieving a particular combination with tiles 14 and 15 exchanged specified by Loyd. It was later known that no solution to this "15 puzzle" was possible as it required a transformation.

I wonder, do these guys in real life also face such problems with a very unusual combination which has got no solution and the car gets locked among the others in the maze !!

Uff!! What a relief!

Hundreds of sentences are spoken about the differences, similarities, effectiveness of the two types of mailing system we have but have you ever thought about the advantage of not changing the e-mail address, though you are shifting your residential or official address.

Over the last few years I have changed my address several times, traveled between cities and kept on changing address. Every time I changed my dwelling, I had to inform my bank, cooking gas office, insurance office and a lot more. On every occasion correspondence is made with appropriate address proof with a request to change the same. From office to office the nature and provision of evidence of address also varies and it’s a boring and irritating job to go to all of these offices on working days and complete all the formalities. Of late once again I am into the process of writing letters and making all efforts to change my address.

In the course of action I realized, I haven’t changed my virtual address for so long and all these years my movement across the country have not held back my connectivity with any of my acquaintances.

Uff!! What a relief!