Nationhood and Displacement in Indian Subcontinent

Author(s): Sajal Nag

Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 36, No. 51 (Dec. 22-28, 2001), pp. 4753-4760
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4411510
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 Nationhood and Displacement
in Indian Subcontinent
The journey of nations begins with the construction of 'self', the basic criteria for which is
a preconceived homogeneity. But achieving such' a homogeneity proves elusive and the
search becomes an exercise in peeling an onion, which involves the shedding of people who
do not fit the constructed identity or who question the accepted framework. This in turn
prompts the construction of minority identities which strive to build a majority for
themselves. In the subcontinent the search for nationhood has always focused on ethnicity,
culture and religion, but what has emerged is a heterogeneous mix of people who
should have represented diversity but now have one culture, the middle class culture
and one identity, the middle class identity.

SAJAL NAG

n January 5, 2001, Hynniewtrep with 'self and discriminate the 'other'. humanism. He said, "The nation with all
National Liberation Council, an The construction of the national self has
its paraphernalia of power and prosperity,
outlawed Khasi extremist organi- always been only vis-a-vis 'the other'. Theits flags and pious hymns, its blasphemous
sation ambushed a crowded non-Khasi shop basis of such construction is differentia- prayers in the churches and the literary
in Shillong for non-payment of extortion tion. The 'self consisted of people whomock thunders of its patriotic bragging can
demand and killed a number of people, share common cultural characteristics and not hide the fact that the nation is the
both Khasis and non-Khasis. Subsequently, such commonalities could be measured greatest evil for the nation, the nation has
the organisation offered an apology for the only by contrasting against those who thriven
do long upon mutilated humanity.4
accidental death of Khasis in the attack. not. Thus construction of nationhood is a
narcissist practice while nation-building
Enraged by this partial apology, an elderly Displacement and
Khasi gentleman, referring to the pool of was all about building walls around the Nation-Building
blood, smeared on the floor, said let the 'self and distancing from 'the other'. This
HNLC come and identify which was Khasi obsession of 'nationalism' was what The depravity and violence inherent in
blood and which was non-Khasi.l In a Tagore found to be the essence of the concept of nationalism had become
'western
similar incident of communal riot in the type nationalism,' which he deplored.
transparent to Tagore as the Baxar, Boer
aftermath of the demolition of Babri masjidTagore wrote: and first global war progressed - all in the
(1992), a number of Hindus and Muslims name of nationalism. In fact the entire
(Racial) blindness is the fundamental dis-
were killed in Surat. Waiting to claim the history of 19th century, which Walter
ease of nationalism. Whether by fraud or
bodies of their dear ones in front of the 'Bagehot termed as the century of nation-
by error, one (nation) has to prove itself
morgue of Surat Civil hospital amidst to be the greatest and concurrently building,5
has to has been a period of mutual
stench emanating from decomposing belittle others. This is the basic tenet of genocide, displacement and eviction of
bodies, was a crowd of relatives - both nationalism - the chief component people of which continued up to late 20th
Hindus and Muslims. A middle-aged century. In the wake of colonial expansion
patriotism...self interest is what national-
Hindu from the crowd, traumatised and ism stands upon... Even when there of is European nations about 50 million
moved by the ambience said, "Let Advani direct conflict, the prosperity of one Europeans migrated to the so called new
see this mangled flesh and find out which antagonises the others. The increased world where they settled thereby uproot-
one is a Hindu body and which one a strength of one is a potential source ingof millions of indigenous people who
Muslim"?' danger to the other.3 were either killed or forcibly pushed to
These were emotional outburst of an- Tagore had denounced such European 'reservation of native people', condemned
guished citizens brutalised by the severity to these defined area in the remotest cor-
type of nationalism. In fact he deplored the
of human right violations. But such out- ner, the bulk of the population died of
fact that no trace of civilisation in Europe
bursts would not form part of structured could be found- which could raise the disease and starvation. Around the same
history of nationalism. What did was how nations above fierce conflicts, injusticestime the European slave traders evicted
the Khasi nationality or Hindu nation and falsehoods. He reiterated this in course and abducted about 10 million black people
struggled to retain its political hegemony of his lectures on nationalism in Japan from Africa who were sold as slaves to the
vis-a-vis the others. In fact such has been and America due to which he had become rich white people of Europe and New
the history of nationalism and ethnicity. unpopular in Japan. Through his lecturesEurope.6 The first world war led to the
Nations have always been concerned abouthe denounced nationalism with his entire killing of about 1.5 million Armenians by
Turkey which has been described as the
'us' as against 'them'. Nations are obsessed wrath and fury and reposed his faith in

Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001 4753

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first modem attempt of exterminating an To comprehend this one has to under- persecuted and compelled others to leave
entire population or ethnic cleansing. The stand what is nation-building or nations the confines of its territory. But the vio-
first global war and the Russian Revol- for that matter, all about. Hobsbawm, re- lence, oppression and tyranny of the con-
ution forced millions of people homeless. marked that nation-watching is not as cept of nation are manifested more brutally
They were evicted from their homes and simple as birdwatching. An observer can when, finished with the 'others,' the nations
transformed into refugees or there were be taught to distinguish a mouse from a begin creating 'others' from within itself.
compulsory exchanges of the population lizard but not a nation from other entitiesThe British conquered an India which
between states. A total of 1.3 million Greeks a priori,10 because there are as many consisted of 600 native states, 168,006,000
were repatriated to Greece from Turkey. definitions as there are perhaps nations. Hindus, 60,000,000 Muslims and
Some 40,000 Turks were decanted into the What can be said is that nations are all 10,000,000 depressed classes1l but the
state, which claimed them. Some 20,000 about 'us', - where the 'us' is undefined.
transition to modernity created a sensation
Bulgarians moved into the diminished terri- From the morass of competing definitionsin the tranquil life of Indians who gradu-
tory bearing their national name; about 1.5 it can be said that this 'us' is all about
ally began to stir into action in the path
or perhaps two million Russian nationals
homogeneity - a homogeneity which ofisnation formation. In 1882 SirJohn Seeley
escaping from Russian Revolution or onsometimes given, sometimes invented (1883) found that the very application of
the losing side of the Russian civil war
amidst incomparable heterogeneity as thein concept of nation of Indians was a
found themselves homeless. There were the case of Jews for example and vice vulgar error.12 In 1883 the emerging
3,20,000 Armenians who left home escap- Indian nationalist discourse claimed that
virsa. All available conceptions talk about
cultural commonalities for the formation
ing persecution from the Turks. The years the people of different provinces have learnt
1914-22 generated approximately four ofto a nation/nationality. But such a searchto feel for or one another and a common
five million refugees.7 The human catas-
of communalities often led to exclusivitybond of unity and fellow feeling was being
trophe caused by the first world war was
and insularity; it terminates cultural ex- rapidly established among them.13 So far
nothing compared to that in the second.changes and views every group outside the there were Bengalis, Sikhs, rajputs, Mara-
It has been estimated that by May 1945 exclusivity as the other. In fact a nationthas and Hindustanis in India but no
there were perhaps 40.5 million uprooted
can be defined as an unending process of Indians. But in 1885 moving the first reso-
people in Europe, including non-German othering. As will be shown subsequently, lution of the first meeting of the Indian
forced labourers and Germans who fled a nation/nationality begins its journey byNational Congress in Bombay, Subra-
shedding all the other from its purviewmaniam Iyer declared:
before the advancing Soviet armies. About
13 million Germans were expelled from thereby viewing and creating a number of
This assemblage in Bombay of my chosen
the parts of Germany annexed by Poland cultural groups as the 'other' and even an
countrymen from Calcutta and Lahore, from
and USSR, from Czechoslovakia and part enemy. Then it starts looking for charac-
Madras and Sindh, from places apart and
of south-eastern Europe where they had teristics of the other in its own selt and difficult of inter communication indicates
long been settled. The new German Fed- then shedding them. This shedding pro- the beginning of a national political life
eral Republic which offered them citizen-
cess then continues by excluding the weak, desired to produce a profound change in
ship and a home took them. The second poor and marginalised. In the name of the immediate future. From today forward
world war was also known for the holocaustdeveloping 'us,' thus weak and marginal we can with greater propriety then hereto
by which six million Jews were extermi- sections are displaced, evicted and ex- before speak of an Indian nation of national
pelled not just materially, but also from *opinion and national aspirations.14
nated and another 1.2 million fleeing Jews
finally migrated to the newly formed state
the frontier of its nationality. Often it is The following year Rajendra Lal Mitra
a violent narcissist process. Thus nation-in his welcome address to the second
of Israel. These were figures only of Europe.
There were 15 million refugees as a result
building or nation-creating process is ac- session of the Congress declared that this
of the partition of India and the Korean
tually an unending one of forming an assemblage of people from different parts
war displaced five million Koreans. Theexclusive elite group in the name of ho-of the country was "as members of one
establishment of Israel created 1.3 million
mogeneity. It is like the peeling of an onionnation we are bound together by the same
Palestinian refugees.8 Thus the period of - continuous and ceaseless. This is what blood and we constitute one nation". When
nation-building has also been 'an age of this article attempts to elucidate by citing the colonial officials pointed the Hindu-
catastrophe' - in terms of human impact.the example of India. Muslim hostility, this constructed self
The growth of brutalisation and rising declared that:
barbarism had compelled the new world India: Constructing the Self
to accustom itself to compulsory expul- on the platform where we meet, conflict
sion and killing on an astronomical scale We have observed that nations are all cannot exist. The points wherein we are
and also invent new words to describe such about self. Self has been the essence, coresupposed to differ are not our topic, we
new phenomena as 'statelessness' and and its exclusive concern. This excessive do not discuss each other's social polity
or domestic arrangements nor is it our
genocide.9 But has such human disaster concern about self implies hostility towards
province to pronounce our opinion on the
and nation-building process been just co- the others. While building homes (nation
comparative merits of the tenets of
incidental or are these organically inex- states) for the self, nations have often various Hindu-Muslim sects. We meet on
tricable? In other words why has the pro- rendered others homeless. To secure its a platform on which Hindu and Muslim
cess of national-building been a period of rights over its national resources andare brothers, as subjects of the same sov-
such massive displacement genocide and neutralise potential threats to its hegemony
ereign, governed by the same laws, as
catastrophe? Is the latter phenomena in- from others who are imagined as competi-amenable to the control of same official,
herent in the logic of nation-building? tors, rivals and even enemy, it purged, logic and common sense alike point to

4754 Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001

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 the conclusion that this antagonism bet- as in north-western and eastern zones of British India. This is not an innocuous
ween the Hindus and Mohammedans is a India should be grouped to constitutedistinction. The view that partition was of
myth 15 independent states in which the unit shall India delink colonial process from the event
be continuous and sovereign. Such arrange-and exonerates the colonial state and its
Echoing similar sentiment and contrib-
ment became necessary because Hindus and
uting equally to the construction of this policies from its responsibility. The sec-
Musalmans belong to two different religious
national self, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, rep- ond point is the migratory inflow that took
philosophies, social customs, and literatures.
resenting the Muslim sections of the na- place between India and Pakistan was not
They neither intermarry nor interdine to-
tion said, a "friendships between the two of interstate nature but has to be seen as
gether and indeed they belong to two
communities is a matter of course since internal displacement caused not just by
different civilisations which are based
partition but communal riots. This flow of
for centuries we have been living on the mainly on conflicting ideas and concep-
people
same soil, eating the same fruit of the sametions. Their aspects of life are different. It was not of interstate refugees but
country".16 In 1873 he had declared that is quite clear that Hindus and Musalmans of displaced, traumatised, evicted and ex-
he did not care for religion to be regarded derive their inspirations from different pelled people, whose nationality was
as the badge of nationhood. 17 Subse- changed
sources of history. They have different epics, without their own consent. For
quently in his Patna speech (1883) he had their heroes are different and they have example it is ironical that a villager in
said "Please remember that Hindus and different episodes.Very often the hero one Sylhet in present Bangladesh knew him-
nation is the foe of the other and likewise
Muslims are religious terms. In fact all the self as an Indian until 1947, but without
their victories and defeats overlap. To yoke
inhabitants of India either Hindus, Mus- his knowledge he was transformed into a
together two such nations under a single Pakistani national. After 1971 the same
lims or Christians are by virtue of the fact
state, one a numerical majority, must lead
of their residence - one nation".18 In the person had become a citizen ofB angladesh
to growing discontent and final destruction
same year he made it clear that "by theof fabric that may be so built up for the although he had not ventured out of his
word Qaum (nation) I mean both Hindusgovernment of such a state.21 village all his life.
and Muslims... In my opinion it matters It may be estimated that about five and
Continuing the argument M A Jinnah half million people travelled each way
not whatever be their religious beliefs
urged that: across the new India-Pakistan border in
because we cannot see anything of it; what
we see is that all of us whether Hindus or If the British government is really earnest Punjab.23 In addition about 400,000 Hindus
Muslims live on one soil, are governed by and sincere to secure peace and happiness migrated from Sind and well over a million
one and the same ruler, have the same of the people of their subcontinent the only moved from East Pakistan to West Bengal.
resources of benefit and equally share the course open to us all is to grant to all the As a matter of fact the partition related
major nations separate homelands, by di- displacement and migratory flow had
hardship of a famine".9 In his Gurdaspur
viding India into two autonomous national
address Sir Syed implored "O Hindus and started a year before the partition, i e, on
states.22
Muslims! Do you belong to any country August 6, 1946 the 'Direct Action' day
other than India? Don't you live on this Thus the Hindus and Muslims who began declared by Muslim League. But on par-
soil and are you not buried in it or cremated the journey by constructing a composite tition, the migration had to be managed by
on its ghats? If you live or die on this land self for themselves abandoned the path the state, as it was no more migration but
then bear in mind that Hindu and Muslim midway and began to see each other as evacuation. The state estimated that about

is but a religious word; All Hindus-Mus-rivals. This process of othering the self led 25 lakh Muslims and 20 lakh Hindus have
lims and Christians who live in this coun-
to the eventual partition of India and cre- to be evacuated form the two country and
try are One Nation"20 ( on January 27, ation of two separate nation states, India accordingly a Military Evacuation
1884). In the same address he said "we and Pakistan. Organisation (MEO) was formed.24
(Hindus and Muslims) should try to be- Just to say that so many million people
come one heart and soul and act in union. Two Nation Theory and migrated from each other country would
If united we can support each other, if Partition Displacement be understating a huge human tragedy and
not the effect of one against the other will a gigantic task that partition created. A
lead to the destruction and downfall of Hannah Arendt in her study of totalitari-little more graphic description is called
anism in Europe established the link bet-for. On November 15,1947 the commander
both". Contributing to the same construc-
tion, Iqbal composed, 'Sare Jahan se ween state formation and the flow of of the MEO, stated that about 3,68,00 non-
accha Hindusthan hamara' in 1902. But refugee. In our context it can be saidMuslims
that were left to be evacuated from
nation formation inevitably results in west
as the two communities developed differ- dis- Punjab since August 15, 1947. There
ences each began to see itself as an ex-
placements. In other words formation were
of also 51,000 non-Hindus to be evacu-
clusive nation and both the Hindus and ated from north-western frontier province.
nation state lends legitimacy to the process
Muslims emerged as 'the other' to each He had already conveyed that more than
of getting rid of the other. Two centuries
other. The process culminated in the 17,76,000 non-Muslims had been evacu-
of divide and rule politics of the colonial
state and five decades of communal
Muslim demand for a separate homeland. ated for asylum in India.25 The number of
In the Lahore resolution 1940 the Muslim mobilisation logically culminated people
in theevacuated on foot has been placed
League stated: around 10,36,000. In the opposite direc-
partition of British India. But the vivisec-
the geographically continguous units are tion of the country was not without tion Muslim
a foot convoys of considerable
sizewas
demarcated into regions which should be tragedy. Apart from a holocaust there kept crossing to Pakistan until Decem-
constituted with such territorial adjustments ber 1947. During the period of August 27
a huge involuntary exchange of popula-
to November 30, 1947 more than a million
as may be necessary that the areas in whichtion. Here two points are to be made clearer;
the Muslims are numerically a majority, one the partition was not of Indianon-Muslims
but had been envacuated by rail

Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001 4755

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from west Punjab. In the reverse direction categories - as Muslims and Hindus (or
cies appeared from 1909 as an effort to
13 lakh Muslims similarly had been cartednon-Muslims for Hindus, Sikhs and Chris- save the community from the political he-
tians taken together) in official records.gemony of the Muslims and cultural as-
to the other side by road. The figures stood
at 4.64 lakh non-Muslims and 2.25 lakh The place they knew as their homeland was similation and absorption by the Hindus.
Muslims by the end of March 1948. From now enemy land and a foreign country. The movement was subsequently spear-
September 15 to December7, 1948, 28,000 Those who were mobilised by political headed by the Akali Dal, which was
people from Pakistan and 18,000 from parties under the slogan of 'nationalism' founded by 1920. In a similar move to
reverse direction were transferred by were
air. themselves on the move to an un- Muslim league, the Akali Dal also de-
known destination. This is what formation
This was the story in west Punjab. In north- manded a separate nation state exclusively
of nation states in the Indian subcontinent
western frontier province during the riots for the Sikhs saying:
of 1946, about 2.5 lakh of Hindus-Sikh in 1947 produced. ...the Shiromani Akali Dal demands for
minority had already left in panic. Even the preservation and protection of the
before partition about 12,000 people were Nations within Nation religious, cultural, economic and political
in relief camps. By mid-November 1947 rights of the Sikh nation, the creation of
about 51,000 were evacuated to India. FromThe process of the construction of the
a Sikh state which would include a
Bhawalpur about 50,000 non-Muslims substantial majority of Sikh population
'self based on assumed homogeneity did
crossed over to India and another 25,000 and their sacred shrines and historical
not stop with the creation of Pakistan.
evacuated. By the end of 1947 about Gurudwara
Religion as badge of Pakistani nation failed with provision for the transfer

to hold and the Bengali-speaking Eastand exchange of population and property.28

4,85,000 non-Muslims crossed over from
Karachi. The demand was not conceded and
Pakistanis fought a bitter struggle to carve
On the eastern frontier there was equal out a new nation for themselves- independence and partition temporarily
panic. Nearly one million Hindus crossed Bangladesh. Pakistan was still not placated
free the Sikhs. But the question o
over to west Bengal from east Bengal in from nationality-based problems. While
Punjabi language and a Punjabi state took
1947-48. In 1958 there was another major Punjabis and Pathans fight for supremacy,a violent form in 1960. The creation of a
influx of evacuees of about 15 lakhs as a the Sindhis want secession from it. The
homogeneous Punjabi-speaking Sikh of
result of anti-Hindus riots. The trickle did
Muhajir Qaumi movement had been onePunjab, cooled tempers temporarily but
not quite dry up after that. During the of the strongest national movementson
inthe issue of Anandpur Sahib Resolution
unrest over language in 1955-56 and south Asia. After the creation of the relating to autonomy, the movement gradu-
ated into a Khalistan movement. In the
adoption of an Islamic constitution in independent Burmese state in 1948 nearly
Pakistan, another five lakh people or more 500,000 Indians who had been living in of the assassination of prime min-
wake
crossed over to India. Burma from the 1940s had to flee to India ister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguard
in the wake of Burmese persecution. Simi- about 4,000 Sikhs were murdered in an act
Panic-stricken people crossed over from
larly Sri Lanka created approximately of communal retribution in Delhi alone.
anotherdirection, Kashmir, during the tribal
raider aggression in October 1947, thou- 900,000 statesless Tamils. Bangladesh too After this mass murder of the Sikhs in
is plagued by insurgency from the Chakmas 1984, several thousands of panic Sikh
sands of Hindus and Sikhs poured in India.
who want a separate homeland for them- families moved back to Punjab to secure
A tragic feature of this category of migrants
was the fate of hundreds of Punjabis who selves. The dominant Bengali Muslims company of their kith and kin from different
had taken shelter in Kashmir from Paki- have been systematically depriving the cities of India.29Lending legitimacy to this
stan were dislodged once again. The totalChakmas of their land through transfer and mass murder of the 'other', prime minister
number of shelter seekers from Pakistan submergence. After the construction of Rajiv Gandhi said "when a big tree falls,
occupied Kashmir was around 1.35 lakh.Kaptai hydro-electric project in 1964, about the earth shakes".30 The struggle for an inde-
On a rough estimate undivided India had66,000 Chakmas and Hajong refugees were pendent Kashmiri nation state led about
a population of 417.7 million comprisingsettled by government of India in Arunachal 250,00,000 Kashmiri pandits (Hindus)
of 274 million Hindusand 101 million Mus- Pradesh. In 1986 another 55,000 entered homeless and they have since been living
lims, 6.7 million Christians, six million Sikhs the state of Tripura as refugees.Until re- as internal refugee in various relief camps.31
and 30 million in 'other' category. Aftercently, the Indian government provided But the process of creating further circles
partition, India was left with 243.7 million assistance only to 53,400 Chakmas refu- (nations) within the circle (nation) did not
non-Muslims and 44 million Muslims. gees located in Tripura. Beginning with stop there. In the subcontinent of India a
About 18 million non-Muslims were left in 1,846 in 1994, approximately 63,000 dis- subnationalist process had already com-
Pakistan after partition - about 12 million placed Chakmas have been repatriated menced with the advent of British rule by
in the east and six million in the west. But under a bilateral agreement between India which cultural communities asserted their
1948 had drastically altered the picture. and Bangladesh in 1998.27 As a result of own regional identity without contradict-
Barely five lakh Hindus and Sikhs were the creation of Bangladesh about 3,00,000 ing their allegiance to Indian identity. Thus
left in Pakistan. In 1948 no more than a Pakistanis (Bihari Muslims) are stranded Bengali, Assamese Bihari, Punjabi,
million Hindus were left in East Pakistan in the new state. In India though Naga Gujarati, Marathi, Kannanda, Malayali,
succession is the oldest there were many Tamil, Telugu and other such subnational
but that too dwindled to eight million soon.26
An interesting feature of this story of occasional movements from the Tamils, identity emerged and demanded their
nation formation and displacement was Sikhs, Kashmiris, Mizo, Meitei, Tripuri, provincial autonomy. In the process of asse-
that a massive number of people who were Khasi and thie Assamese. The Sikh and rtion of their identity, these communities
Kashmiri secessionist movements were the
Indian by birth, citizenship and legality, often indulged in cleansing, homogenisation
were now being counted by two new most violent. The Sikh separatist tenden-and standardisation in an attempt to estab-

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lish a unilingual province. The resultant lost, respectively. In 1989 hundreds surgence
of of Indian nation in the making.
riots had claimed a huge casualty in terms lives were lost in a chain of communal riots
But even after independence dalits re-
of death, displacement and exodus. The throughout the country. The devastation mained excluded from the power struc-
better known of these language riots are had been most severe in 1992 following ture; in fact the dalit resurgence was met
Assamese-Bengalis, Bengali-Oriya, Bihari- the demolition of Babri masjid. In Surat with a vengeance from the brahmin-bania
Bengali, Gujarati-Marathi, Kannanda- alone about 1,000 people were killed. In the dominant system. Dalits in rural India face
Tamil and Punjabi, Sikh-Hindu riots. The next year in Mumbai about 2,000 people had the brunt of casteism due to agrarian
anti-Bengali riots in Assam, Meghalaya been murdered. In each of these riots in
conflicts around the issues of wages, land,
and Tripura from 1948 onwards resulted water, hunger and social dignity. West,
India a large number of those killed were
in frequent displacement and exodus of Muslims. For instance, in 1969 out of 184
south and north India have been the pre-
Bengalis to the Bengali dominated region killed in Ranchi 164 were Muslims, Indominant arena of recent anti-dalit con-
of Barak valley and north Bengal. Similar Ahmedabad riot out of 512 killed 413 were flicts that are largely the result of resis-
attack on the Nepalis in Assam, Meghalaya Muslims and in Bhiwandi out of 121 killed tance to upper caste domination and ex-
and Manipur has seen a massive reverse 101 were Muslims. Similar was the case ploitation. The south Indian states have
migration of Nepali-speaking people to in the notorious Bhagalpur, Surat and experienced the most serious conflicts
Nepal and Darjeeling. In February 1983 Mumbai riots. The total number of peopleaccompanied by destruction of property,
about 2,000 Bengali Muslims were mas- killed in 1977 was 36; in 1978, 110; in displacement and denial rights for dalits.35
sacred in Nellie (Assam) in one night. In 1979, 258 and in 1980, 372. Besides the Violence has occurred in north Karnataka
a similar attack in Mandai (Tripura) in death there was a huge displacement andand Mysore area between the pellars and
1980 more than a 1,000 Bengali were migration of people to safer areas and the thewars in south Tamil Nadu and in-
butchered by the Tripura tribals. Since the relief camps. flicted by the dominant castes in Kara-
emergence of the Bodoland state move- During the peak of the Khalistan chendu and Chundur in Andhra Pradesh.
ment in Assam, the Bodo militant had been movement in Punjab and the current in- In north India, the rise of the Bahujan
seeking to drive away non-Bodos in the surgency in Kashmir, Hindus were per- Samaj Party has needled the upper castes.
Kokrajhar border (with Bhutan) especially petually ambushed and massacred. Chris- In south central Bihar private armies
the santhals who have cleared the waste- tians were being targeted as soon as the coalesced to counter the aspirations of the
land to develop small farms, to make it an right-wing Hinduist party BharatiyaJanata dalits in a very militant manner. The
exclusive Bodo area. In the ensuing clashesParty came to power at the centre. In currently most vocal and assertive dalits
so far about 400 santhals have been killed Manipur in its ethnic cleansing effort 1,500 castes have been the worst victims of
and 1,50,000 rendered homeless. The Bodo kukis have so far been killed by the Nagas. violence - the mahar - neo Buddhists of
aggression has also displaced about 21,000Scores more were killed due to the Kukis- Maharashtra, the ad-Karnataka of hollars
person still living in the relief camps ofPaite riots. In Mizoram, the hegemonisationof Karnataka, the pellars of Tamil Nadu,
lower Assam.32 drive of the dominant Mizo Christian over the mallas of Andhra Pradesh, the chamars
the tiny Hindu Reang population led to a of Rajasthan, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and
Imagined enemies and similar bloodshed compelling 50,000 bankers of Gujarat.36 The record of atroci-
Cleansing of Nation Reangs to flee to Assam and Tripura.33 ties on the dalits are equally high. In 1993
Recent violence in Tripura forced about there were 510 murder, 798 rape and 2,531
Even when nations are formed by shed- 50,000 non-tribal mainly Bengali settlers per act cases committed on the dalits. The
ding the perceived 'other', tyranny of theto safer areas.34 The underground National same figure for 1994 was 546, 992 and
Liberation Front of Tripura and All Tripura 1,731 and for 1995 it stood at 571, 873
other generally did not stop. As the Hindus
and Muslims became the 'others' to each Tiger Force tribal militants in an attempt and 1,528.37 This provides an example of
other, perpetual animosity and persecutionto cleanse Tripura of Bengalis, has been how dalits were perpetually confined to
continued in the subcontinent. The major- engineering mass killings and mass exo- the margin and their attempts to come into
ity generally viewed the minority in theirdus of non-tribal people. There were simi- the mainstream of the nation thwarted.
lar attempts of cleansing their territory of The achievement of freedom and the
respective states as the cause of all their
ills. Therefore, Muslims are viewed as thethe Chakma refugees in both Arunachal establishment of a nation state was fol-
Pradesh
internal enemy in India and Hindus in and Mizoram. lowed by a multipronged target of devel-
Pakistan and Bangladesh. The attitude opment. But the pursuit of development
manifeste itself in the spirit of communal Excluding the Excluded also adversely affected the marginalised
riots that erupts intermittently in all the sections causing deprivation, displacement
three states. In India for example, between In the hierarchical brahmanical structure
and devastation. Thus while the 'core' of
of the Hindus, the dalits formed thethe
August 15, 1947 to January 30, 1948 there ex-'nation' developed it was at the cost
was large-scale bloodshed in almost the cluded sections and social outcastes. The of the marginals. Since modern nations are
entire north India. In the decade betweenaspiring Indian nation continued to treat a post Industrial Revolution phenomena
1950 and 1960, such riots were fewer. Inthem as such even in the national move- they are 'development'-oriented. Decided
1953 these numbered 83. But the number ment until this section of the population on the interest of their dominant majority,
accelerated in the next decade. In 1968 fought back and demanded political em- they consistently excludes marginal sec-
there were 348 such riots. In 1970-71 it powerment. In fact 'the dalit leader tions of their people, signaling an exclu-
created a new trend. In 1969-70 in just Ambedkar refused to agree to characterise sionary process. The victims'of this exclu-
three riots in Ranchi Hatia, AhmedabadIndia as a nation. He wanted the dalits to sionary purge are the minorities, the weak
and Bhiwandi 184,512 and 121 lives werecapture political power to signify the re- and the marginal population.38 Nations are

Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001 4757

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thus not just oppressive to the others, they The Inchamppally dam covers both Andhratribal/indigenous people who constitute
can be brutal to their own people. The and Maharashtra which has 20 per cent7.6 per cent of India's population. In
project of all nation states is nation-building tribal population and Bhopalpatnar damJharkhand of the 2.13 million hectares of
by which it is constantly shedding portions covers both Madhya pradesh and land in which coal is found, over 0.36
of its own people from its purview and Maharashtra where 50 per cent of the million hectares (16.9 per cent) have been
thereby creating its own outsiders. The damaged due to coal mining activities as
population are tribals. The Narmada River
nation states spearheaded this process Valley project is a colossal scheme ofa result of which more than 122 sq km of
because it emanated from logical require- building 30 major dams, 135 medium damsarea belonging to coal India limited have
ments of an industrial system. This state now become derelict. As a result of the
and 300 minor irrigation terminals costing
formation requires homogeneity, itrequired about Rs 25,000 crore. As a result of this
mining by eastern coal field about 14,750
loyalty. Therefore, dissent is a disqualifi- gigantic construction years, at least 219
families have been displaced upto 1980.
cation for its citizenship. The modem idea populated villages would be submerged Because of the Central Coal Fields42 the
of citizen is as a loyal object located in (19 from Gujarat, 27 from Maharashtra number was 7,928 families, by the West-
an industrial way of life. The citizen has and 173 from Madhya Pradesh) which will ern Coal Fields and it was 6,232 and by
to consent to the requirement of nation- Bharat Cooking Coal the displaced
displace at least 70,000 tribals from their
building through an industrial infrastruc- home and hearth. The state promisednumbers
to were 3,841 families.43 The total
ture.39 In this process the minorities and number of internally displaced people, due
rehabilitate these internal refugees but there
peripheral people who are granted mar- was a huge gap between the promise and to development projects in India was
ginal citizenship are not allowed to chal- estimated to be 2,50,000 in 1996 and
the actual rehabilitation. For example for
lenge the project of the state as they are the Hirakund Project (1956) there were probably is 30 million by 2000.
going to be the prospective 'sacrificial goat' 4,636 displaced families of which only Between 1951 and 1990 at least 21.3
at the altar of development. As such the 300 were eventually rehabilitated, thatmillion
is people were deprived of their
marginal citizens who are external to the 18 per cent. For Bhakra-Nangal project sustenance by development. These
development process as well as the nation (Himachal Pradesh, 1959), 2,100 families
development projects include dams (16.4
state, are denied the right to dissent, object million) mines (2.55 millions) industrial
were displaced of which only 730 families
or protest. Thus nation by its very concept establishment and parks (0.6 million) of
were provided rehabilitation (35 per cent).
and nation state by its very nature unleashes FortheTekai project (Gujarat 1971) 18,500
which only 25 per cent have been resettled
a continuous flow of uprooted within its families were displaced of which 3,500 partially. Forty per cent of these displaced
territory who were pushed to the edge and were rehabilitated (19 per cent). For the
persons and project-affected persons were
then 'fei-ised'40 as can be seen below. Pochampad project (Andhra Pradesh, 1965)
tribals and another 20 per cent were dalits.
One of the major requirements of indus- In fact one in every seven Indian tribal is
67 villages were submerged of which only
trial development in India was power; for 37 villages were rehabilitated (55 per
a displaced person.44 The government of
the agricultural sector, it was irrigation. cent).42 The excessive emphasis on
India admits 15.5 million displaced per-
Following the example of other developed industrialisation on the western model led sons when it drafted a national rehabili-
state of UK and the US, the post colonialto a massive appropriation of natural re- tation policy in 1994. The draft noted that
Indian state decided on the construction sources which again cost the tribals their 74.52 per cent displaced people were still
home and hearth. For example of the 498 awaiting rehabilitation. It has to be men-
of large dams to satisfy its needs of power
and irrigation. From 1947 to 1979 India coal mines in the country in 1983, as many tioned that rehabilitation is not considered
as 463 are situated in Jharkhand, Orissa, a 'right' by the constitution of India. Hence
had the distinction of holding 15 per cent
West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh and 22 displaced persons are overruled when they
of the worlds largest dams. The increasing
in Maharashtra. More than 90 per cent ofresist the launch of any development project
use of dams arose from its potential gains
these coal-mines are located in tribal sects.
through production of cheap labour, drink- (the most notable of such a resistance
ing water supply, control of floods and Although raw material is extracted out of movement is the Narmada Bachao Andolon
the tribal lands, the tribal themselves do in recent times in India). After displace-
increase in irrigation coverage in addition
to power. While all this was to benefit the
not get any benefits. They are dispossessed ment the oustees have to put up a fight or
urban middle classes and the rural kulaks from their lands, their territory. Their rehabilitation.Thus'development' for na-
the construction consistently displaced environment
a polluted permanently and tions have been seen as progress. Such
massive number of tribal, poor and weakerthese self-sufficient people are pauperised development induces displacement. In fact
sections. It is estimated that the number and made dependant on the-mercy of the development induced displacement are
of oustees in India by dams was 21.6 others. 50 per cent of those displaced by turned into internal refugees and a matter
million up to 1980, most of whom were large dams are tribals. The number Singrauli of human rights.45
Thermal Plant displaced is about 40,000
tribal.41 Nearly 82 percent of the 38 million These are people who have been dis-
tribal population live in central and west- to 80,000,the Farakka Thermal Power Plant placed within their own countries as a
ern part of the country where three-fifths would displace 53,352 persons according result of internal conflicts, ethnic strife,
of the large dams are located, the Koel- to World Bank. Of the estimated 185 lakh ecological crisis, development projects and
karo project is located in Jharkhand wherepersons displaced by development projectsforced relocation and gross violation of
88 per cent of the population are tribals.since 1950, 74 lakh were tribals. Between human rights. In 1992 theUN Human Right
The Hirakud project is located in Orissa1950 and 1990 about 21 million people Commission had estimated that there were
where 20.9 per cent population are tribals. were displaced in India by projects like big about 240 million internally displaced
The Sardar Sarovar project is in Gujarat dams, mines, industries and wildlife re- persons all over the world. Recent expe-
where 51.6 per cent population are tribals. serves. Of these, nearly 40 per cent wererience around the world from Afghanistan

4758 Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001

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to Angola and Somalia to Sri Lanka sug- ment of the time and sequence. For exampletime as was the case in 1978.A study
gests that the plight of internal refugees although the minorities, tribals, dalits, urbanshows that human-made structures like
is often as bad or even worse than that of poor, subaltern classes, weaker and mar-canal, dams and embankments have wors-
the refugees. This is because most of these ginal sections all formed part of imaginedened the flood situation. The per capita
displaced persons remain trapped in a national self of India, these groups fre-availability of water has also reduced from
conflict zones or displaced by their own quently become the victims of nation-about 5,277 cubic m in 1955 to the present
national state which was to protect them. building process. The benefit of national level of 1970 cubic m. The per capita
In some situations the concerned govern- development not only do not reach them,annual consumption of electricity is 110.97
ments have been reluctant to acknowledge they in fact are used as pawns in the deve-kWh for the industrial sector whereas for
that a problem of internal displacement lopment games. In the name of industriali-the agricultural sector it is 88.28 kWh. In
existed, elsewhere the national or local sation and economic development, theofficial records, of the 5,87,226 villages
authorities use forceful means to return or
human rights of these sections are perpetu-5,02,721 have been electrified up to 1996.
transfer the displaced persons to other ally violated; they are not only uprooted,However a study report suggests that it is
locations causing double dislocation. displaced and evicted from their originalmostly paper electrification. It is evident
Unlike refugees they live under the control habitats, they are often exposed to disease,therefore that despite the heavy cost that
of national government and often under deprivation and dangers of industrial di-it bears, rural India hardly benefits from
hostile or adverse domestic conditions. sasters. But the interesting question is whothe process of nation-building. Neither do
The United Nation High Commission then for are the beneficiaries of nation-build- the urban poor. But a greater part of the
Refugees thus have accorded recognition ing and economic development? The developmental achievements reaches
to this category called internal refugeesanswer
or can be found in some of the vital mainly one category of people - the Great
internally displaced persons 46 statistical data of Indian economic deve- Indian middle class.48 It was clear almost
lopment. Of the 1,000 million people that immediately after independence that the
The Essence India has 73 per cent still live in the rural
direction of the state policy was dictated
areas. Although the overall literacy rateby is the interests of the middle class49 - a
The journey of the nations thus 62 begins
per cent47 the rural urban difference class
in that sprang as a result of bourgeois
with the construction of 'self.' The basic it is glaring. In urban area literacy ratetransition.
is On the upper echelon of the
criteria for such construction is a precon-73.68 per cent.While in rural India itclass is are the rich farmers who benefit from
ceived homogeneity. But the search ends44.69 per cent, 37.4 per cent of the sched- the governmental price support system and
up as an exercise in peeling an onion asuled castes and 29.6 per cent of the sched- input subsidy programmes, industrial capi-
such pristine homogeneity proves elusive uled tribes are only literate. 37.7 per cent
talists who profited from import substitu-
and the task arduous. Moreover nation of the rural population are below poverty tion policies and have learnt to turn to their
building is also a coeval process of ma- line while in the urban areas it is 32-36 advantage the industrial licensing system
jority building so as to ensure that per as well as the professional bureaucrats
thecent. This also signifies another deve-
hegemony of a community is unchallenged. lopment: the growing number of urban who have gained considerable corrupt
Hence the creation of nations also requirespoor. Some 64 per cent of the population income from administration of programmes
constant shedding of people who doare for the benefit of the farmers and their
notstill agricultural labourers while only
fit the constructed identity or question16 control over investment decisions..
per cent are industrial labourers. Some
the
framework. This automatically involves 64 per cent of population has no access The class included those professional
minority persecution, ethnic cleansing, to sanitation and 17.10 per cent has no and astute urban intellectual classes who
through their education and personal re-
access to safe drinking water; 13.2 percent
denial of political rights to smaller groups
and such forms of atrocities due to which of the population mostly in the rural areas
lationship with the bureaucratic personnel
exodus of the persecuted takes place. has no access to basic health services. In generally gained preferential access to the
Displacement can take multiple forms: rural areas infant mortality rate is 80 per cent
privileges of education, housing, foreign
refugees, internal refugees, rejection, evic- whereas in the urban areas who is 49 travel, scarce consumer goods and good
tion, expulsion, asylum seekers and so on. per cent despite modern facilities. Upemployment
to for themselves and their chil-
dren.50 From the rural section this class
It is ironical that the process then accel- 1997-98 47.64 per cent of villages were
erates and emerges as a pattern because connected by road. The total numberincludedof upper and middle peasantry who
each of the minorities constructs a national inhabited villages is 5,87,276 while the num-
had become dominant in most state govern-
identity and strives to build a majority for bers of urban aggregates/towns are 3,697. ments thereby perpetually thwarted at-
itself. As in the case of the Indian sub- The irrigation project with culturable tempts to implement a land ceiling policy.51
continent the process eventually becomes command areas (CCA) between 2,000 At the bottom of this class are the endless
and
10,000 hectares are classified as medium
a vicious cycles of peeling and shedding. stream of white collar Yorkers who throng
In other words the process entails the projects and CCA of more than 10,000 the urban areas and perpetually aspiring
formation of multiple national identities
hectares are major projects. At the end
to of
reach the lifestyles of the upper echelons.
and the concomitant displacement and
Eighth Plan there were 162 major, 240
This was not the result of a pre-planned
medium and 74 extentsion renovation
exodus of people who do not fit the frame- strategy or conscious planning but a con-
work of such an identity. projects. Despite that the percentage ofsequence
net of, one, the middle classification
It is apparent that the definition of thrust of the development projects and
irrigated area to net cultivated area remains
homogeneity and the assumed variables at only 35.2 per cent; 11.2 per cent of India
two, the predominant position of the middle
that are said to constitute a nation or an class in the making and influencing the
still flood-prone and as much as 37 percent
identity change according to the require-of India could be inundated by flood state at a policy.52 The articulate and influen-

Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001 4759

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tial middle class had less interest in theethnic communities, religions and regional (Penguin, 1990 reprint) pp 238-39.
24 U Bhaskar Rao, The Story of Rehabilitation
cultures. Normally they would represent
rural sector and their priorities shaped the
(Government of India, New Delhi, 1967).
economic policy due to which alternative different national identities - in conflict
pp 11-13.
models of development were ignored. For and collision; but now they have one25 Ibid, pp 19-26.
example, the relevance of heavy public culture, the middle class culture and one26 Ibid, pp 27.
27 UNHR, Country Profile 1998; The State
identity, the middle class identity. B3
investment in irrigation, flood control and
Hajong and Chakmas of the Indian State of
drainage, agricultural extension and bio- Arunachal Pradesh, 1997, SAHRDC, New
Notes
logical research, off-farm employment were Delhi, 1997.
[Revised version of a paper of the same title 28 Cited in The Tribune, Lahore, March 1946
not given a thought.53 The industrial bias
presented in seminar in Shillong on Crisis and and M Gwayer and Appadorai, Speeches
was a middle class aspiration. The conse- andDocuments on Indian Constitution 1921-
Dimensions of Displacement and Human
quence was a neglect of the agricultural 1947,2 Vols, OUP, New Delhi, pp 638-39.
movement held on July 12-13, 2001 organised by
sector. The first three Five-Year Plans did 29 Myron Weiner, 'Rejected People and Un-
ICSSR, NERC]
not allocate more than 15 per cent of the wanted Migrants in South Asia'. Economic
and Political Weekly, August 21, 1993,
total plan outlay in agriculture and com- 1 Reported in the Telegraph, January 7, 2001.
pp 1737-46.
munity development sector. Thus up to 2 Reported in Lancy Lobo, 'Communal Violence30 Cited in Gail Omvedt, New Social Movements:
the 1960s "the main benefit of increased in Surat City' in Social Action, Vol 3, April-
Reinventing Revolution, Verso, 1992.
June 1993, p 142-52.
income and expenditure accrued to the3 RabindranathTagore 'Birodh Mulak Adarsha' 31 Myron Weiner, op cit.
32 Monirul Hussain, 'State, Identity Movements
upper, middle and richer sections of the in Rabindra Rachnavali, Vol X, P 594 cited
and Internal Displacement in North East India'
population. The bottom 40 per cent, i e, in Arabindo Poddar, Renaissance in Bengal: in Economic and Political Weekly, December
Search for Identity, (IIAS, Shimla, 1977)
virtually all the poor did not benefit from 16, 2000, Vol 35, No 51, pp 4519-24.
pp 184-85.
economic changes that occurred."54 Edu- 4 Rabindranath Tagore, Nationalism, London 33 P V Unnikrishnan, Max Martin, 'Internal
Displacement Due to Disaster and Conflict'
cation had been a major instrument of 1917, pp 29-30 and 44.
in P V Unnikrishnan and S Parsuraman (eds),
social mobility. Yet despite the constitu- 5 Walter Bagehot, Physics and Politics, London, India Disaster Report: Towards a Policy
1887, pp 20-21 cited in Eric Hobsbawm,
tional provision, primary education was Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Pro- Initiative, OUP, Delhi, pp 282-83.
34 Ibid.
thoroughly neglected and higher educa- gramme, Myth, Reality, Cambridge, 1990, p 1.
tion favoured. This also benefited the 35 Gopal Guru, 'Dalit and Caste Conflict' in ibid,
6 Tapan K Bose, 'Changing Nature of Refugee
pp 238-39.
emerging middle classes. The 'top down' Crisis' in Tapan K Bose, Rita Manchanda 36 Ibid.
(eds), States, Citizens and Outsiders: the
37 Ibid.
model of development was virtually a 'top
Uprooted Peoples of South Asia, Kathmanda,
to middle' affair. Thus this great Indian 38 Walter Fernandez National Development and
1997, pp 40-69.
middle class remained the core of Indian Tribal Deprivation, Indian Social Institute,
7 Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes: The
New Delhi, 1992, pp 1-20.
nationhood and major beneficiary of Short 20th Century 1914-1991, Viking, 1994,
39 Shiv Vishwanathan, 'Interrogating Nation'
pp 50-51.
national progress. 8 Ibid presented in a workshop 'Challenges of the
Interestingly this class is not homoge- 9 Ibid New States'Organised by Centre for Study in
Developing Societies in Bhopal, December
10 Eric Hobsbawm, op cit, pp 5 and 7.
neous in terms of cultural roots. It represents 14-16, 2000.
11 H W Nevison, cited in R Palme Dutt, India
different ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups 40 'Fei' is an ancient Chinese term by which a
Today London, 1940, reprint, Calcutta 1970,
who hailed from different regions of the p 286.
state declared a dissenter as non-person.
subcontinent. They do not represent any 41 Lancy Lobo 'Ethnocide and Pauperisation of
12 John Seeley, Expansion of England, London
ethnic milieu or a cultural ethos. In this the Tribal Oustees of Large Dams' in J S
1883, p 254. Bhandari and Subhandra Mitra-Chanana
13 Ananda Mohan Bose in the report of the Indian
sense they are a heterogeneous group. But (eds), Tribes and Governmental Policies,
Association (1883) cited in Bipan Chandra
in term of class culture they are homo-' 'Nationalist Historians interpretation of Indian Delhi, 1997, pp 227-44.
42 Ibid.
genous. The homogenisation thrust of the National Movement' in Sabysachi Bhatta-
43 Walter Fernandez, op cit, also Walter
economic development has compressed charya and Romilla Thapar (eds), Situating Fernandez, 'Pawns in Development Game' in
this group so much that they now speak Indian History, OUP, 1986, pp 194-238. S Parsuraman and P V Unnikrishnan (eds),
14 Report of the first Indian National Congress
the same languages (English or Hindi or cited in S R Mehrotra, The Emergence of the op cit, pp 276-79.
44 Ibid.
both), throng the same .urban centre and Indian National Congress, Vikas, Delhi, 1971, 45 Ibid.
even dress similarly. There is no trace of p 418. 46 UNHCR, The State of World's Refugees: In
15 P Ananda Charlu, Presidential Address, Indian
any ethnic characteristic left in them. They Search of Solutions, OUP, 1995 pp 3-8.
National Congress, Nagpur, 1891.
are now all alike. They are like 'little boxes', 47 The figures below are from India At a Glance,
16 J M S Baljon, Reforms and Religions Ideas
as in American radical jargon of the 1960s, of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, (Leiden, 1949) p 36 by Jagaran, 1998, New Delhi and India
quoted in Mushirul Hasan, Nationalism and Disaster Report, op cit.
which equalised middle classes with little
Communal Politics in India 1885-1930, New 48 The term coined by Pawan Kumar Verma, The
boxes, different only in colour.55 Great Indian Middle Class, Penguin, 1995.
Delhi, 1994, pp 28-29.
What is ironical is that the search for 49 Ibid, p 49 also Pranab Bandhan, Political
17 Mushirul Hasanjibid, p 29.
nationhood in the sub continent has always18 Uma Kaura, Muslims and Indian Nationalism Economy ofDevelopment in India, New Delhi,
1994, p 38.
focused ethnicity, culture and religion as 1928-1940, New Delhi, 1977, p 6.
19 Mushirul Hasan, op cit, p 29. 50 Paul R Brass, The Politics of India since
we have seen above. But after a painful Independence Cup, 1994, p 301.
20 Uma Kaura, op cit.
process of peeling and shedding the es- 21 Liaqat Ali Khan, Resolutions of All India 51 Ibid, p 302.
sence it was left with is a group of people Muslim League, December 1939-40, AIML, 52 Pavan Kumar Verma, op.cit. p 49.
heterogeneous in terms of ethnicity or Central office, Delhi, nd, pp 47-48. 53 Paul R Brass, op.cit, p 289.
22 MA Jinnah, Presidential Address, All India 54 Ibid, p 292.
culture or religion. It was a conglomera- 55 The radical American composition of the
Muslim League, 27 session, Lahore 1940, in
tion of people who represented diversity. Uma Kaura, op cit, pp 193-94. 1960s which I came to learn from Gail Omvedt
They came from different language groups,
23 Pereival Spear, A History of India, vol-II, at the Centre for Social Studies, Surat.

4760 Economic and Political Weekly December 22, 2001

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