NRC: What happens to our 40 lakh human beings in Assam?

Though those excluded from the NRC are given a chance to prove their Indian citizenship but this in itself raises pertinent questions – Does the government expect the socially and economically deprived to have all their paperwork intact and updated? With frequent shifts and displacements and also because of the flood fury that Assam is infamous for, a large percentage of these families do not even have cooking utensils or adequate clothing on themselves, so what to talk of adequate documents to prove their ancestral backgrounders? Their children and grandchildren are born in shanties and not in hospitals, so birth certificates are not in their clasp. They are not sure of the next meal so what proofs can they gather to prove that they or their parents and grandparents lived or died in this country.

Can we expect lakhs of the socially and economically deprived to prove that they are Indians? After all, it’s the marginalised who are worst affected by this crisis. Today not just chaos and confusion but also communal divide is spreading out in Assam. Lakhs of Bengali Muslims and Hindus, living in Assam for generations, are being branded as Bangladeshi immigrants. Also thrown into the outsider category are the Koch Rajbongshis.

Tomorrow, if the NRC were to open its ‘branches’ in other states of the country, havoc and civil war could spread out…complete anarchy. Are we heading towards another round of partitioning! At least , during the Partitioning phase of the 1940s , the displaced knew where to head, which boundaries and borders to cross, where camps and shelter could be expected, but today if lakhs of human beings were to be un - accepted as Indian citizens , then what happens to their lives ! Are we churning out another refugee lot like the hapless Rohingyas who stand displaced and uprooted from their own land.

Of course, there is a historical and political backdrop to this entire crisis. But what about the humanitarian aspect! Are we going to deport lakhs because they cannot prove that they belong to this land. Should human forms get thrown into the sea or into the jungles because he or she cannot prove that he or she belongs to the politically set parameters and boundaries! Because he or she cannot prove that his or her parents or grandparents ventured into Assam much before the 1971 war!

Immigration issues will always stand out in border States , where borders are not just porous but connected by emotional and economic considerations. Either we club the subcontinent as one, or accept those residing here for decades. Don’t tell me a day will come when we Indians could be questioned on our ancestral backgrounders! After all, the Aryans did come here from somewhere! Are you well equipped with adequate documents of your Aryan ancestors!

It’s birthday time for Vyjayantimala Bali

Come August 13, and its birthday time for her! Though I have interviewed Vyjayantimala Bali just once but thereafter on a couple of occasions when she would spot me, she made it a point to say a hello. She comes across as an absolutely warm, and articulate person.

Detailing how as a shy five-year-old she had performed Bharatanatyam for the Pope in Rome, to her gradual transformation—from an “introvert” class tenth student to her dance performance for the Chennai audience and finally her entry into films. After all, her dance performance had caught the attention of the producers of AVM production and her very first film Bahaar had left the audience spellbound, which, of course, her other 54 or more films continued to do, till got married. As she’d quipped, “Thereafter, I did not retire but relinquished films.”

Several years later when she made inroads into the political sphere and as a Member of the Parliament she’d represented the South Madras constituency. And when I asked her about her switch from dance to films and to the world of politics, this is what she had to say: “First of all, even in my films, my dancing influenced the films and not the other way round. All through my film career, my dancing continued. After the shooting, when I would go back home, I would be in a totally different atmosphere - only traditional arts, music and my dance. Also, let me point out that I never opted for films. It was incidental. I come from a traditional south Indian family and being the only child led a very protective life. My grandmother wanted me to pursue higher studies. A close family friend saw one of my dance performances. He was one of the directors of AVM Productions and he coaxed and convinced my grandfather to let me take a role. It wasn’t a romantic role but one of those roles which was centred around dance. In fact, I didn’t even realise what acting was. The film was such a hit that other films followed.”

On her name linked with the RK/Raj Kapoor camp she looked straight at me, her large expressive eyes had looked all the more expressive, and then she uttered - “Gossip! Gossip will always be there. As a film star you are in the public eye. All this is a lot of exaggeration especially where the RK camp was concerned. Tell me who isn’t linked with them? In fact, all these ‘links’ are needed to boost the film ; publicity gimmicks .Even in the West all the actors are linked with their co-stars for this very purpose.”

On why she quit films after her marriage to Dr Bali, she said “See, after my marriage it was a mutual decision (my husband’s and my decision ) to relinquish films. And I feel it was a very wise decision because at that time I was at the top. My husband was too gentle, too considerate and suave to ever force his views on me. In fact, he was godsent for me. I had met him in Mumbai, actually during one of the film shootings in Bombay. I wasn’t too well so the director got him to treat me. That’s how it started. And slowly I realised that when he wouldn’t come, I would miss him. That’s how I knew that it was love. He had realised it much earlier . ”

Narrating about her entry into films, she said, “Well, my husband thought that I had the makings of a politician, so he wanted me to join politics. In fact, it happened slowly - in the beginning we toured Tamil Nadu and saw the chaos spread around and how funds were being misused and people’s disillusionment with the administration. Wherever we toured we saw for ourselves another reality: how people loved Indira Gandhi. So, when we visited New Delhi we met Indira Gandhi and told her the state of affairs ,and even told her about my own inclination towards joining politics, she was encouraging. So that’s how I entered the political scenario and was accepted very spontaneously by the masses. It wasn’t that I was just hopping from one profession to another. After all, I quit the film industry in 1968 and I entered politics years later – in the early 1980s. Nor was I party jumper, people knew about my integrity. But, yes, it is very tough for a woman to survive in the political scenario.”