'MODIfied' - yes, satisfied - not at all; Avijit Purkayastha sums up Modi's Silchar visit

Thank God there was no roof! The decibel levels, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi walked up the stage went sky high. More than 2 lakh expectations welcomed BJP’s 2019 Prime Ministerial candidate wholeheartedly with thunderous applause. Ramnagar was filled with perfume of promise. His Bengali verses in the in the beginning poured in the minds of the mass as rain would in the desert, blessings.

The pronunciation was all over the place but the brevity was excused as the effort in itself was a great gesture. But, that was about it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, known for his oratory masterpieces, often compared with America’s Barack Obama, somehow missed what Barak Valley was waiting for.

The detention camps, paper mill, NRC, Mahasadak – there was no concrete announcement on anything. About 12 lakh NRC rejects failed to submit a claim, the Prime Minister decided to play ‘touch and go’ by saying, “No Indian citizens will be deprived of citizenship,” but, if NRC determines who is Indian and who is
not, then what happens to the Indians rejected by the NRC.

The Prime Minister did not even touch the Paper Mill issue and his intentional ignorance probably ‘shatters the revival dreams. The Prime Minister did drive on ‘Mahasadak’ briefly, as he said, “We will soon fulfill Atal ji’s dream”. It is worth mentioning here that Modi in 2014 was all about fixed deadline which in 2019 seems to be taking a more abstract route. People of Barak Valley expected Modi to say the road would be ready by so and so date as he did for inaugurations in Guwahati which did not happen.

This was the same place where he thumped his chest and said if BJP is elected in Assam, his government would uproot detention camps. Well, the ground reality is government officials are burning their mid night oil to finalise a land to build a giant detention camp which can accommodate a large number of ‘illegal immigrants’.

If the initial Bengali lines were mesmerising for the 2 lakh Bengalis in the audience, his open endorsement of clause six of Assam accord was a murder of their sentiments. Prime Minister while bragging about his government’s achievement in Northeast and Assam mentioned January 2, 2018 as a significant day for the people of Assam. He took credit as his Cabinet (meeting chaired by him) approved the formation of a high level committee to implement Clause 6 of Assam Accord. To give a context, after Assam agitation of 1979-1985, Assam Accord was signed on 15th August, 1985. Clause 6 of the Assam Accord envisaged that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards, shall be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people.

It did not end there, his tweet in Assamese and English made it clear that he or his party is least bothered about regional Bengali sentiments. In fact, one could assume that the Prime Minister wants to bridge the gap between Barak and Bramhaputra and Assamese is going to be the pillars of that bridge.

Overall, this speech could end up as a disaster or a masterstroke. Disaster as this speech leaves already messed up BJP cadres in Barak Valley in a difficult position also his public endorsement of Citizenship Amendment Bill could cause harm in upper Bramhaputra Valley and other Northeastern regions. At the same time by endorsing Assam Accord from Silchar he made his stance clear on the Bengali versus others debate in Assam which can help him retain the whole of Northeast.

To sum it up, a phone call from Delhi, “Over to you Himanta” would have done Assam BJP a bigger favour than this 30 minutes on stage.