SONOWAL FEELS THE FURY
CM Sarbananda Sonowal, once hailed as ‘the hero of Assam’, is now dubbed ‘traitor’
On January 19, the Director General of Assam Police, Kuladhar Saikia, spent the day coordinating with police officials across the state to ensure that chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, in Morigaon district for a public event, would not be shown black flags. That’s the greeting BJP leaders in Assam have been getting lately for their support to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, which, if passed, will make illegal migrants from certain minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship.
The biggest casualty of this backlash is the personal political equity of Sonowal, whose political journey has revolved around the eviction of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from Assam and protecting the interests of the Assamese people. In 2005, he was hailed as the ‘hero of Assam’, for fighting a legal battle to get the Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act, 1983, repealed by the Supreme Court. Enacted only in Assam, the act made detection and deportation of illegal immigrants almost impossible. Now, though, he is being called a “traitor”.
Assam’s celebrated singer Zubeen Garg, who sang the BJP’s campaign song during the 2016 assembly election, recently wrote to Sonowal asking him to take a stand against the bill, reminding him of his promise to protect his land, home and community. He offered to return the payment he took for the song, but also asked Sonowal to return the votes he won in 2016 with that song’s help.
Yet, Sonowal has remained silent on the bill—unlike his colleague Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been promoting it as a protective tool for Hindus against Muslim invasion— barring a couple of occasions
when he said he would always protect the interests of the Assamese people. What has added to his embarrassment is the strong opposition to the bill expressed by BJP’s N. Biren Singh, his Manipur counterpart. Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga, too, have been vocal against the bill.
Sonowal did oppose the bill in his meetings with the BJP’s national brass, but
had to bow to pressure from the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Several BJP insiders have hinted at a conspiracy to malign his name, giving the example of the sedition charge registered on flimsy grounds against one of Assam’s most respected intellectuals, Hiren Gohain, who spoke against the bill. “Sonowal was unaware of this decision. Someone is remote-controlling the state administration,” says a BJP MLA, forgetting that Sonowal is also the home minister of the state.
The appointment of Ranjit Kumar Pachnanda— former Indo-Tibetan Border Police chief and Kolkata police commissioner—as Sonowal’s security advisor has also been linked to the CM’s growing discomfort with the bill. “[Pachnanda] has no clue about Assam’s socio-political dynamics. The Centre’s sent him to keep an eye on the CM,” says a top police official in the state.