Migration and Stratification

Migration is the movement of humans across territories and throughout the course of history humans and their ancestors have migrated from one territory to another. However, migration patterns and the reasons behind migration changed over time from troglodytes migrating in search of food sources to Syrian refugees and Rohingyas leaving their countries due to violence.

A study of these movements indicates how stratification slowly seeps into the societal structure when an alien group of people enter a completely new habitation. Stratification trends show that there is no consistency in how the natives perceive the new immigrants and the way in which social dynamics plays out.

Migration had a significant impact on the North Eastern and Eastern Regions of India in the post partition period leading to change in demographics of the region. This assumes significance given contemporary developments in this region and the way the migration narrative could shape in the future given the nature of recent state enacted legislations.

The social structure in the North East changed in the post partition period due to the mass migration of East Bengal refugees and this was perceived as a threat to the local culture by the natives of the region. The series of events that lead to migration of people particularly East Bengal refugees can be traced back to partition. People in large numbers migrated to the North Eastern part of the country which was essentially home to tribal groups. The state of Tripura is one of the states which were affected by this migration. The king of Tripura essentially ruled over a large part of present day Bangladesh. But the tribal population always outnumbered the Bengalis in the kingdom. However, the abysmal rate of education and their inability to effectively work in administrative capacities meant that the king actively promoted the migration of Bengalis.

On the request of the king the Bengali population migrated. But this free hand given by the king led to the overcrowding of the capital region and the suburbs by the migrant population. The census reports in this span of forty years show that the tribal population decreased in this region from 60% and above to less than 30%. Post-independence  governance encountered a new problem: the locals were reduced to a minority and the divide between them and the nouveau majority widened. Some tribal groups were antagonized and this led to the development of extremist factions among them. The new majority also became hostile towards the tribal groups and developed strong anti tribal sentiment. This led to frequent clashes between the groups thus widening the social divide.

The shaping and creation of this narrative meant  that the tribals believed their employment and land were being appropriated by the immigrants. Also, this led to tribals moving into ghettos in the major cities and participating in minimal interactions with the Bengali population. The Bengalis also viewed the tribals as being inferior to them and thus occupying a lower stratum in the societal structure. The Bengalis also developed a sense of entitlement and saw themselves as the crème of society because of the prevailing rate of illiteracy and incompetency on the part of tribals to adopt the new urbanized model of social development.

Also mass literacy drives spearheaded by Bengalis and some tribal groups gave them a sense of entitlement over these people whom they believed were not at par with them. This stratification and division caused widespread resentment amongst the tribals who claimed their right over the land and began protesting for a territory solely for them based on these divisive lines which they termed “Twipra land’. They also demanded that the ‘refugees’ be sent back because of the disruption they had created by plundering the resources of the natives of the land.

The ongoing NRC (National Register of Citizen) debate and the contention of fixing the cutoff date revolve around these themes. Stratification is a serious concern but the fixing of the date in this legislation to 1952 is very insensitive for the migrants who mainly migrated due to the atrocities in the immediate post partition era.

Agniva Chakrabarti

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