1 unnamed “leader”, 1000 illegal settlers and vote-bank politics

Most of you must have missed this news (below)…I almost did. Pl read through and see if you can spot something odd. From Politicians behind Orang encroachment (emphasis added):

…facts…reveal how vested political interests have joined hands with illegal settlers and encouraged them to encroach on land, including sensitive Protected Areas..

The latest incident in which scores of people entered Orang National Park and built up shelters within a span of few hours has demonstrated how well-planned and motivated the entire operation was.

It was timely action by forest department personnel, assisted by the police and the army that finally evicted the encroachers who were armed and willing to confront the government personnel on May 6.

Nearly 1,000 people…entered the South-western part of the national park…The status of their citizenship…was very doubtful.

This is where it gets interesting:

Sources, on condition of anonymity, told The Assam Tribune that even while they were being pushed out of the national park, the offenders were issuing threats and made reference to a particular political leader of the Congress party.

“They were quite open about their intentions…and mentioned the name of the leader, who they said was supporting their cause,” said a source present when the confrontation had taken place.

…The encroachers had lined up women and children on the front when they faced forest personnel and government officials, indicating that they were trained for such a situation beforehand. Such a move made their eviction particularly difficult.

Although the forest department has stuck to its position, and earned kudos from various quarters, its officials believe that a similar situation might recur in the near future.

By this point my curiousity was aroused enough to do some digging… But I first wanted to be sure of my geography…Where exactly was the park – and more importantly, in which Lok Sabha constituency? Courtesy, Google Maps this is the area around Orang National Park:

As you can see from the map, the nearest town/city appears to be Tezpur. Sure enough, Tezpur did turn out to be the constituency which appears to include Orang.

Image courtesy: mapsofIndia.com

But one piece of the puzzle still remained. Who might be the “particular political leader of the Congress party” mentioned in the Assam Tribune report?

I could not think of anyone I knew in Tezpur who I could call. I toyed with the idea of calling the Assam Tribune offices to speak to the reporter but did not feel that it would yield anything – certainly nothing on record. I felt as if I had reached a dead end…until I stumbled upon indiaelections.in which had the names of contestants from the Tezpur Lok Sabha constituency.

And guess who turns out to be the Congress candidate from Tezpur?

Shri Moni Kumar Subba, 3-time MP from Tezpur who lost to the AGP candidate in 2009, after representing the constitutency for almost 11 years.

But being a three-time Member of Lok Sabha is not Sh Subba’s only claim to fame. He may well be the only non-Indian citizen to ever become a people’s representative in India’s history.

Image courtesy: CNN-IBN

Surprised? Don’t be.

Courtesy, CNN-IBN (emphasis mine):

Subba has for 16 years lied that he is an Indian. The truth is he is a Nepalese, and he is a criminal. A report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) says Subba is a Nepali national originally named Moni Raj Limbo, who escaped from the Illam prison in Nepal while serving sentence for murder.

…A CNN-IBN investigation in March 2006 exposed Subba for lying about his place of birth and hiding his Nepalese identity. The birth certificate is the only document Subba has to prove his Indian citizenship, but the CNN-IBN investigation established that the certificate was a fake and that he is a foreign national.

The Supreme Court – which in January 2009 had expressed its inability to “unseat legislators” – recently asked CBI to take action against the Congress MP.

And so I wonder: Is Sh Subba the “particular political leader of the Congress party” mentioned in the report? I might just call the Assam Tribune to find out.

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Additional Reference: A long article on people living in the river-islands in Brahmaputra. I have not read it fully so will reserve my comment for now. But it does mention that a large number of these “natives” are actually illegal migrants from Bangladesh.