Assam Elections 2016: A bridge to connect Majuli's voter concerns

On the way from Kamalabari town square to the Garhmukh school field where the action is about to take place, several people are walking fast. No one wants to miss the helicopter.

As it lands, curious onlookers cheer and start taking photos and videos. CM Tarun Gogoi's helicopter is the second time anyone has seen one here; the first being the time BJP candidate and CM hopeful Sarbananda Sonowal bought in PM Narendra Modi on March 26.

In the Gogoi meeting, attended by a lot of Mishing people, rhetoric has lost out to accusations. "Rajib Lochan Pegu (the incumbent MLA) is the son of this soil; he will live here and die here. But will this Sarbananda, who has flown in from outside, care for you after you've voted for him," he asks, to loud cheers from the crowd.

Majuli, a riverine island, bears the worst onslaught of the Brahmaputra every year. Bit by bit, the island loses its land mass. The first record of the size of the land mass, from 1905, is that it was 1,255sq km. In the 2011 Brahmaputra Board report, it was reported to be just 520 sq km. Today, over 9,000 people, homeless because their homes have been washed away, are yet to be rehabilitated.

Without a proper communication channel, the people living here have to make do with the ferry service that plies from the Nemati Ghat, a few kilometres from Jorhat, which takes over an hour to reach here. Medical emergencies have to be dealt with keeping in mind the ferry time.

Bamboo slits stopping the immediate erosion at Salmora

"In some of the villages here, there is no electricity, and in some places, no drinking water," says Biplab Saikia, a local journalist. "The prices of consumables are high, and health issues are a major cause of concern."

The underdeveloped island town is now the battleground where Assam's most electrifying poll match seems to be unfolding. Standing opposite the incumbent MLA, Pegu, who belongs to the local Mishing community, is BJP's CM candidate, Sonowal, who comes from the Sonowal-Kachari tribe from nearby Dibrugarh. Mishings are a sizeable 40,000 in the total voter base of 1.4 lakh.

Majuli is also home to the Xatras, Vashnavite monasteries, founded by Srimanta Sankardeb in 1400s, as an alternate to the idol-worshipping Brahmin Hindu culture for Kayasthas.
 

The Auniati Xatra

"There were over 65 Xatras, in Majuli. Today, there are only 22 left because of the erosion," said Nitul Dutta, a Xatra bhakt, who helps arrange tours for the several foreigners who land here. Some of the Xatras that have been eroded completely are Kamalabari Xatra and the Elengi Xatra. In the old times, Majuli stretched up to Nagaon, which is 190 km away from the nearest town Jorhat by road.

Auniaiti Xatra, one of the oldest, houses 360 bhakts. "People are hoping for new reforms to usher in real development. But believe me when I say that we are not one to buy into divisive politics. Our fellow Muslims are our brothers," says Herombo Deb Goswami, a senior Xatra member at Auniati.

It is believed that most Xatras have put their weight silently behind BJP, but many are wary to voice it openly. Rahul Gandhi's claims that he was stopped from entering an Xatra by RSS workers is dismissed by many. "There have been coming here for the last few months; there's no office," says Saikia.

A picture of BJP's CM Sarbananda Sonowal inside a Xatra

Modi's visit, and the shot to be the CM's constituency has risen a lot of hopes here. A much-needed bridge will be bought in, the BJP has promised. It also roped in Nitin Gadkari to lay the foundation stone in Jorhat in February. Modi has also promised to make Majuli an independent district.

Rajiv Patir, who's part of a local Mishing organisation, says that he's not too sure of anyone will work for the benefit of the small communities like the Mishings. "People want a change in the government, agreed, but how many Assam leaders have spoken for the tribal communities," he said.

Ratul Bhuyian points at a spot a kilometre away where Majuli used to extend to

Ratul Bhuyan, who lives in Salmora, one of the worst affected in the erosion, points to a stretch a kilometre away from the embankment he is standing on. "That's where the island used to be," he says, adding that he has lost a brother to the river. "We depend on pottery due to the lack of natural resources. We hope at least some government does something for the poor like us."