Fortifying Dhubri: Why Assam's Army Camp Proposal Is More Than A Security Measure | OPINION

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's recent proposal to establish a permanent army camp in Dhubri, a sensitive border district in western Assam, may appear at first glance as a routine administrative move aimed at bolstering law and order. But this announcement comes loaded with deeper ideological and geopolitical significance. It addresses not only the immediate aftermath of communal tensions, including the recent "beef row", but also the complex and long-standing concerns of demographic transformation, radicalisation, and national security risks tied to illegal immigration and porous borders.

Dhubri, which shares a highly vulnerable border with Bangladesh, is a district steeped in complex history. Once a prosperous river port and a part of the Koch-Rajbongshi kingdom, its transformation into a Muslim-majority region, with an 80% Muslim population according to the 2011 Census, is at the heart of the political and security debate. Many in Assam see this transformation not merely as demographic evolution but as the consequence of unchecked infiltration, systemic negligence, and ideological subversion.

The Historical Context: A Border Scarred By Partition

To understand the urgency behind this proposal, one must recall the trauma of the 1905 Partition of Bengal, when Assam was merged with East Bengal, a decision that sowed the seeds for cultural and demographic dislocation. The British, motivated by administrative convenience and divide-and-rule politics, created a long-lasting imbalance that was further aggravated during the 1947 Partition and subsequent waves of illegal immigration from what later became Bangladesh.

The central grievance of many Assamese voices, including the Chief Minister, is that the post-Independence leadership, both at the Centre and in the state, failed to grasp the long-term consequences of this immigration. While the Assam Accord of 1985 promised detection and deportation of illegal immigrants, the implementation remained tepid. Over the decades, this negligence allowed fundamentalist ideologies to flourish in border regions like Dhubri, creating enclaves of radicalisation that now require urgent security interventions.

Sleeper Cells and Jihadi Networks

Chief Minister Sarma's justification for the army camp isn't just based on policing needs; it's a direct response to what he and many others describe as an expanding jihadist network. Intelligence and law enforcement reports over the last two decades have repeatedly flagged the activities of radical organisations, such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), Harkat-ul-Jihad, and even remnants of Al-Qaeda sympathisers operating in the border districts.

What makes these groups particularly dangerous is their strategy of embedding themselves within the immigrant Muslim population, often taking advantage of their poverty, illiteracy, and lack of awareness. Many of these organisations have resorted to using religious institutions like madrassas and mosques for indoctrination, recruitment, and even arms training. The 2014 Burdwan bomb blast investigation unearthed significant links between such institutions in Assam and a broader cross-border jihadist network.

The pattern is deeply disturbing: indoctrination through education, economic assimilation via land purchase and trade, interfaith marriages aimed at strategic demographic embedding, and gradual political mobilisation. This hybrid form of militancy, both ideological and territorial, makes it much harder to counter through civilian policing alone. Hence, the call for a permanent army presence.

Demographic Anxiety: Native-Migrant Tensions

Another key dimension, often unspoken in Delhi but loudly articulated in Assam, is the demographic anxiety among the native population. The perceived "swamping” of native communities — whether Hindu Assamese, Koch-Rajbongshis, or Bodos — by Bengali-speaking Muslim immigrants has led to massive social resentment. In districts like Dhubri and Barpeta, locals often recount how Hindu-majority villages have turned Muslim-majority within a generation. These shifts are not merely numerical but involve significant changes in cultural, linguistic, and religious dynamics.

Moreover, the fear is not irrational. Historical precedents like the Bodo-Muslim riots of the 1990s and 2012 have shown how ethnic fault lines can easily erupt into violence. Many Muslims displaced from Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, and Chirang during those riots settled in Dhubri, further accentuating the demographic tilt.

Civil Society And Mainstream Silence

One of the most glaring aspects of this entire saga is the muted response from the national media and civil society. Crimes against Hindus in Dhubri, ranging from property usurpation to harassment of women, often go unreported. Unlike other parts of India, where minority concerns rightly receive widespread coverage, the slow erosion of indigenous rights and demographic displacement in Assam seldom garners attention. The asymmetric narrative has only deepened the sense of alienation among the state's native population.

Civil society organisations, often accused of being soft on border radicalisation under the garb of human rights, have also failed to raise alarms about the indoctrination happening in the madrassas or the clandestine funding of radical NGOs. As a result, the line between religious identity and political-religious extremism has dangerously blurred.

Why the Army Camp is Essential

The proposed army camp near Dhubri is thus not just a military installation; it is a symbol of strategic assertion. It signals that the Indian state is finally willing to treat border management and demographic infiltration as national security priorities, rather than leaving them to local law enforcement or electoral politics.

It is also timely. With the growing influence of radical elements in Bangladesh, where groups like Jamaat-e-Islami still wield considerable clout, and where anti-India sentiments are on the rise in some quarters, India must secure its vulnerable flanks. Dhubri, due to its proximity to the international border and its porous geography crisscrossed by rivers, has become a preferred route not just for illegal immigrants but for smugglers, human traffickers, and potentially, terrorists.

The region is already a hub for cross-border crimes — cattle smuggling, counterfeit currency operations, narcotics trade, and even sex trafficking. In such a scenario, a permanent army presence would serve both as a deterrent and as a rapid response force in case of terror activities or communal violence.

Dhubri A Test Case For India

What is happening in Dhubri is not an isolated case of regional disturbance. It is a microcosm of the national fault lines around illegal immigration, cultural identity, religious radicalisation, and national security. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's proposal, while bold, is not driven by paranoia or prejudice. It is a recognition of a ground reality that has been denied for too long by political correctness and bureaucratic inertia.

Assam has always been India's frontier, not just geographically but also civilisationally. For decades, its people have borne the brunt of political compromises made elsewhere. It is only just that the state now receives the military and moral support it needs to secure its borders, its culture, and its communities.

The army camp in Dhubri, if established, should be only the first step. What is required is a sustained, multi-pronged policy: tight border surveillance, demographic documentation, civic education, deradicalisation programs, and a media ecosystem that tells the truth without fear or favour.

Because if Dhubri falls, Assam may not be far behind. And what falls next could be more than a state; it could be the idea of India itself.

(The writer is a technocrat, political analyst, and author)

[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP Network Pvt. Ltd.]

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