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Journalism of Courage
EVERY time the floodwaters of the Brahmaputra recede, they take a bit of Majuli with them. The water causes severe erosion and washes away acres of Majuli—the world’s largest river island. Concerned over the erosion after this monsoon, about 22 Vaishnavite monasteries of Majuli joined a local students group to protest government inaction. The one-day dharna threatened to spill over into a drawn out agitation. The spiritual colour of the protest made chief minister Tarun Gogoi visit Majuli and announce a series of schemes to protect it.
‘‘The tragedy of Majuli is that it has received only lip service by successive governments in Delhi and Dispur,’’ says Arun Kumar Sharma, the lone Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) member in the Rajya Sabha, who was instrumental in floating the Majuli Island Protection and Development Council (MIPADC) a few years ago.
Majuli became Assam’s centre for cultural and spiritual studies after Srimanta Sankaradeva, the great 16th century Assamese saint, philosopher, artist and social reformer set base here. Until about 50 years ago, Majuli had 66 satras or Vaishnavite monasteries. Floods and erosion have forced at least 44 of them to safer places.
Satras are centres of Assamese art and culture and the dance forms propagated by them were granted recognition as Indian classical dances by the Sangeet Natak Akademi a couple of years ago.
Majuli is also a storehouse of antiques, including manuscripts written on barks of the sanchi tree, coins, copper plates, wood carvings, carved images of gods and goddesses.
‘‘The satras of Majuli have played a major role in the social uplift of the state. It was from here that the second Assamese news magazine was published in the mid-19th century,’’ says Pitambar Deva Goswami, satradhikar—pontiff—of the Auniati satra. Goswami has been also leading the campaign to get UNESCO recognition of a World Heritage Site for the island.
Majuli’s troubles began with the devastating earthquake of 1950 that changed the course of the Brahmaputra and led to severe erosion. Sediment running down from the tributaries of the Brahmaputra from Arunachal Pradesh has compounded the problem, causing additional pressure on the island.
While the current agitation made Assam’s chief minister promise a few crores from the state government, he has passed on the blame to the Brahmaputra Board, questioning their ambitious Rs 245-crore project that’s still to take off.
‘‘The state government alone cannot save Majuli. It needs expertise as well as huge sums of money. I hope the Centre will come forward through the Brahmaputra Board to save the island from extinction,’’ Gogoi said after visiting Majuli.
But it will take much more than promises and grants to hold on to the slipping island.
