Migration is in the nature of the living. Birds, animals, fishes and insects, all migrate and frequently change their place of habitation. Some follow a certain pattern in migration, others not. There are tiny birds for instance that fly 8,000 kms from South Africa to Canada to spend their summer there and by winter fly back to their place of origin. Fishes too at the bottom of the seas swim thousands of miles to reach a certain place to lay their eggs or the young ones there. Even the feeble butterfly has been found to migrate in large groups to places hundreds of miles away from its place of birth and growth. And, it has been noticed, food or seasonal requirements are not the only impelling forces which move them from place to place. At times they migrate without any obvious reason. In some cases they seem to be gripped by an irresistible urge amounting to frenzy which drives them to risk their lives—many drop dead due to exhaustion on their way and move from one geographical location to another.

Human beings too seem to possess that desire which rises to a strong urge in some cases, so that, while some move for reasons of resources, others do without any explicable reason. From the beginning of life on earth people have migrated : from north to south, from east to west, from one continent to another, from cities to suburbs from suburbs to cities.

Who are the Americans? Who are the Moroccans? Where did they originate from? Who are those Indians who claim India exclusively for themselves ? What’s their place of origin ? Look at the distribution of populations within India itself. Don’t you find thousands of Southerners in the North ? And thousands of Northerners in the South ? While there are thousands of Madrasis in Maharashtra, don’t you find countless thousands of Sindhis in Bengal ?

And the process goes on. Millions of people step down every day on the soils of capital cities of the world to embark on a new life of challenge. And hundreds of thousands of people step down everyday on the platforms of Jammu Chandigarh, Delhi, Lucknow, Calcutta, Baroda, Madras, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Kanyakumari and countless other cities to embark upon a new life of hope, ambition and hardwork.

Possessed with certain common qualities these immigrants are found to be of immense value in the growth and development of life and material. They are courageous, resourceful and sacrificing. They till the barren soils, work in industries for low wages, and are ready to labour against all odds. In return they demand very little. They can work for long hours and accept modest returns. In places of pleasure and pastime they are found few. In crimes, demonstrations and strikes they indulge little, for they are too occupied in productive work and have not given up the comforts and pleasures of home-country for such intemperance.

No country therefore closes its doors to them—except for the Communist countries who rule in the name of the proletariat! Except that no one likes a general rush, every country accepts the emigrants one way or the other. At times they are even lured into migration through a variety of ways. Although feared by the sedentary and tired populations of old, they are generally welcome for they are an unmistakable sign of growth and prosperity.

What then is new with the Bengalis and Biharis in Assam. Did they not find forests and cut them down to till the lands? Did they not find  barren fields in which they toiled for decades to turn them into fertile lands. Did they not fill vacancies in industries in which the local population found too proud to work? Did they not enrich the culture while they taught lessons in hard-work and sacrifice. What then is their crime ? Why are they being massacred in thousands, and only they and none other immigrant in India?

Perhaps because they are Muslims !