Majuli- A culture in to the elimination

The fury of mighty Brahamputra river has again raised the fear of elimination of Majuli, The largest river island in the world, situated in north-eastern state of Assam. This squegging island is again cutoff from the rest of country with the ferry service from Jorhat district town is suspended since last week. The island waits for a saviour as the mighty Brahmaputra once again eats away at the banks of the world’s largest river island. And it's much beyond a cultural heritage that is at stake: along with the 22 satras—seats of Vaishnavite culture and religion set up by the sixth century saint Sri Srimanta Sankardev— the island is also home to a number of communities including the Deuries, Misings and a number of others, who have lived here for centuries. And this is why the people are remembering Sanjay Ghosh, The head of an NGO called Award-NE, who had to sacrifice his life on the hands of United Liberation Front (ULFA) insurgents exactly 10 years ago. He had done a lot to save Majuli..

Eliminating Island

Majuli has lost over 400 sq km of its area in the last five decades with the Brahmaputra causing massive bank erosion. It has been reduced to nearly 800 sq. km from 1250 sq km in 1950. With 22 satra institutions, it is the nerve centre of Assamese music, painting, theatre and other arts and has been vying for a World Heritage Site status. But floods and erosion have displaced several hundred families and more than 20 Vaishnavite satras have been shifted to safer places.

Sanjoy Ghosh

Residents of Majuli still remember Sanjoy Ghosh, his work and how he was snatched from them a decade ago. on the 10th anniversary of the social worker’s abduction from the island, hundreds gathered at Kamalabari Girls’ ME School this week to pay tribute to the man who showed them the way to self-dependence.
Educated in Oxford, Ghosh was the general secretary of AVARD-NE, an organisation that had entered Majuli for an anti-erosion project but went on to become a friend, philosopher and guide for the islanders. Ulfa militants abducted Ghosh in 1997 and killed him that very night, though it was not until months of drama that the outfit admitted it.
Ghose’s body was, however, never found. Although residents of Majuli still remember the good work done by Ghosh and his colleagues, the movement spearheaded by him has long died. Under Ghosh’s supervision, the NGO had planted trees along the banks of the Brahmaputra in Majuli to stop the river from eroding more land.

Brahmputra Board

For an island that has tried hard to be recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, Majuli’s problems are multi-faceted, beginning with a 'technical error' that prevented the heritage status, to the Brahmaputra Board, constituted to look into the problem of floods in the state not being able to deliver the goods. To prevent flooding and erosion at Majuli all Assam Students Union (AASU) has demanded that the Centre call for global experts to solve the perennial problem. The opposition Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has also raised an alarm over the delay in execution of the project to protect the Majuli island from erosion. AGP MP Dr. Arun Sharma says, “The Brahmaputra Board, which is assigned to implement the Master Plan, has failed to discharge its mandated . “The board is a complete failure,” says Jiten Deka, secretary of the Majuli Suraksha Samiti (MAJULI PROTECTION COMMITTEE), “all it’s done is conducted model studies for the past seven or eight years.”

Not an Easy Task

But on the other hand Brahmaputra Board Chairman T G Antony Balan says that protecting Majuli from the fury of the Brahmaputra is not an easy task and detailed studies are required to find a permanent solution to the problems of flood and erosion. "Majuli is a complex situation with the Brahmaputra posing the twin threat of flood as well as massive erosion. But whatever little that the Brahmaputra Board has been able to do in the past few years has already started showing results," said Balan.

Heritage status

Sluggish pace of work on part of Government of Assam and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) might further delay completion of formalities leading Majuli River Island to again miss the bid for World Cultural and Heritage Site The government of Assam had constituted a committee to furnish the relevant data to UNESCO.
“At this pace the Committee is going to miss many deadlines and Majuli Island might miss the bus,” apprehends Dr Arun Kumar Sarma, who has been actively following the case.

The French Connection

Majuli may have dropped off the list of contenders for a place in Unesco’s World Heritage List but Sattriya, the abiding symbol of its cultural richness, is set to go places with a Parisian playing patron.
Mathias Coulange’s dream is to see Sattriya dance on the world stage. The 44-year-old French culture activist has made the island his second home to identify talent and form a troupe of Sattriya dancers to showcase the dance form before a global audience.
According to Mathias that two of France’s famous dance platforms — the Dautomne Festival in Paris and one in Montpellier — would host the Sattriya troupe next year.
When Mathias bumped into French travel writer Nadine Deltech in Majuli, a vision was born. Nadine was there to do research for her book, Dancer Monks of the Island, and liked her countryman’s proposal to do something for “this unique island tucked in a remote corner of the world”.

Orphan Baby

From the attitude of the centre and state governments, it seems Maujli is an orphan Baby. And no one is bothered about the fate of this island. And this is the reason why one of the biggest cultural centres of the region may just be wiped out by the Brahmaputra in near future.